Ninuninu

Thanks for your lovely comments Mrs N. Wanted something that would stand out a little Tony

Thanks Melanie. I have been using a fret saw for less than a year myself and never even touched one before that but I put my heart into and just go for broke... (which is sometimes how things end up) Whenever you feel confident give it a shot! Cheers Tony

Thanks Jerry. Tony

Thanks Dave! Tony

Thanks Lawson - doing our best. Tony

Thanks Roly - giving it a shot yourself??? Tony

Thanks Marg, slowly trying to get there Tony

Thanks Ron - there were a few tight corners but and satisfied with the result. Tony

Thanks Dick, You gonna make me blush! :D Very welcome to give the pattern a try Tony

Thanks Dave, trying to get creative Tony

Thanks Len, I never thought of that - I think a green backer will set it off nicely Tony

Thanks newfie - you very welcome. Tony

Cheers Jeff, it turned out pretty good :-) Tony

Thanks mate! Tony

Thanks mate. Tried to do well on this. :-) Tony

Thanks Steve :-) Tony

I call that getting your monies worth out of the wood. Great idea and work. Tony

Amazing Tony

Well I use 4different fret saws in all. My favourite is an unbranded fret saw that I got from a local hardware store which I bought for about 4 euro (approx. $4.50) and use this for most of my work. I also have a Lux one, (German made), that I find pretty good to use but I still prefer the unbranded one. I also have two others which I had specially manufactured for me so that I can cut larger pieces. One is 18 inches deep and the other 32 inches. The largest one is very difficult to use and I have to rest it on something because of sheer weight but it slowly, (very very slowly) gets the job done. Unfortunately in Malta scrolling and fret saws are not in high demand and getting accessories can sometimes be a pain in the rear end. I checked out your Coin Cutting page and there are some lovely pieces there. I have thought about cutting coins but my eyes are not what they used to be and there is no way I could manage that without some serious magnification device. Tony

So a couple of days ago I posted a pattern of a Christmas Tree in the New Pattern Announcements section of the Village. It seems that it was pretty well liked and obviously I just had to cut it myself. The overall size is 10 1/2 inches by 7 1/4 inches, and in reply to our Kevin's comment "Yes it was as all cut by hand." I cut it from 3 mm oak veneered plywood and used a piece of 4 mm mdf sprayed black for the backer. Have attached a pic for your viewing. Cheers Tony

Hey Hotshot. Ever since I started doing patterns a few months ago I have always tried to refine my techniques to get better results. I love doing portraits but the major problem is that if the resemblance is off, then it would have been a waste of time because it wouldn't look like the person. I used to just use the pc to do the patterns but I was never truly happy with the results. What I do now is make a printout of the basic outline in light grey off the pc then with a black fine liner I ink in all the details that I want until I feel that I am as close to the actual photo as I can get. After this I scan the printout back into the PC and clean up all the stuff I don't need and test it for any floaters and work on it from there. If there are too many floaters I will make a coloured mark on the pattern and print out again to create the bridges. (I only do this part if the bridges needed would cause any 'damage' to vital details). Then I scan back into pc and give it a final clean up ready for printing to be glued to the wood. It is rather time consuming, but a labour of love and hopefully a very small step closer to perfection. I will undoubtedly in the future find some other way to create a pattern but at this point in time I am quite happy with the results that I am getting. Oh and just as a point of interest I calculate that it took me about 8 hours to complete the pattern and about 10 hours to cut it. You see I never use power tools. I use a hand spiral drill for the holes and a fret saw for my cutting. Even my sanding is all done with a hand sanding block. Hope this answers your questions and thanks for the interest. Take care. Tony

Wow guys! Thanks for all you wonderful comments and likes. Actually it was very well received and she just loved it. Once again - thanks for all the comments. Tony

I like it... well done. Tony

Never seen one like this before. A great idea and cut. Tony

I think they came out very nice but alas I still prefer the natural wood. I am such a die hard at times Good job. Tony