MTCowpoke22

I agree, why would one cut all the character out of it? I end up making quite a few things out of it. Rustic is the in thing here at moment. It doesn't take some work to pull out nails and find wood that isn't too rotten to use, but generally it cuts fairly easily and isn't too bad to use.

I made this custom order for as a going away gift for a music teacher. The backer is reclaimed barn wood and the treble clef is BB plywood. For those who aren't familiar with sheet music, it says "Scobey", which is the town the teacher was leaving.

Welcome!

Looks good. I share your opinion of spiral blades. They serve their purpose, but are not my preferred means of scrolling.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Wow! Turned out great! Were you the one asking about turning it into a pattern on facebook?

I agree. Beautiful work.

I finished another rocking horse. This one is a buckskin and belongs to my daughter. She was not happy when the other one disappeared. As you can tell by the photos, the Quality Control Department at home approves of the construction and functionality of this rocking horse.

I used to just spray glue the pattern onto the wood directly. I'm not sure if I used too much glue, but I always had a hell of a time getting the pattern off, even with mineral spirits. Even if the pattern came off, I still had sticky adhesive on the wood that had to be sanded or rubbed off. There were times with fine fretwork on plywood that I would either break pieces, or sand right through the top ply trying to get the glue off. Now, I use the green frog tape because that's what I can get in bulk around here. I usually try to get the 2" or 3" wide stuff, but cover the entire top surface of my wood piece. Its night and day difference for me. The pattern pulls up easily, and if any pieces rip and stay, it doesn't take much to get them. I also tape around the edges to keep my plywood stacks together while cutting. No more fighting with paper stuck to small fragile patterns, no more sticky glue adhesive to try to sand off the finished product. I've thought about trying the shelf liner others here talk about, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I was Today years old when I discovered the tongue thing.

So far, I've only had one person tell me that a $20 item was "Sooo Expensive". Look, it took me about two hours to make it, and my time has to be worth something. If you want cheap junk that was mass produced, got to Hobby Lobby or Finger Hut. Needless to say, she didn't buy anything. If I'm going to give away my work, its usually going to go to a fundraiser or charity that I choose. In those cases, they almost always get more than I was charging for the item and it goes to a good cause.

Beautiful Work!

Great job!

Finally finished the first of a couple rocking horses I've got lined up. I did use my scroll saw to cut the first of each part, then rough cut all the others. After the rough cuts, I used the trim router to get the pieces to match. The horse is pine, with painted mane, tail, spots, saddle, and hooves. The rocker base is red oak.

I agree with all the suggestions above, but also have a small set of rifler files that I use to get most of the "fuzzies" off of the finer fretwork I've done.

Beautiful work!

They look great! Keep up the good work.

Ready for finish. Only three more to go.

Well done. I love your choice of wood.

Nice Job!

My advice as a real estate lender is to get comfortable with your loan officer. And realize that real estate takes time. It's a lot of hurry up and wait. After you turn in your completed application and the underwriting is complete, they have to order the appraisal. Depending on where you are that can take anywhere from a week to a month. And there really isn't anything to do until that is back. The amount of the loan, and subsequently the amount of the down payment, hinges upon the appraised value. Once that comes back and we know the loan is a go, title insurance must be ordered. Again, this takes some time. Many realtors/sellers want to jump the gun and order that right away. But the amount of title insurance is dependent upon the actual sale value of the house, and the lender's policy that comes with is dependent upon the amount of the loan. If they order the title insurance early and the appraisal is lower than expected, the seller and you will end up paying for more than is necessary for title insurance. And your lender cannot move forward until the title insurance commitment comes back. They need to know if there are any outstanding liens on the property, and the legal description on your mortgage must match the title insurance exactly. I know a lot of areas that have more appraisers and title options are faster than I have it here, but it all still takes time. For me, it generally takes around 1 1/2 to 2 months to close on a mortgage, from start to finish. And that is only if we don't have any hiccups along the way.

I've tried it a few different ways. I really didn't notice any difference by using packing tape on top of the pattern. Except that it would start to lift after so much had been cut, and it would take the pattern with it. That said, I am absolutely a believer in painters tape. I used to spray the wood directly and attach my pattern. But I was probably using way too much spray glue, or not waiting for it to dry long enough. Because it was always a fight to get all the glue off of the piece. Multiple applications of mineral spirits were needed and even then I had to usually do some sanding/scrapping to get all of the glue off. If it was fine fretwork, you can imagine how easy it was to break something while simply trying to remove the glue. Since I have gone to the blue painters tape, removing the pattern is a lot faster. The tape doesn't leave any residue when peeled off, and for the most part peels off fairly easily. I think the thing is to find what works for you. I use tape under my pattern for reasons explained above. You don't, and you have your reasons for not doing it.

Great Job!

Making some progress, but slow going. Have to build the base still, finish painting the saddle, and apply clear coat to the entire thing still. And still working on the other three as I go.