Wilson142

I saw that on Steve's' site. I thought how great would that be supersized? Maybe 1/2" or 3/4" MDF and covered in brown shag carpet (is that still available?) Think 4 ft long and...Naw, now I'm being silly. May have to check Harbor Freight for a cheap jig saw.

Thank you. Funny thing is the 1st one was the last one I did. Football game was starting and I was in a hurry so I put 3 primary colors into a mixing tray and created the colors on the fly with little planning. I guess it pays not to over think things sometimes.

Is the AFL in playoffs now? My cable provider is airing a bunch of games on Saturday. Don't know if they're replays or not. When the NFL season isn't on, I watch a lot of AFL and Super Rugby. Great fun.

I opted for aniline dye because with 80% alcohol I hoped to avoid raising the grain as much as food coloring. Still raises the grain but hey, I could drink the leftovers. lol

Yeah, they'll be Christmas gifts. Thanks

Thank you. Wish I could take credit, but they're not my creations. They're mostly Asian influence.

Sooooo, left unsupervised? The possibility's are endless and a bit frightening. lol

My mom never put that into actual words, she did it with a look on her face. Nice cut.

Blade being perpendicular isn't a huge problem for me with 3/4" stock, but I sometimes cut tree puzzles from 1 1/2" oak or 2" Cypress and then it is critical. My fit problem comes with the aniline dye being 20% water so it raises the grain. No kerf problems when I use 2/0 spiral blades but I like the tighter fit with straight blades. I don't cut a lot of puzzles but when I do I'll cut for a few days and then putz with finishing for a few days and by then, I'm back to spirals and fretwork. I can't imagine cutting to sell and doing hundreds of puzzles. I admire the people who have the discipline to churn those things out day after day.

See, you just customized a customized pattern. I started using Rapid Resizer for stained glass patterns back around 2008 or so. It works well for sizing scroll saw patterns but I need to use other software to actually attempt to create something. Like someone once said. so much wood, so much glass. So little time. lol

There are patterns available to over lay and cut traditional style puzzles. Many people simply free hand as they go, making sure to cut interlocking pieces. I have been cutting Asian and Some European style puzzles that are made up of many different animals, birds, fish etc. I have the special Superior Puzzle blades that are intended to be used when turning a photograph into a puzzle. Haven't found a photo that inspires me, yet. Sky's the limit and you are the pilot. Pick a path and see what comes of it. The only rules are the ones you make for yourself.

Looking good! As for your question "Now what about ideas for finishing, this and others using B/BB. Natural piece with dark backer...stain darker piece with light backer? If natural (Poplar, Birch, etc. ) what do you use to give it the nicest finish? Do most of you make a frame for a wall piece or sand the edges and hang it?" I have a feeling the replies will be mostly, yes. Many leave natural, some stain, a few paint some pieces, frames are optional lol You'll find what you like. There's some brilliantly finished pieces here and some very unique ones as well. I spare no expense and buy a lot of frames from the local 99 cent store. I figure being that I gift things instead of selling them, they can upgrade the frames themselves. You should see how many pieces I have stacked in my spare bedroom. LOL I may have to break down and do a sale or two. Really hate doing that though.

Some puzzles cut from 3/4 poplar using #3, #5 and #7 FD reverse blades. The colored puzzles were done with aniline dye mixed 80% alcohol/20% water. The rest are oil based Minwax stain. The frames are all oil based Spar varnish (because I like the amber tone) and the puzzle pieces are several coats of clear lacquer. I used flat blades to get the pieces to fit tighter than with spirals, but that created some fit problems when I colored them due to the smaller kerf. They took a good deal of time with the mop sander to get the pieces back in. I need to pay more attention to the kerf in the future.

Very true. I was watching Charles Dearing cut one of his original designs on youtube and he messed up and cut off the line. Someone asked, "now what??" Charles simply smiled and to paraphrase his answer he said "this started out as a custom original and now the customer will receive an even more custom original" Usually only the person who is doing the cutting will notice most mistakes. Now what I have to learn is to stop pointing them out to people.

You're right, it is Chandler. "Guess that makes us all "Village People", Yeah, I'm the one dressed like an American Indian. The music scene in Tucson is abysmal. Minneapolis has more live music in a month than Tucson has in a year. I miss that.

Really like the cutting and the frame is great. Nicely finished.

I have reached the age that it is very hard to offend me. lol I'm not an exception, I'm simply extremely stubborn. When I see something that interests me, I don't think wow, I wish I knew how to do that. I tend to think, hey, I bet I could learn that. Doesn't always turn out, but it did for scrolling, turning wood, stained glass a bit of wood carving etc. Certainly not an expert at any of that, but I can fake it a bit. I failed miserably at the guitar, painting with oils and watercolors just to name a few. I'm originally from Minneapolis but retired early (56) and moved to Panama City, Panama. From there to Mazatlan, Mexico for 6 years and finally Tucson. Never been to Casa Grande, but I'm a Blues music freak and I noticed Buddy Guy (from Chicago) is playing in Casa Grande. Got my curiosity up and I noticed Casa Grande has some pretty good looking music venues so, me visiting one day isn't out of the realm. Looks to be an hour and a half away so maybe we'll meet some day.

It's not about being right or wrong. I'm looking at it from my perspective and what works for me. For me, had I started with simple patterns, I would have become bored and quit. I learn more by pushing the envelope a bit than from sneaking up on it with baby steps. I never felt any pressure about failing. It's just wood. When I fail, quitting never enters my mind. I simply move on. I have a ton to learn and I hope I never stop trying to improve. I'm not getting any younger and I'm growing impatient. I need to reach further now than I would have 20 years ago. Time marches on and there are things I want to do while I still can.

Well done! Nice pattern. What finish did you use? I am liking oil based finishes lately because of the amber color. Wasn't that long ago, I would only use water based in an effort to avoid yellowing. I must be evolving. lol

When I 1st started scroll sawing there were no YouTube videos and not many people even had computers. I saw a scroll saw and thought it looked interesting, so I bought it. I checked out the blades available and it simply seemed to make sense to me to use spirals. That's what I started with and stuck with for many years. Now I use both types but spirals are my go to blades. I need to be challenged or I lose interest. I started doing fairly tough fretwork patterns from day one. It's only wood and some time. If I fail, big deal. I just move on. I think you should cut what you like. Don't limit yourself because someone tells you "that is too hard for a beginner". It's not as if you're going to hurt yourself or wreck your saw because you decide to challenge yourself with a hard pattern. If you will be happy with simple "beginner patterns" then by all means cut them. But if you would be happier cutting something that you aren't sure you are ready for, I say take the challenge and try to hide that smile you'll have on your face when you find out all patterns are cut one hole at a time and Wow, you impressed yourself!

I did reply, click on the "more"

I have logged virtually 100's of hours using the air models to remove burrs from tooling plate when I was running a METLSAW back in my worker bee days. Doubt if I will ever pick one up again. lol At least an electric one doesn't have that annoying howl the air models have. I bet it worked well on the mower blade though. My lawn is stones and sand and there no mowers anywhere to be seen. I do miss the smell of fresh mowed grass and trees with leaves instead of thorns.

Do you flatten the blade ends or do you let the clamps find the flat spots? What works for me is to flatten the ends and when I tighten the clamps I proceed slowly enough that I can feel, without looking if I'm on a flat spot or not. Helps me avoid hockey sticking the blade.

Nice job, I never lost faith. Spirals "aint a thing"..lol Just another tool in the arsenal. Who said "the only thing you have to fear is fear itself"?