Crosstimbers

I have been chasing that elusive dream of a neatly organized shop since I started woodworking…but I've come to realize that some dreams never come true. Besides, I'd hate to throw away my son's inheritance!

Two thumbs up! Excellent!

I agree with Bill. I use Danish Oil as a finish frequently. As it states on the can “hardens in the wood, not on it.” I dip all my fretwork with Danish Oil. I tried spraying with lacquer but didn't have good success. By the time I got the interior edges coated, the top surface had an undesirable thick coating. Several years ago I built 4 large bookcases for a math professor. He didn't want a plastic feel, he said ”I want to feel the wood.” So I finished them with several coats of Dainish Oil and he loved the way it looked and felt. I wasn't sure at the time how well that type finish would hold up because he writes reference books and would be sliding books in and out on those shelves on a daily basis. So when I delivered them I told him to call me if the finish ever needs to be touched up. He has yet to call me so the Danish Oil must be holding up okay. Last week I made two wall mounted shelves for a customer's office. The office had knotty alder wainscoting. I took them to his office before putting the topcoat on because I needed to see how well I was able to match the stain on the wainscoting. He liked the way they looked and wanted me to go ahead and put them on the wall. I said I haven't put the topcoat on yet. He said he didn't want a topcoat. They're his shelves, so my job (and the shelves) were finished.

Beautiful work, you're an inspiration to me!

It's good to hear that the little cyclone is working so well. I'm looking forward to getting mine set up. Ordered the Metro Vac on Ebay and the cyclone on Amazon. The vacuum is here but still waiting for the cyclone. I'm planning on using a paint can for the canister, if it'll be tall enough.

I also ordered from Artcrafters. My blades arrived very quickly and Denny was super to deal with. I don't go through blades as fast as others here on the fourm but when I need more I'll be ordering from him again. Thanks Denny for the great service!

Great job! I'd like to try something like that. How about doing a tutorial on the process?

Looks awesome! I really like the choice of wood.

I've been where you were many times. Sometimes I feel like God's telling me that He doesn't want me doing this. I hope that's not the case. And like you, I usually come out of it fine. But it's painful while you're going through it. I've been busy with other work lately so I haven't scrolled in a long time. Then last week, I get an order for several items I didn't have in stock. I was so excited. Then I set down at the scroll saw and I couldn't do anything right. Had to start one pattern over 3 times. I didn't think I would ever get it done. But now the order has shipped and I'm looking forward to the next project. I'll hang in there if you will!

Beautiful work!

Both styles have their place. Just curious, what do you do for mounting the one with pegs? Keyhole slots?

Really nice! Great job on your first try!

So much good advice! It really helps.

I agree. I believe that the #1 MGT blade was the problem. I've always had good luck #3 MGT stack cutting three 1/4" pieces. I just thought I needed the #1 size because of the tight turns on that particular pattern. I may give the skip blade a try. I need to order blades anyway but I've been busy on non-scroll saw projects. So I'll be placing an order in the next day or two.

Denny, I just finished cutting some ornaments that have some really fragile areas so I used a #1 MGT. I was stack cutting 1/4" stock 3 at a time and had a really hard time with the blade deflecting and ruining the bottom ornament. Normally, I use a #3 MGT. What was frustrating to me is the fact that I was cutting really slow and being very careful not to put sideways pressure on the blade, but obviously I did anyway. The tension on the blade is good but maybe I need to increase it some more? Or, should I have just used a #3 blade since I was stack cutting?