RabidAlien

Two of the Christmas presents framed and ready to go (Superman and WonderWoman), as well as a first-attempt at intersecting wordart. Of course, me being me, I couldn't opt to start with something like "Cat" or "Dog"....lots of tiny details and thin lines, had to re-glue the hole in the "6" where the bridge broke. But, the wife likes it, so that's all that matters, yes? Friday was our 16th anniversary. I was hoping to get this done before Friday, since I had last week off (two and a half days off due to Thanksgiving, plus 5 days of vacation time, makes for a GREAT time off! Lotsa sawdust generated.) but I was busy finishing up the rest of the Christmas gift cuts, and spending time with the wife (poking holes in targets from a distance is always good!).

I'm using a Wen 3906mumblemumble (don't quote me on the model number). I've used FD and Pegas blades on everything from 3/16 ply to 2" lumber, and at all speeds. My assessment above still stands, the FD blades still want to pull to the side, its just easier to "correct" (and use the blade to shave) the line with thinner wood. Faster speed, though, tends to make the FD's drift faster.

Very nice!!! Take a look around the Interwebs for "papercutting light boxes" for some excellent, easily-adapted-to-scrolling multi-layer patterns.

#3 is my go-to blade since I upgraded from a 3" pin-ended saw. My first "real" blade was a Pegas MG, and I LOVE how those cut. I sit straight in front of the project and when I hit a straight line I know exactly where the blade is going to go...straight down that line. I recently ordered two packs of 0/2, 1,3,5,7 blades (12 ea) of Flying Dutchman MG blades, and the first blade out of the pack took off at an angle. I tossed it. Second one did the same. I modified where I was sitting in relation to the project and kept cutting, and tossed that blade at the first sign of slowing down, but the third one behaved the same way. So I chalked it up to a quirk of the brand. It still cuts, still follows a straight line if I'm paying attention. Two other observations, the Pegas teeth seem to be deeper, or maybe its in how the teeth are laid out, but the Pegas seems to be more "aggressive" in that it doesn't take as much effort to feed the project into the teeth. I could leave the piece sitting with no forward pressure on it and the Pegas would still seem to nibble a bit. The FD blades just kick back and grab a cuppa coffee, waiting for me to start hand-feeding again. Not good or bad, either way, just an observation. Also, I've noticed that while both Pegas and FD make MG blades, Pegas uses the bottom 1/5th or so of the blade for all of the reverse teeth. FD flips every other tooth around. This might account for the "aggression" in the blade cutting, but it also means that when I wear out an FD blade, I can flip it over in the holders and continue cutting with the "upper" half of the blade that would otherwise never get used. Personally, I'm probably going back to Pegas blades when I blow through all the FD blades in a year or so. Unless, of course, by that time I'm used to how the FD cuts and dislike how "aggressive" the Pegas blades are...

Lots of gifts this year!

Stained up, framed, ready to go. Could've done without the frame, but it helps eliminate uneven edges. Yeah, I could've run them over the belt sander to smooth them out, but I like the look with the frame. ...I just hate *making* frames.

Very smooth cutting there!

Give one of these a shot. I left out some of the smaller details (under the trees, mostly) due to the size of my drillbits, but each individual layer isn't really all that hard to cut. I cut the whole thing over three or four evenings, working about 2 hours each night, with lots of pauses as the wife came out into the garage to talk. Its a good place to start with dragon stuff (check out the rest of his patterns, too!). If I could find a dragon clipart that's *somewhat* close to a door-sitter, I could probably mod it enough to make it work, but my skillz aren't up to snuff for creating one from scratch. https://www.etsy.com/listing/690043666/dragon-fantasy-lightboxlayered?utm_source=internal&utm_campaign=cyber19&ref=cyber_rv-1&pro=1 (another I found) https://www.etsy.com/listing/721859510/mythical-creature-dragon-paper-cut-light?utm_source=internal&utm_campaign=cyber19&ref=cyber_rv-2&pro=1

Agreed, all are well cut, I'm always partial to the wolves though. on the corner-cat, I've seen a bunch of patterns with cats, has anyone done one with a dragon? I can't find them anywhere, and have a daughter who loves dragons.

Nah, these are just Christmas gifts, not a show. I don't have the time to build up enough stock to have a table, or complete orders taken at a show. Took me two months to get these done!

Gorgeous!

I know I had a pattern for that, but for the life of me I can't find it. LOL Pretty sure I picked it up from Pinterest or images.google.com somewhere.

There's three more on another workbench. Been cutting for a while now, probably mid-Octoberish, and was tired of having a stack of projects that needed finishing. So I cut the final Christmas gift yesterday, got it painted (first coat) last night, and stained these today. I ordered some LED's for the dragon project and was expecting them tomorrow, but they were delivered today (go, Amazon!!!). Several different stains used here, mostly Minwax Espresso, but I also picked up Minwax "Honey" and am REALLY liking the colors.

Nicely cut. My very next cut would be all ties to this lady until she pays what you're worth.

I've scrolled through the book (har), and there are some AWESOME patterns in it! And five rather crappy ones...

Another papercutting pattern corrupted for scrolling. Seven layers, and I had to order a drill bit small enough to get some of the details pilot-holed, my 1/16 was waaaay too big. Stack-cut this one. 3/8" BB ply, mostly #3 FDUR blades, did the treeline under the big dragon with an 0/2 FD spiral. Still thinking I may play with one of the two and try out an LED strip in front of the back piece. Pattern is from WildChild Designs on Etsy, he's got a lot of great patterns, some quite intricate, but papercutting and scrolling are pretty much the same things, just different mediums. Islands and bridges apply the same for both. https://www.etsy.com/listing/690043666/dragon-fantasy-lightboxlayered?utm_source=internal&utm_campaign=cyber19&ref=cyber_rv-1&pro=1

LOVE it!!!

Those are the best, I usually just bridge the crap out of them and continue my merry way.

45 here, and working on "curmudgeonly old man". Just waiting to reach the "old" part.

Looks great! Did the pattern maker have any stipulations about modding the pattern by adding a few bridges here and there?

There is so much awesomeness in this, I don't even know where to begin!!!!!

::salute:: Nicely cut, and many thanks to your son!

Nurse: "Do you know your blood type?" Me: "Minwax, I think. Could be BLO."

I second this.....heck, if *I* can come up with a couple of simple patterns for Christmas ornaments, ANYONE can come up with some.

Ah, yes, the healing power of sawdust. Aaaaaaand cute females in scrubs. Welcome back!