orangeman

At first I thought they were Christmas tree ornaments but then realized they were much larger. No doubt a hit north of the M-D line. Nice job

Our latest state wildlife creation. Next up is MS, LA, and TX.

Thanks for all the nice comments. I was inspired to design the Canoe Bear because we live in a North Georgia community called Big Canoe and we actually have bears roaming around. One year we left the bird feeders out too long in the Spring and we had a big black bear climp 20 feet up to our deck. It grabbed the feeder and ran off with it in the woods! We're more careful now. My granddaughter and I had fun designing the USA Wildlife puzzle. She lives 10 hours away and sent me drawings of the animals via e-mail; I then resized them and started cutting. In addition we have done state wildlife puzzles for GA, AL, NC, SC, and FL. Working on MS, LA, and TX as I have a big show coming up in MS.

I received a nice write-up earlier this year in our local newspaper. check it out. http://www.bigcanoenews.com/living/living-col-1/features/6791-picture-the-puzzle

Mable H.: check out my website at www.pickenspuzzles.com. All my puzzles are self standing with the exception of our state wildlife puzzles.

I'll add my 2 cents worth. I've been cutting puzzles for over 10 years now. Most of my puzzles are self standing and I use 3/4" soft maple for my colored puzzles and a variety of hardwoods, all 3/4" thick, for my natural oiled puzzles. For these puzzles the best blade I have found is the Pegas modified geometry blades #5 and 7. Those blades will cut hardwoods with ease. For my Christmas card puzzles I use 1/4" Baltic Birch and the Flying Dutchman puzzle blade. For my stamp puzzles I will use 1/4" Baltic Birch and jeweler blades from Sloan's. Hope this helps.

I use food colors exclusively on my colored puzzles. Then I coat with a Sherwin-Williams lacquer. I have attached a link for my clock puzzle as an example. I was really amazed at the vibrant colors I was able to achieve. I use the whitest maple I can find for my colored puzzles. http://www.pickenspuzzles.com/Clock-Puzzle-p/222.htm

Hi Linda. Welcome aboard! I'm new as well and I think you will like it here. What will be your first project?

Bob, I am in Big Canoe, between Jasper and Dawsonville. I come down to Kennesaw often as I buy most of my wood from Peach State Lumber! Come see me this weekend in Gainesville, GA - Mule Camp Festival.

I have run into vibration issues with the DeWalt788 and had to return it to the store for an exchange with no problem. Now I will test the saw at the store before purchase. Woodcraft sells the Ex locally and I will make sure I test the saw before bringing it home.

Dan, aka dgman, Glad the guitar puzzle is a good seller for you! It is for me as well and I price it at $22. Please contact me at: [email protected] and we can work something out regarding the cross pattern. I normally do not sell my patterns - got any patterns to trade? Regards, Brian www.pickenspuzzles.com

Hi from the mountains of North Georgia! I just signed up here yesterday and already have found some useful posts. I've been scrolling for about 10 years now and the hobby got out of hand when I started making some puzzles for the grandchildren. Now I am on the craft show circuit with my puzzles, mainly in the Southeast USA - AL, MS, FL, NC, GA. I've had 2 articles (with patterns) published by Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts magazine: A guitar puzzle and a USA Wildlife Puzzle which was in the Holiday 2014 issue a year ago. My main saw is the DeWalt 788 and I just retired a 10 yr old DeWalt saw as the repairs were costing too much. I also have a Hegner but prefer the DeWalt 788. When the current DeWalt wears out I will seriously look at the Excalibur as I think the quality of the DeWalt's aren't what they used to be 10 years ago. Come visit my website at www.pickenspuzzles.com My latest creation is a Cross Puzzle and hopefully I will be able to attach it to this post. Also, would like to see a separate PUZZLE category on this site. Regards, Brian

I made my toast tongs from left over bamboo flooring from Home DePot. Cut the ends at an angle and glued them together.