RangerJay

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - didn't see your post till this afternoon. I guess I could have been a little clearer in my description - it is a wall switch mounted on the bench - which controls an outlet - 1/2 of which is the saw - the other 1/2 of the outlet controls a small fan that helps push airborne dust into my dust collector - pictures of my "Scroll Saw Command Centre" below ....... between the two pictures you can see the switch, the outlet, the fan and the dust collector. Jay

I have a variety of scrolled and carved pieces that have never seen the light of day - but for me they represent a tangible (and humorous) record of my efforts to become a better woodworker - each one is a lesson learned - that collection was getting a little too large last year and I had to selectively cull it to make more room in the Shed - now I have a smaller collection that might be called: "The Best of the Worst" - the culled pieces did become firewood. Jay

"The Best" is often what you grow to be familiar with - and in this case I have a wall type switch beside the scrollsaw which does me just fine - I don't think I would like any kind of foot switch that required me to keep my foot on it - after two knee replacements I've grown to understand that they like being free to move around or they stiffen up dramatically - and locked into a foot switch without the opportunity to move is something I know would not be comfortable during lengthy scrolling sessions. Jay

Wow - that's quite a shop - first time I've ever seen a Shopsmith - something you'd recommend? - and I was really envious when I thought I saw a bar fridge - then - on closer look - I saw it was a white storage cabinet - felt better after that ...... Impressive shop. Jay

Great pieces - you have obviously been gifted with a lot of talent. Thanks, Jay

Happy Birthday! - always enjoy your participation, your questions, your posts and your feedback - have a great day! Jay

Cradle has been delivered and set-up - a few tears (mine) and many warm hugs ..... Jay

There is no one pattern that I used - I did purchase a pattern to fit an 18" X 36" inch mattress just for the basic measurements of the cradle and knowing that we would be modifying it along the way - the pattern I purchased was poor (more than poor) - in the end I found this free pattern much more helpful: http://www.shopsmithhandson.com/archives/nov_dec_05/major_project.htm You'll see that we modified a lot - essentially winging it along the way - with ideas from googling "swinging cradles" and also from Pinterest with the same search words. I don't think I would do anything different if I were to do it again - but need to warn you - it's more work than you might think ...... so start a little earlier in the "process" than I did ..... Jay

Thanks - the figures were cut on the scrollsaw using a spiral blade - not exactly sure which blade but almost certainly an FD #1 or #3 Spiral with Flat Ends. Once cut I spent time softening and rounding the cuts with cloth-backed 1/4 " strips of 120 grit sandpaper. Jay

Most of what you see is Cherry - the headboard and footboard came from one board that had a bit of an unusual grain and colouring - but Cherry none-the-less. The side pieces are framed by Walnut and there is a bit of Oak underneath that frames the floor of the cradle.

Thanks everyone - we really appreciate the kind words - just to correct the record the proud parents to be will be our youngest son and his wife - I've kept them abreast of progress from the get-go with pictures - (they live about a 2 1/2 hour drive away). They also recognize this will be around for a long time - and may serve future generations as well as friends - so their current plan is to make sure all the cradles young occupants will be recorded through time by adding small plaques with each babies name and birthdate. Kinda neat. Thanks again, Jay

Dropping the cradle off tomorrow - baby is due in two weeks - consensus is that delivery of the cradle now is probably prudent ..... Yet to do are 4 scrolled pieces to cover the pucks on each side of the pivot point - not a big job but haven't come up with a pattern we like yet. Also yet to do are the dowel plugs to cover the lag screw holes. These will need to be hollowed out - haven't done that before so will be doing a little experimenting. Jay

Both my grandfather and my father were skilled woodworkers - so I think my own interest in working with wood was a direct result of the example they set and the encouragement they gave me. I was also lucky to have access to workshops from childhood on and have been able to have my own workshop my entire married life. In the late 70's I started making replicas of antique wall and mantle clocks - maybe one or two a year for many, many years - don't really know why I settled on clocks - maybe because they looked so good - and wherever they went they became a family heirloom (with at least one family having a serious squabble over where that clock should end up when their parents passed on). I first thought about scrolling shortly after retirement - despite the fun and the satisfaction of clockmaking it is a lot of money - the wood is expensive - the movements are ridiculously expensive (all mechanical movements) - and anything close to cost recovery is pretty much a very vague and distant notion ...... So I guess you could say I got into scrolling because I'm cheap: the wood may still be expensive - but the work is labour intensive so you don't use a lot - so that makes it cheap. you can use scrap wood to make a lot of great stuff - that means the designer firewood bin is a LOT smaller. most projects don't take up a lot of space - so you can do multiple projects at a time without a whole lot of problem - and the workshop doesn't look like a major cyclone hit it (most of the time). projects generally take less time - so you get the satisfaction of seeing more done and more finished. ..... so I guess at the end of the day I still may not actually make any money - but I know I lose less money ..... Worth mentioning is that the saw has a rhythm about it that allows you to put your mind in neutral and just cut away to your hearts content ..... (or your back gets sore - whatever happens first ....) ...... think in my old age I would call that therapeutic ...... in my younger days my teachers called it daydreaming ..... (or I seem to recall the term "wool-gatherer" appearing on my report cards .....) There is one more thing that is really neat about the scrollsaw that, at least for me, has become maybe it's greatest attraction - that is - with the scrollsaw you can craft genuine pieces of art - not saying I'm an artist - but I still like doing those one-of-a-kind projects that become someones family heirloom ..... Jay

Woodmaster: that is some very serious machinery ......

Clutter seems to be a very common theme - with subtle variations of earthy brown coloring ...... pretty sure I could feel very comfortable in every shop that has been pictured - actually - they all make me kinda feel at home ..... Jay

We built the garage 30 years ago ...... no car has ever seen the inside ...... we now call it "The Shed" - upstairs attic is typical seasonal storage and lifetime junk, main floor is roughly 1/3 sauna and 2/3 workshop (grudgingly shared with the lawn tractor and its attachments) ...... The winter shot was taken a couple years ago.

That is a great piece of work. I don't know anything about Intarsia but I'm thinking you did a superlative job of making that grain work for you - obviously takes a lot of study and thought - congratulations on a very impressive result. Jay

This carvers dust collector is a powerful fan that gets a lot of use in my shop - it's pricey but does a good job of sucking up fine sanding dust that would end up floating in the air - it does not pick up heavier sawdust that immediately settles. I don't use beside my drill press but do use it beside my scrollsaw and other tools including on my bench when sanding with the dremel tool or my other portable sanders - including my sanding mop when mounted on a cordless drill. Obviously the closer you have the fan to your sanding source the better it is. Jay

Sometimes the playing card trick just isn't going to work - very small ornaments as well as the antlers and paddle blades of the Kayaking Moose come very quickly to mind - these kinds of small pieces don't do well around the large cutout hole on an EX. I sacrificed a piece of 1/8 ply cut to fit the entire cutting table as my zero clearance "insert" - clamped on all four corners when I need a zero-clearance insert - putting a finish on it and a coat of wax is helpful. And for those pieces that need to be held down right beside the saw blade you can take a 6 inch piece of pencil sized dowel and sharpen it in the pencil sharpener - then take the other end and give it the shape of a flat-end screwdriver on your sander - a great little homemade tool that is always beside my saw. Finally, if those fine pieces are doing a lot of jumping around on you then experiment with a smaller blade and/or faster speed/slower push. Jay

Very, very nice piece of work - beautiful design, perfect cutting ...... Jay

Good day today - got the basket together - still have a bunch of dowel plugs to put in - but once done will start spraying in the evenings - daytime hours taken up over the next few days with completing the frame for the swing. Granddaughter due on April 26th - seems everyone is saying (including here) it's time to put in a few overtime hours ....... so ...... double time and a half it is ...... Jay

Wow - that is a neat car - and those are all terrific patterns - gonna be tough to choose - better cut them all!!! Jay

If I've broken a piece and glued it in a way that is not noticeable then the story is over - breakage is not common but neither is it unexpected when it occurs - but if the piece shatters and is not able to be repaired in a way that protects the integrity of the finished piece then it is a "second" - most often a give-away that is identified as a "second" - seems to work fine. Where I have a bigger problem is where my own cutting is not up to the standard that I have set for myself - I have one larger piece that just didn't turn out as I expected - lots of hours and lots of cutting - custom frame on it - fully finished - no mistakes at all - but the end product just didn't turn out to my satisfaction - I feel it is not a good sampling of my work and I really don't want it out there even as a second - so it has sat in my basement I think for about 3 years now maybe even 4 ..... designer firewood some day - but haven't been able to bring myself to toss it in the flames yet ..... wife thinks I'm nuts ...... Jay

Been working on this for a while - but thought I would share a few pictures - still have one more part to make - the cross member underneath - so with some luck should be able to start assembly in the next couple days - have a serious time constraint - granddaughter (our first grandchild) is due in one month ..... Jay

LOL - guess you're right ..... sometimes size does matter ...... I always loved it when I finished up at the gas pumps with my little 6-cylinder Pathfinder - towing a 19-foot Airstream - at exactly the same time as a 40+ foot motor coach in the other lane finished up .......... ..... occasionally small is very definitely better ......