Iguanadon

Thanks All. I appreciate the input and especially the recommendation to insulate the discharge hose. I never would have thought to check the heat escaping through it.

Very nice, thanks for sharing. So, time to show what a newbie (ie. idiot) I am... After seeing how that stand was designed to have the back end of the saw raised, I thought "Hmmm, that may be kind of nice." So I went out to my shed and found a block of wood and was placing it under the back leg of my Dewalt stand and I see 4 bolts... "I wonder what those are for?" I assembled it a year ago and didn't remember... And then of course the idiot moment hit... It has a built in adjustment to be able to raise the back end... I bet that while I was assembling it I wondered "Why would you want the back end jacked up? Maybe it's to adjust for uneven floors." LOL I now have my stand/saw at a nice angle and will see how I like it with the next dog puzzle I cut.

And here's a slightly bigger unit for only $40 more... http://www.homedepot.com/p/LG-Electronics-10-000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner-and-Dehumidifier-Function-with-Remote-Control-in-White-62-4-Pint-Day-LP1014WNR/204684041?fbtLinkClicked=1464704503933|204684040

Good day Scrollers, My workshop is a shed in the backyard and a fan has been fine... until now. Living in the humid south, at the coast, you can imagine it gets a bit toasty. The shed doesn't have any windows and I thought about cutting one in so that I could install a window AC unit, but I have shelving all around the interior and it wouldn't be easy, so I started looking around and found this little portable AC unit that only requires a rather small round hole to exhaust the unit. Before I run out and make the purchase I thought I'd check to see if others have experience with this unit or have other suggestions. Thanks as always. Iggy http://www.homedepot.com/p/LG-Electronics-8-000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner-and-Dehumidifier-Function-with-Remote-Control-48-Pints-Day-LP0814WNR/204684040 P.S. the running joke at my house is that if I need to get the mower or weedeater, it's "the shed", but when I go out there to do some scrolling, I refer to it as "the studio". ;-)

Scroll to the next to last item at the bottom. And I keep mine in test tube holders. http://www.sloanswoodshop.com/scroll_saw_blades.htm

Had quite a bit of free time this weekend and took advantage of it with a mix of creations.

I was hoping there was a secret among scrollers along the line of "There is this hermit scroller that lives in the Rocky Mountains that makes his own blades that are equivalent to a #3 but they don't bend, cut perfectly straight and they never get dull... but you have to know the secret code word in order to get one..." Oh well, I guess not. Seriously, I did want to ask just in case I was missing some option I wasn't aware of. Thanks as always.

IGGY UPDATE... As mentioned I really like the Stick Release stuff linked above, but at $20 for a roll of 20ft it is a bit pricey. Well, I tried something and I'm very happy with it so far... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002AS9NC6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER Contact paper, then spray adhesive. I do dog puzzles primarily and I'm having no issues with it lifting or moving while cutting and when I'm done it peels off easily with no residue. At $5.50 a roll of 36 feet, it's a bargain.

This is not the usual "What blades are best?" or "What blade should I use?" question/topic, so take a deep breath. As we all know, the answers to those questions is pretty much "Whichever ones you like and you cut best with." along with of course depending on what you're cutting, what kind of wood, how thick, etc, etc. Way too many variables and I personally have over a dozen different blade types that I've simply tried since they're so inexpensive it's nice to be able to experiment. I won't get into the whole Olson -vs- Flying Dutchman thing as everyone has their preference. For those that haven't seen my work on the Bragging Rights forum, I am focusing on animal puzzles lately and I have found the blades that I prefer, but wanted to ask the more experienced members for their thoughts and any input you may have. I am cutting 3/4" thick poplar and after experimenting and trying various blades I'm using a #5 Crown Tooth for the outline cut of the entire piece out of the board. I find it leaves an incredibly clean and smooth finish and then I switch to a #3 Olson Mach Series to cut out the puzzle pieces. I wish they made a #3 in the Olson Precision Ground Tooth because I very much like those in the #5 and #7 when cutting other things. Anyway, I have had issues with other thinner blades (#3 and smaller) with them not cutting in a "straight line" and I believe that's due to how the blades are manufactured and have burrs that cause them to cut "crooked". I can adapt and adjust to it, but I've found it to be frustrating and the blades I am now using I have excellent control with. And by the way, I'm lazy and I don't do any sanding, so it's important to me to use blades that leave a clean finish. So, yes, I know I've answered my own question in that I'm happy with what I'm using, but... I'm still a newbie and in my 50+ years of life I've learned that if you don't ask questions, you may be missing out on some good information. Thanks in advance, Iggy

That's a good question Kevin and I can only take a stab at a guess... If n = length of time cutting and x is the number of puzzles I made for my grand-daughter before my daughter said she had enough wood in their house and we add y which is the number of dino puzzles I made for the local elementary school and a handful for the local library play area... and z the ones I've made that are in a local shop for sale... and now zz the dog puzzles that I've gone a bit nuts with... Then that is roughly 12 + 40 + 5 + 20 + 15 Somewhere approaching 100 it appears... Now I feel tired...

The sea turtle is a favorite of mine as well. I made him a sea critter friend yesterday, a whale and I have a shark and a dolphin still to make. http://screencast.com/t/zkfXvxx6IPQ

Hello Scott squared. Good to hear from you. I actually go to Anchor and go thru their "scrap" bin and pick up nice pieces of various woods for very cheap. I haven't been in a couple of weeks since starting the dog puzzles in poplar though.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the kind words. Well I dove in and set up a Facebook page... never had one before and will let the word spread (mostly thru my wife) and see who wants to buy dog puzzles... and dinosaur puzzles. :-)

As recently mentioned I'm a relative newbie and been exploring and experimenting with various areas of interest and I think I've hit on what may be my "specialty"... which is currently my obsession... dog puzzles... I've always been a dog person and my wife and I rescue all of our furry children from various shelters. We are Australian Cattle Dog nuts with 3 of them. When I saw this series of patterns I knew I had to try them. For those not familiar, Harvey Byler has drawn patterns for approximately 175 dog breeds and many other animals such as cats, cows, birds, sharks, whales, sea turtles, etc. They're available thru Woodenteddybearonline.com I am using Poplar because I like how it cuts, I like the color variations and when coated with butcher block mineral oil/conditioner, I think they look nice. They could of course be cut out of any type of wood. I just received my recent order of 20 patterns and am working my way through them. Each one takes me right at 1 hour to cut and oil. Here are the beginnings of my pack... and to show my wide diversity... a sea critter. ;-)

Wow, very nice Jim... The more I see, the more I realize what a newbie I really am! It's great that I have many levels to aspire to and learn.

Well done. Definitely my favorite character from the series. Speaking of Trek... new series scheduled to start up next year marking the 50th anniversary of the original series. We'll have to see how it is. Personally of all the other series after the original, I was only able to stick with The Next Generation throughout it's lifespan.

Regret??? Actually I hate you right now only because you have me redrawing one of the pirate flags as a test using bridges!!! LOL That was brilliant and I wish I had thought to post here before starting the flags so that I could have learned from some of the experienced cutters here. It's going to make them much more interesting and appealing in my opinion... if I can pull it off. Thanks again for all thoughts, comments, suggestions and feedback.

I hope you all don't mind me showing some other things as well as a bit of my "story"... I started out making dinosaur puzzles. For 2 reasons... 1, I love dinos and 2, my 3 year old grand-daughter enjoys them... http://screencast.com/t/pIetgbL2 And after my daughter forbid me from giving her any more because their house was filled with wooden prehistoric animals, I contacted the local elementary school and asked if some of the classes might be interested. The kindergarten and 1st grades were interested... a total of 6 classes... so I made a bunch and gave 'em to them. http://screencast.com/t/9YHz60Fu5tK http://screencast.com/t/ry5bWEr5 I took a few to the local library also for their play area. Then with my grand-daughter in mind I started thinking of other ideas and "designed" these guys for her. They help her with her colors as well as hand/eye skills. http://screencast.com/t/Ioru20YHW http://screencast.com/t/5j4yoZ9FUz8 And all the while, I'm making various items for the non-pirate themed store to stock. http://screencast.com/t/0Hg7ht0g0ZL http://screencast.com/t/MnIt7aGANQC Then I heard from one of the 1st grade class teachers who came up with an idea of having a "dinosaur dig" for her kids and my puzzles are perfect for that and she asked for a few more. So, I made some other varieties of dino and when I took them to her last week I took her some actual dino fossils that I happened to have thanks to a paleontologist friend of mine. Well, now I'm apparently a celebrity among the 6 and 7 year old's and I've been asked to attend the dino dig which is today and to speak about the fossils I have. They aren't much, but it is rather cool to hold something in your hand that is 200 million years old. And lastly, thinking about things tourists would like, I did an outline of my state, placed the NC so that it will display perfectly level and woodburned a heart where we are (where they're buying it, as a momento)... Carolina Beach. http://screencast.com/t/2CobBRCakst I know this forum area is called Bragging Rights, but I ain't braggin', I'm a newbie... just showing various ideas and things I've tried coming up with outside of standard patterns, etc. I hope I haven't overstayed my welcome already. ;-) Iggy

You can't imagine... and I had to cut 2 sets... 1 set for display and a full set for the shop to have on hand to sell. I'll replenish as needed. And once we know which ones are the most popular I'll make a few extras. We figure the tattered flag and Blackbeards will likely be the top 2. The shop is brand new, just opened on the boardwalk, so they're equally as excited and curious to see how well things go overall. Thanks again everyone for the warm welcome. Very much appreciated.

Thanks everyone. I look forward to learning while enjoying seeing the work of others out here. I'm a North Carolina native and ol' Barney Fife just makes me smile. ;-) Ummm, Scrolling Steve... you're in Wilmington? We're neighbors.

P.S. I think I'm going to get hooked on doing a variety of dog "puzzles"... The wife and I are dog lovers and most everyone we know are also so I'll have plenty of opportunity to make these for friends and family as practice before I decide if I want to start selling them. My first two... http://screencast.com/t/g1heiypEJ

Thanks Doug, I like the skull and swords that you did (Calico Jacks flag), that would likely be something this shop would be interested in me doing. I see what you're saying with the bridges and that definitely gives me food for thought. The pirate flags were unusual in that I'm cutting out the main interesting parts, in other words cutting "negative space". I almost had to think backwards in some cases and of course I lose some of the character and detail of the skulls, but your examples really make me re-think this and I'll experiment tomorrow. The beauty of the black walnut really makes it desirable. I'm always looking for new ideas, keep 'em coming.

This stuff is pricey, but it's very good and I use it for items that will have multiple small pieces because it's so easy to remove afterwards and holds the pattern very well with no lifting while cutting. http://www.amazon.com/20-Roll-Stick-Release-Scroll/dp/B00I51270M?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I'll try not to turn this into a novel, but... I'm relatively new to the scroll world but am enjoying my new hobby tremendously. I live in a beach town in which there are several shops of varying types. On a whim I took some of my items to one store and they are now on display and for sale. We'll see how things go with tourist season kicking off in a couple of weeks. I also took some items to a new shop that just opened, a mid-priced clothing and gift shop with a pirate theme. After meeting with the owners and discussing possible items they'd be interested in displaying and selling, I noticed their mural on their back wall was a tattered pirate flag. For kicks, I duplicated it using thin black walnut that I had. I took it to them as a gift and they really liked it. The wife then came up with a great idea of doing pirate flags from the various pirates that sailed the seas. We both did some research and I came up with 10 different ones attributed to different pirates. Here are my versions. They are 6" x 8" in 1/4" thick black walnut with a butcher block conditioner/oil finish. One picture is one I snapped before taking them to the shop and the other shows the display on the wall at the store each one numbered with the pirate's name and below the display is a printout with information and a brief history about each pirate. And again, now we'll wait and see if the general public like them as much as we do. http://screencast.com/t/kgNQ0YAR9l http://screencast.com/t/2XXjBh1R8h Wish me luck.

Because I'm lazy and hate dealing with residue, I cover my wood with cellophane packaging tape, then spray my adhesive on that and apply my paper pattern. When done, the tape peels right off with no residue or glue to clean at all. And the tape lubes the blade a little bit as a bonus.