SCROLLSAW703

You can design your Urn any way you desire, Mr. Sawdust. There are things to keep in mind during your design. With mine, I always design them so that they have a permanent seal once the ashes are put in the Urn. If possible, avoid pine or soft woods at all cost. JMO & experience. Design it so it is large enough for inlays or designs, depending on What ya have in mind, or your customer desires. Like initials, a hobby, favorite sport, etc. Design it w/some sort of "handle" on the sides, & lift on top.

nice work! In my opinion, any work for a Nursing Home is a pay off!!! I make animals, cut different sayings for them to hang on their walls, & flowers for them.

Iggy, keep settin' goals & keep sawin', brother! It gives ya something to keep workin' towards, & a good way to give the saw a workout! I cut several different types of patterns. Big ones, little ones, wild animals, Native American work. I just finished a bear cross w/a bull rider in the center, an elk on top, a moose to the left, & a deer to the right. Cut in walnut & inlaid with beetle kill pine. I cut my own feathers for my dream catchers. They aren't any particular type of wood. Depending on the customers' likes, I do glue ups of cherry, oak, maple, walnut, barn wood, beetle kill pine, poplar, etc. Whatever they want, & run the glue up thru the planer down to 3/16" thick, then a quick pass thru the drum sander, & the wood is ready for feather patterns. Some days I'll cut a couple dozen, other days I'm doin' damn good if I get a half a dozen cut. I been at this long enough, the only goals I set anymore is to get the work done I've taken on. Corn harvest hits about the middle of Christmas work, so everything shuts down & I drive truck for corn harvest. When we're done, I'm busier'n a couple a junkyard tomcats in a gunny sack tryin' to get everything done. Most of the time I get things done, but other times I don't. My customers are patient, & understanding. Keep on keepin' on, Mr. Scott! If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Keep livin' the dream! And, like JT said, one day ya wake up & it's all gone, well, with your talents, ya can always start over!

wow! blade breakage again. I've owned two Hawks. My first one was a 220VS I bought used. Never broke a blade in it til I wore it out enough it was WORE OUT! I traded it for the BM 26 I have now, & that was over a year ago. I have broke one blade in the 26. It was my own doing, not the saw. I've got a CW - 40 Hitachi saw, first saw I bought new 20+ years ago. I still use it for cuttin' feathers, flowers, etc. I've never broke a blade in it. IMO, blade breakage can come from several things. Style of cutting, speed of feed into the blade, side to side movement, blade tension, saw alignment, arm alignment, bearings, cutting speed. I've been scrollin' 25+ years & learn somethin' on every project. If you push to hard agin' the blade feeding into it, invariably the blade will snap. If the tension is to tight or to lose, yes, it will snap. All these things factor into blade breakage. As everyone knows, I'm sure. Before the feathers fly, & ya get the idea I'm bein' a "know it all," that ain't the case at all. Read the other posts. Switchin' from different saws has alot to do with it, too. Some definitely cut more aggressive than others. Consider your cuttin' style. If ya like to cut aggressive, some saws won't fit that bill, no matter the blade in it. If you're a perfectionist, & a mediocre type cutter, find a saw that fits that bill, & you'll find your blade breakage will be a lot less, & scrolling will be more enjoyable. Just a few pennies from experience. My apologies for the length.

oak is a fairly brittle wood. Try slowing your blade speed down, & ease up on your feed into the blade. I use oak alot for crosses & memorials. I use polar blades, a #1 or #3. I don't have any issues. And most all my projects are 1/2" or thereabouts.

i've sold a lot of crosses. Nativity, Cowboy, Farmer crosses out of everything from walnut to beetle kill pine. What's the deal with crosses? I've even got one I'm designing cut it walnut, inlaid w/beetle kill pine. With a bear, bull rider, deer, moose, & Elk in it.Don't that sound like a job?I'm anxious to get it done to see how it looks! Last year, I couldn't make ornaments & napkin holders fast enough. I did have an order for owls, but they backed out

I'm in agreement! This has to be the friendliest, most helpful scroll site on the web! I've been scrollin' 26 years this year. I've learned A LOT from this site & the other scrollers. I've made a lot of friends here, too. This is the one place I feel accepted, & feel like I fit in. Thank you all! I'm here every day, I may not say much, but I try to help the new ones comin' in, & even the experienced in the same way they help me. Merry Christmas to all, & God bless you & yours! Keep making sawdust!

i like your idea, Scott. Ya never know, ya might find a whiz out there!

Congrats on the new house, & your new shop! You'll have space to think now! I agree! dust ventilation is number one on the list. I had a basement shop for 20+ years. Lighting, ventilation, & keepin' dust from the rest of the house needs to be considered. When you do finish work, I always hung shower curtains at the doors, & put window fans in the windows. Keep it clean! Use every inch of wall space for tools & etc. you can. Keep your wood out of your work area, if possible. And put your tools on casters so you can move them when you need to.

I keep my "scrap wood" in 4 different stackable square totes I inherited from our local grocery store. The longer, better pieces I keep & use for glue ups for different projects, & even use some of if it on the lathe in different projects. Since I'm not into intarsia, I use mine in other scrolling projects or the lathe, or whatever. You fellas that do into intarsia, you have a special knack none of the rest of us have! I like the work, just have other interests. Keep on keepin' on!

I use quite a bit of cherry in many different types of projects. Crosses, napkin holders, dream catchers, etc. I cut my own feathers for the dream catchers from cherry, too. The best way I've found is a couple couple coats of clear shellac, & then I use Watco clear gloss. On the small projects, I use a rattle can. On bigger projects, I use my air sprayer.

Welcome to the forum Mr. Ed, & thank you for your service, Sir! First, let me say that if you don't have much patience going into your scroll saw endeavor, your saw will happily teach you the patience you need to it. I'll probably set a few farms a fire before I'm done, but, there are ways to learn this, & then there are ways to get yourself in trouble, too. I may sound like a hard a**, but were I in your shoes, I'd keep cuttin' on the pattern you're workin' on. From what I can see that you've done to this point is spot on! But, as already mentioned, always start in the center of the project, no matter what it is, & work out in a circle. Keep your project as stout as possible for as long as you can. I see you're drillin' your entry holes a little big, imo. Try to keep them as small as possible, & drill in a spot where you can start right in cuttin'. Try not to make them to far from where you want to cut into the pattern, or where you have to turn before you can start cuttin'. Cut your small detail first, if you can. I know what you're thinkin', but if you cut the small details first, especially around the outside, your project still has the strength of the wood to stay together, & be easier to move around. Then move to the center & start cuttin'. As mentioned also, you're goin' to break blades. Learn from it. Tension? right blade? Your hockey stick ends could come from your blade not bein' all the way up in top holder, then over tightening. Make sure the blade goes all the way up in to the blade holder, & at the back side of the holder. I wouldn't give up on the project you're workin' on, though. You're doin' a good job so far! You'll learn more by finishing it out that by settin' it aside & messin' with other things. You can do that after you've finished. my apologies for the length, but just from lessons learned. keep scrollin' & God Bless.

This is a great post, Chunk! Thank you Mr. Travis for puttin' up w/me & my opinionated self. Len, you're not alone there. When I answer a post, I answer it from personal experience, & how I think the best way to handle the business at hand would be. Another great aspect of this forum, as mentioned, is friendship. As a lone wolf, so to speak, I don't have many friends. I never have. Most of that came from trucking, but I've always been a lone wolf. I've met a lot of folks here, & made several friends I keep in touch with regularly. Ray, you're not a pain in the rear, brother! You just ain't quite got the hang of things yet. You'll get it, it don't come over night! It's a good thing there weren't cameras in phones when I started 25+ years ago! You'd get a good chuckle from the piles of customized firewood I made. And I started out in a 8' x 10' room in our basement. Another great thing about our forum is the help for newcomers. I admit, I'm one of the first to preach about spending time w/the manual for the saw, learning your equipment, on & on, but also try to make friends w/them & answer their questions, make suggestions to them as to what will or won't work with what information they're giving us. Like a couple others said, I'm a member/have been a member of other forums when newcomers start asking questions, the big boys jump in & start tellin' them that particular job can't be done w/out all these shiny expensive tools, & their way is the only way to get it done! Ahhhh! To heck w/that! I'm self taught, & started out with a little bit of nothin'! And still have most of it left! It's about pullin' together, answerin' the question, & helpin' them thru their crisis. Thanks again, everyone, for the friendship, help, & just bein' my friend. Brad.

I agree w/ karl. Your results speak for themselves! A fine job! I do a lot of glue ups, & I don't usually mess w/ 1/4". But I like the way yours turned out. I may have to give it a try. Thanks for the pics!

We've had a cold front through here in NW Kansas for nearly a week. Luckily my shop is heated & a/c'd. I keep the shop about 72* - 74* in the winter. About 72* in the summer. I ain't braggin' gentlemen. I feel for ya. I've hauled cattle out of Montana when it's -40* & snowin' like no other. I've also hauled fertilizer out of Michigan when it's colder'n a snowmans a**! But, it gets cold here on the plains, too. When the wind blows, IT BLOWS!!! And nothin' to slow it down!

I use hard wood in all my projects. I've learned thru trial & error that it works best for what I do. I cut my own feathers for my dream catchers, they are 3/16" thick, & I do stack cut them on occasion. My crosses, dream catchers, napkin holders, & specialty projects are all walnut, cherry, maple, oak, & red oak. I've found that once in awhile, somebody will want a picture frame, or somethin' like it. It's a good way to use my hard wood pieces, & make somebody smile That's whats this is all about, in my opinion. To see the the smile on folks' face when they get a project I made just for them. That's a high that don't go away! ' r

highs - the compliments i get on my projects lows - the clean up afterward high - sittin' at my saw, in my shop, enjoyin' the peace & quiet, & the saw is hummin' along doin' a great job, things are runnin' perfect! low - like Scrappie, my phone hollers I'm gettin' a phone call from my bride wantin' to know how long it'll be before I come home. And I'm just across the the street. high - I'm a severe perfectionist. My wife gets very frustrated w/me because of it. I'll be finishing up a project, & see something I need to fix. She's naggin' at me the whole time. I get it fixed, finished, ready for customer pick up, & they're lookin' it over, & the first thing comes out is WOW! What an excellent job!! low - they give you a hot check

throw the bosch blades away for starters! & since you've got better blades on the way, be patient. Depending on your saw speed, I wouldn't run it much above 3. And again, let the the saw do the work. With a better blade, you're goin' to notice sharper turns & deeper cuts in curves & round abouts. Be careful!

I'm with JT. Anything that thin is near impossible to do a glue up with & get satisfactory results. Yes, you can attempt it, but w/o hand plane experience, you'll wind up with a bigger mess than you'll want to contend with. My suggestion would be, no offense, but seein's how it's your first plaque, I would use 3/8" baltic birch w/1/4" backer. 1/4" & 1/4" together is guaranteed warp. Or, you could use hardwood w/1/4" backer. Do a search on local lumber stores that sell hardwoods. Sometimes they will plane it the thickness you need. If that's the case, let it set in your shop 3 or 4 days to acclimate before you start your project. But stay away from ply agin' ply! That's just asking for trouble! just my 2 pennies worth.

i was cuttin' some fretwork in a project the other night, went to change out blades, THOUGHT i had the blade right, installed it, tensioned it, hit the power switch to start cuttin' & it wouldn't even try to cut into the wood. Got to lookin' & i had the teeth facin' the back of the saw! DUH!!;\

Thank you meflick, Scrappile, Craig, Kevin & Dick for the kind words. That means alot to me. That is one of the main things I truly enjoy about this forum is the kind hearted folks here. You're right dick. No amount of money can replace or bring him back, but he's not suffering anymore, & that's comforting. This man help me find my way to God, & understand His power. He didn't know a stranger. But he always told me I'll never be perfect in anyone's eyes, but in the the eyes & hands of God, I was somebody in this life. Maybe this ain't the place to talk about all this, but, as opinionated as i am at times, you folks ALL mean alot to me as friends & brothers. I've always been a lone wolf. Mostly because of all the years of OTR trucking. But he always told me God was with me, no matter where in the country I was. He always laughed at me when we'd get to talkin' about me bein' on the road so much. I told him when I finally had to get off the road five years ago, my wife had to teach me to live at home again. He thought that was pretty funny. He said to me "as much outlaw as you got in ya, & as hard headed as you are, I can only imagine how those lessons went!" But it was true! I was out 3 - 8 weeks at a time, home was just never a place to be for me. My wife put up with it for alot of years, but she knew it was all I knew to make a living. I've always been a driver, & still am at heart. He'd talk to me about my woodworking. He enjoyed woodworking. After I had my truck wreck five years ago, first of 35 years in the saddle, I went into a deep depression. My Sawbones told us my career was over. I'd never drive OTR again due to my health. Fred told me God started me in woodworking 25 years ago because he had a different plan for me. He knew my health was failin', & the way He got me out of the truck was that accident, & then opened up a new door for me to get into my woodworkin' full time. He always bragged to anybody that'd listen to him about my work. I'm by no means the scroller most of you here are, & I been at this a day or two. I enjoy seeing all your work, & learnin' from all of you. I don't compare my work & abilities to anybody's, I'm just a beginner, so to speak, but it keeps my mind & hands busy. Check out my fb page sawdust haven & you'll see all my projects there. Then you'll see what I'm sayin' about bein' nowhere near as good as most of you talented fellas. But I keep tryin'. Someday, somebody will hopefully be able to say my work is satisfactory. Again, I sincerely appreciate the kind words gentlemen! It really does mean alot to me! Your prayers are most appreciated, Dick. I need them right now. You boys have a blessed day! thank you again! brad.

I've got a customer order for a project the customer wants cut in cherry. And working with chery is no problem. I use it often. The project is 11" x 14", so it's not a huge project. I've seen the same project cut in 1/4" red oak plywood. I'm kickin' around cuttin' it cherry plywood. I haven't done any lookin' to see if any our humble little lumber stores even carry it. I have my doubts. Anybody ever work with cherry plywood? I don't use 1/4" ply of any kind except for ornaments. I don't like workin' w/plywood much. If I'm not able to find it locally, another idea I'm kickin' around is resawin' cherry wood to about 3/8" or so, do a glue up, & run it thru the planer to whatever thickness I decide. What do ya think about that idea? Otherwise, like the title says, it's been a slow, non productive week at the shop. Beentough to focus on my projects. I lost a close friend I've known all my life this last week to pancreatic cancer. It has been a sad, depressing loss. He was a major part of my life. We buried him yesterday. He was diagnosed less than two months ago. He was a great help to me not only in the shop, but with life, too. He was a simple man, farmer & rancher all of his life. Very intelligent. I'll miss him greatly. With that said, any advice or help with the cherry plywood & my glue up idea would be appreciated. I do glue ups for several of my projects, I'm just reaching out for information. Thank you in advance. Brad

howdy! And welcome to the forum! It's great to see a newbie on the forum! There is a wealth of information here from all skill levels of scrollers. You won't find a friendlier, more helpful bunch than right here! Personally, I run Hawk & Hitachi Saws, & have had no complaints on either brand. I wore out one Hawk. I've got a BM 26 now. It's an awesome machine, but has its down falls as well. My Hitachi is over 20 years old, & runs like new. Look for a saw that is going to fit your needs. Don't underestimate the use or purpose of it. Study reviews about the saw you're lookin' at. Also check into blade availability. I would encourage you try different brands & find what works for you. Good luck!

Me too! Im anxious to see your coins, too, Randy. And like you guys, prep works bites! Seems like it takes longer to prep the wood than it does to cut it!:( And amongst 49 other things goin' on in the shop, prep work seems time consumin', but a must for the projects.

Yes, I think so too, Paul. As a turner myself, I'm anxious to see the outcome. It will definately be a learning experience, & a great chance to put your awesome craftsman skills to the test!