Blaughn

There are times in life when just making sawdust is progress. First sawdust then masterpieces with a few "not bads" in between. Saw on!

In your experience which of the hardwoods are most drop-out tolerant (least likely to break) and which are the ones you avoid. I now do most of my cutting in cherry and have found it very tolerable. Early on I was doing one of the Sheila Landry scripture plaques in walnut and suffered a drop-out failure (when I was almost done, of course ). I have not used walnut since BUT I am wondering which of the woods you prefer and avoid. Bruce

Welcome back. Life does have a way of creating unexpected detours. Bruce

If my wife sees this I will be "assigned" a project..... Those are definitely a must have for a "No Gnome Home". Very well done!

Hard work that triggers a smile is a great investment! Great piece!! Bruce

Wow. The truck and the case are excellent! Bruce

Superb variety of subjects and product. Easy to see why you enjoyed those results. Well deserved! Bruce

Beautiful. I especially love the wolves cut in the walnut.

Beautifully executed - scrolling as well as woodworking. Superb!

Welcome back, Brenda. Sounds like a triple whammy for you and yours - and over the holidays as well.

Please tell me that the video is not real time. Your cutting skills are awesome - even more so if that is real-time!!!! Nicely done!!

Three things I love about scrolling: 1. Producing works of art (at least in my eyes) 2. It reinforces, sometimes painfully, that I am not perfect! 3. I forget what the third thing is ............ Scroll on, Eric. Scroll on!!!

At 5 degrees I don't notice the tilt when working but without it my back gets tired very quickly. When someone mentioned it years ago when I was just getting started it sounded pretty radical. Now I don't even notice it. This is a personal preference item that is easy to try and then undo if it doesn't work for you.

Christopher: I don't know if you have tried it and rejected it or not - with that thought have you tried tilting the scroll saw toward you. Along with many others on the forum, I have set up my Ex so it has a 5 degree tilt toward me. It really helps the back strain and fatigue. It would be easy for you to slip some spacers under the saw's back feet to try it out. Bruce

As one sailor to another, Welcome to the village! It is the place to get the straight skinny and the latest scuttlebutt. I was surface navy flying above the surface you cruised below. Welcome!

Hi Tony: Welcome to the Village. It is the perfect place for scrollers of all skill levels. Bruce

I like them both. Is the wood cherry? If so, it will darken naturally with time. I read an article in Fine Woodworking where a restorer uses lye in a water solution to instantly darken cherry to it's fullest extent. It achieves an extremely dark brown that retains the reddish tone as well. If anyone is interested I will post the formula. Where did you find the hourglass parts?

I am very happy with the "home made" Danish oil I found at https://vanduynwoodwork.com/2018/09/18/danish-oil-finish-top-3-reasons-to-mix-your-own/. It pops the grain and drys far more quickly than Watco Danish Oil. The piece I am currently working on feels dry to the touch overnight and there is only a faint odor. Having said that, I will allow 3 days to be safe. My experiments with Danish oil, Wax-free Shellac followed by clear lacquer is looking promising at this point. I am preparing multiple experimental pieces before discussing further.

AS I progressed, I started out with pictures found on Steve Good's website. They were plenty challenging and I learned the needed techniques needed to branch out into other projects. I stumbled across Sheila Landry's website: http://sheilalandrydesigns.com/free-pattern/ and started word art plaques done in cherry. These have been gifted to people on various occasions and seemingly appreciated. Then, thanks to Travis' great work in teaching the ins and outs of Inkscape, I started designing my own word art plaques. I enjoy the process of making the board stock out of cherry and the process of cutting the pattern and the finishing of the final product.

The original PDF in this post and the JPG I uploaded in the pattern section had a potential drop-out problem I discovered when cutting the pattern in a tree ornament size. The "P" in Peace survived the cut but just barely. In the PDF above and in the JPG in the pattern section I have added an additional bridge and removed a bit of the ornamental curl in the letter to make the cut a bit less "heart-stopping".

That looks terrific! Patience triumphs again!!! Enjoy!

I HATE lifting patterns! I tried something different with my current project: As has been suggested several times: Sand the top surface of the work piece with 220 grit sand paper to prep it for applying the pattern. Wipe the surface after sanding with a cloth dampened with alcohol. When the alcohol was thoroughly evaporated (2-3 minutes) I applied the Walmart "Duck" clear shelf lining plastic. At this point I did an additional step that really helped: I used a rubber wallpaper seam roller to press the Duck shelf lining plastic into the surface of the wood piece. You can actually see the shelf liner becoming more clear as the adhesive is pressed into the wood. I print my patterns on 8.5 x 11 Press-ply labels Using these I apply the pattern to the Duck shelf liner. Finally I cover the Press-Apply label with 2" clear package tape. This has drastically reduced the tendency to lift and, for me, is now my routine. Wallpaper seam roller: https://smile.amazon.com/Xtozon-Deadener-Filter-Application-Rolling/dp/B07DQG4LCJ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=160RQWEU0JLR8&keywords=wallpaper%2Bseam%2Broller%2Brubber&qid=1650223235&sprefix=wallpaper%2Bseam%2Broller%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-3&th=1 Press-ply Labels: https://smile.amazon.com/Pres-ply-Address-Labels-30605/dp/B0006HV9HU/ref=sr_1_2?crid=B8ES9OTIR0WW&keywords=8.5+x+11+press-ply+labels&qid=1650224061&sprefix=8.5+x+11+press-ply+labels%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-2

He has risen, indeed! Happy Easter to all!

Thanks for the recommendation, Tony. I have ordered a batch. Bruce

Hi Ray: I have had the same problem. I ordered this from Amazon. It is CA Glue in small tubes. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PILFVY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1 If you are using great quantities it would be a problem but if, like me, you need it occasionally this minimizes waste. Bruce