BadBob

I have cut fretwork from various materials, from pallets to expensive exotic woods. Wood's natural characteristics can sometimes lead to breakage, as it may have hidden defects that cause it to fall apart. If you have wood available, try it, but be sure to pay attention to the direction of the grain. You will find patterns where there is no good way to cut them without the grain being a problem. For the items that need strength, I have made plywood.

Here you go: https://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2024/08/butterfly-art-scroll-saw-patterns.html

It looks like something I would try to see if I could do it.

There are a lot of branding irons available on Amazon. I would go for the electric one with a temperature control. I have wanted one of these for years but hesitated because of the cost and because the smallest branding iron is too large for most things I make.

The real Loc-Line is very tight, unlike the knockoffs that usually come on saws. I highly recommend the tool. I changed mine to the real thing because the one that came with the saw would not stay in place and was too short.

100% agree. I thought about this the first time I saw one of these. The history of the struggle to get accurate clocks is an interesting read.

+1 for Mike's Worksohop.

It might be better painted before assembly.

I used an aquarium pump for years, but they no longer make one like the one I used. If you want to try an aquarium pump, I recommend the Tetra Whisper. It's cheap ($6.40 today) and lasts a long time. I have several. If the Loc-Line is broken, replace it with the real thing. Loc-Line 40413 It will last longer and work better.

Color highlights can add to the visual appeal even for a hard-core wood guy like me.

Sounds Like my kind of barbershop.

This may be the most difficult project I have ever cut on a scroll saw. I made several attempts before I got one to come out in one piece.

They make a reducer/thinner specifically for acrylics. I have zero experience with these because they are expensive. I thin with distilled water because the minerals and chemicals in my tap water can cause reactions in the paint. One that I have experienced is having the paint thinned with tap water set up hard overnight when I saved it for the next coat. I only thin when using an airbrush and not much then.

I modified a Steve good pattern using Inkscape to make this Ornament as a gift. It is made from 1/4-inch plywood with a 1/8-inch backing. It is finished with rattle can lacquer and bright red acrylic. I used a Pegas #1 MGT at a slow speed for the cut.

I have a bunch of half-sheet labels left after buying a laser printer. They work great.

I have tried many brands of spray adhesive, but 3M77 beats them all. It sticks very well and is easily removed.

I use Taklon artist brushes purchased from online art supply stores where I can get the sizes I need. I use the cheapest acrylic paints ai can get. I don't have a problem with brush marks. Some paints dry faster than others and benefit from a flow additive that slows the drying time. I have brush-painted well over 1,000 toys. Multiple thin coats, hand sanding lightly between each coat, will give much better results than trying to get one coat coverage. If your sandpaper gums up with paint, you didn't wait long enough. I like using red Scotch Brite pads because I can clean and reuse them. Allow the paint to cure (bone dry) completely between coats. This typically takes 12 to 24 hours, depending on the conditions. Temperature and humidity matter. I find that flat paints give better results. I apply flat paints and a clear coat if I want a glossy finish. Every color can give different results, even with the same paint brand. Semitransparent colors can require many coats. I use a white base coat of paint or primer for the brightest colors.

Buying another magazine doesn't work for me. Without the digital copy, I can't easily resize, customize, or make multiple pieces.

The scanner costs $16,995.00. I looked it up.

At my Stapes, the copier and the scanner are the same. I don't like that because when you combine things like this, you have to compromise so you don't get a great copier or scanner.

I did some research on this and found that you are correct. However, everything I saw was not specific, meaning it would depend on the motor, environment, duty cycle, etc. In short, it's not something I would be concerned with. The first vacuum I used in my shop lasted more than 30 years, with only an occasional filter change and an occasional piece of broken plastic. It was still working when I got rid of it, but I could not buy Cleanstream filters to fit.

You can scan patterns with your phone. The creases are still an issue. I have played around with this and found two problems besides the creases. Lighting without glare is an issue that can be fixed easily. The other problem I encountered was that the camera needed to parallel the pattern, or you would get some distortion. This can be fixed with an overhead phone mount. They make lots of these, and some come with software. Most phone cameras have wide-angle lenses, which would also distort the image slightly.

FedX Office offers self-service for its scanners. My local Stapes also has self-service scanners, but it doesn't have large-format scanners.

My purpose in scanning these was to determine the cost of scanning SSWC patterns using a large-format scanner. I wanted to share this so that if someone else considered doing this, they would know how much it costs. I am currently working on moving most of my paper to digital form, and this is one option I explored. I have already shipped off all of my books with patterns to be scanned. There are several options for scanning the large format patterns, many of which are mentioned here.

Steve Good so closely matches what I do that I saved this blog post. I should have posted this.