dgman

That is an amazing piece of work Frank! To think it was done with a fret saw! I don’t remember his name or screen name, but, there used to be a member here on the Village who does amazing work with just a handheld fret saw.

Some stores sell a product that is more environmentally friendly. It’s fine for cleaning paint brushes and accessories after using oil based finishing products like Polly Or lacquer. It’s is milky and not suitable for mixing with oil based finishes. Here in California, we couldn’t buy regular mineral spirits for awhile. In the County I live in (Ventura Co.), I can now find it at any hardware store. Ray @octoolguy say he can’t find it where he lives (Orange Co.). Just make sure it doesn’t say “green” On the label. If you can’t find regular mineral spirits, you can order it from Amazon.

Excellent cutting Dan!

Great looking projects Frank!

It is never recommended to use products that are not designed as a finish to be used as a finish. Mineral oil is not designed as a finish. It does nothing to seal and protect the wood. And as mentioned, mineral oil never fully dries. It might be appropriate for cutting boards and utensils, but that’s it. Any product designed as a finish will become food and child safe once fully cured, not necessarily dry, but cured. In my opinion, any project that will be handled must have a topcoat. Wood will soak in fingerprints and skin oils and dust and dirt if not topcoated. Appropriate topcoats include Lacquer, shellac and Polly. Other products some folks use as a finish, but are not designed as a finish are orange oil and lemon oil. These products are designed as cleaners and polish’s. For me, using an oil is used to bring out the natural color and grain of the wood. Since I use mostly hardwoods, using an oil greatly enhances the beauty of woods like Walnut, Cherry, Oaks and even Maple, but most hardwoods are enhanced. My procedure is as follows. I soak all my scroll saw projects in a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits. The oil brings out the natural color and grain of the wood, and the mineral spirits thins out the oil, allowing it to flow easily around the project, and acts as a drier. I use an on old metal baking pan for this. I let it soak for a few minutes. Then, I remove the project and wipe off the excess oil with blue shop towels. I set them on baking cooling racks to dry. After the oil dries, usually in 24-36 hours, I apply Deft semi gloss spray lacquer. Usually two or three coats. The lacquer dries fast. Depending on humidity, I can apply two or three coats in about an hour. After the lacquer is dry, if it has dust nubs, I’ll rub out the finish with a folded piece of brown paper bag. It’s like using 2400 grit sand paper. I store the oil mix in an old glass mason jar.

I can see it now, it does have a motor. It also has an optional foot pedal to raise the top arm for easy top feeding.

That saw was made by Summerville Designs in Canada, who also designed and built the DeWALT type 1. If it is in good working order, it might be worth the $125. Keep in mind, it had been out of production for about twenty years, so there are no replacement parts available. I can’t tell by the picture, but does it have a motor? If it had a motor it might be worth it. If not, you have to factor that.

Yup, I have one too!

Looks great Ike, you did a great job on it!

www.seyco.com has plastic templates in several fonts for letters and numbers. BTW, welcome to the forum Robert. Hopefully, you will like it here. There is a lot to see a learn from. Before you know it, you’ll be cutting circles around your dad!

Nice!

Gonna have to start calling you Dusty Knees, Dave! You have done a wonderful job on this project!

You are doing an exceptional job so far! Keep it up!

Great looking project!

Ok, I’m a plumber. Technically it is called a hose bib. You can call it whatever you want, but I call it a hose bib.

Looks great Les, you did a very good job cutting it! That pattern is on my to do list. What is the finished size?

To help eliminate burning, I use clear packing tape on top of the pattern and all sides of the blank.

Even if you didn’t seal it, it would be fine to use. The toxicity is from the dust created from cutting. It should be sealed though. I have used it in cutting boards without any ill effects.

Look how far you have come since you first came to the Village Gary! Congratulations, it is well deserved!

Very cool Les!

Very nice Gary!

Use the other stuff for backer boards.

Excellent work on both Frank! I’ve been scrolling for 25 years and have never used a foot switch. I’m constantly moving my feet around from the chair footrest to the cross bar on the saw stand and the floor. Trying to keep my foot on a switch is just not feasible for me. But since I have never used one, I don’t miss it.

I cut the dados deep enough to accommodate the thickness of the blank and the backer board. The width of the dado depends on how much reveal I have on the work piece. Again, the frame is made to fit the project, rather than fitting the project to the frame.

That’s a great cut!