FrankEV

Athough they are available through HD, they are not the typical big box store type product as they are very high quality panels, as the price indicates, intended for laser cutting. I much prefer to cut them then BB pyly. The vaneer is of a much better quality for finishing and I found that there are no voids. Also, the grain in the vaneer is much more uniform than the BB ply.

Great work! I like color, as you probably already know, and it works great on this piece.

All look well cut and the painting is great. At $0.05 a piece they should sell out fast!

Very nicely done.

Sure wish the OP would let us know if this is what he was refering to.

That's them. The vaneer on these panels is a better grade than the common BB Ply. They are intended for Laser an Crcuit cutting and are refered to as Project Panels..

As does Lowes, HD and others. Usually much thinner and harder that the Wallmart Shelf liner, but is non-slip. I believe even HF is more costly per SQ IN/FT than the shelf liner.

I like to use the solid core 3/32" thick project panels I get from HD. I like their Maple but they have been out of stock on the 5/32" thick Maple for some time now. I'm low on these panels but HD does have Birch panels in this thickness. It is almost as pretty and nice as the Maple, just a slightly different color. It is called Birch, but I have know idea if it is "Baltic" birch. I just placed an order forthree boxes (30 sheets). Currently I do have a fairly large number of 1/8" BB ply, but I dont't use it that often. I also have good stockpile of 1/4" material that I mostly use as backers including: BB ply and the solid core Walnut, Red Oak, Mahogany, Cherry and Maple panels as well.

I don't know what you mean by a sanding mat. Google does not either. If you are refering to a non-slip mat that you lay on your work bench so pieces don't move while sanding, any wood working supply will have them at very exorberant (?) prices. Wallmart and others sell non-slip rubber like waffle type shelf liners for a fraction of the price and they work just as well if not better. Comes in rolls that you can cut to suit. HTH

Well done. Spirals do take some (more than some...more like a lot of) practice. However, for portraits like this, once mastered, you won't go back to straight blades.

Great job. As a ex volly on LI,NY I know for sure that what ever Fire Fighter winds up with it will display it in pride.

That is doable, but I wanted the new tank type ink supply. No mess no fuss.

The lizard and bat would be islands that would need to be glued back in. Otherwise this would be straight forward cutting by just cutting out the black. Since it is suggested that it be shared, I'm doubting it would be a Copywrited image that should not be copied. I would think it would make a nice piece with maybe the same statement: "How many animals do you see?" included on the panel. Not realy art, but would definately be a conversation starter...just what this website was suggesting. A mancave piece for sure!

As many others said. Great pattern and thanks for sharing. I'm in the process of getting my family gifts made including four different Santa Faces. I'm on the last one right now. However, now It will be five.

JFYI: As many of us do, we buy BB ply panels that are 12” x 24”, or in my case I also purchase the Solid Core Plywood that I get from HD that is 12” x 19 ¼”. Although one of the standard Photo sizes is 11” x 14”, which I frequently use, the extra inch that is trimmed off is a waste (but they do make good stir sticks). I have had more than one occasion when I would have liked to make my cut panel the full 12” wide, but the largest pattern I could print was 11” wide. Previously, my Inkjet printer was an Epson that was capable of printing 11” x 17” paper as well as the other standard letter and legal sizes. It was a quality printer but as we know, Inkjet cartridges are quite expensive and doing many patterns was using up lots of ink. And, If I wanted to do something wider than 11” I would have to make split patterns that I would have to tape together. So, I recently opted to purchase one of the new printers that uses ink tanks that are supposed to last a long time, and thereby reducing the per copy cost significantly. My research led me to buy another Epson, this time a Model ET-16600, which has the added capability of being able to print up to the Super B size, 13” x 19” sheets. Works nice for the Architectural B size 12” x 18” listed in Inkscape. This printer is quite expensive, but compared to online and other sellers, I got a very good deal at my local Office Depot, including an extended warranty. However, I was not able to find 13” x 19” paper at my local Office Depot and wound up having to order it on-line. I found a 500-sheet ream of Hammermill Premium 28# copy paper (a bit heavier than standard copy paper) for about $33 on Amazon with free Prime shipping. I believe, 500 sheets will last me a very, very long time. I had recently received the ream of paper and today was the first day I had the opportunity to make a large pattern. S. Good, just included a nice Christmas hanging plaque called “This House Believes in Santa” in today’s E-mail, that I was able to enlarge it to fit on a 12” wide panel. I wanted it larger as it will hang outside. Even though the large paper is a one-at-a-time feed, printing was a snap. Many years ago, when I worked in Engineering, we had printers that would take around 20 minutes or more to print out large drawing sheets. This printer prints the large sheets just about as quickly as a letter size. About ten seconds or so. Of course, this printer a full four function machine including: Copying, Printing, Faxing and Scanning.

Wonderful job. Great pattern. I love many hole patterns like this one. I have a series of bear patterns I'm planning for a themed project I'm planning for the comming months (after the holiday projects are complete) that, that work, would go very nicely with. I have not seen his name before. Is "Papa Dynamite" a member here and/or is he sharing/selling his patterns with/to others. You can PM me with any info if you like.

Well done! He was/is one of the all time greatest CW performers. I could listen to his songs all day long and often did.

I like. Great work. Maybe next a 4' or 5' tall version to stand next to a tree, and in color of course!

Very nice and interesting sculptured pieces. They look great!

Was refering to the groom!

What else is there to say. Lake all said...Great Job.

I kike that a lot. Great keepsake for the couple. However, he should have just bought her a house!!!!

Don't you just love it when an OP leaves you hanging like that. Scadi-eight peopele willing to help, but if you don't what the OP really was talking about, how can any one help?

As you know there are two tensioning devices. The knob at the back and the tensioning lever just above the blade (at least this how my Pegas is). With the tension knob set loose, if you clamp the blade top and botom and flip the lever, and then bring the tension up using the knob to where you just get that nice ping, That is your preset. Leave the knob alone from then on, but check it every now and then as they can chnge their position due to vibrations. After setting the tension, you must be careful to not over tighten the blade with the lever. If it feels thike it is too tight when you go to flip thy lever over the blade may not be in the clamp correctly. Clamping spiral blade in the clamp jaws is a little tricky because of the twist in the blade. I try to feel for the flat spot as I clamp. Not always easy to feel and you can catch the blade edge and when you flip the lever the tension may be toooo tight. Another indication of not proper clamping is getting the 'hockeystick' bend in the end of the blade. Both of these happenings shortens the blade life considerably. If you go back to my previous reply, I'm betting you re kinking the blade while threading.

1. Could be a bad batch of blades. 2. I'm gusessing that definately the tension is MUCH to tight. The blade should make a slight ping when plucked...it is not a banjo string. 3. You are pushing tooooooo hard with speed probably way too fast. Need to use a very light push to let the saw blade cut the work. High speed overheats the blade and they break much to soon. Thicker the wood the slower you need to move the piece. 4 You are trying to control the blade like a straight blade. You can't!!! Your hands must move the work to follow the line but in a more two axis like control. Both hands must work together to move the work. More like how you would trace something using a pencil and tracing paper, but using both hans. 5. And, if you kink a 2/0 spiral while threading, it will likely break within one or two cutting thereafter. ( I know, it happens to me too often...got to be very careful while threading the blade not to kink it.) Again, the thicker the wood the more opportunity to kink the blade while threading. Looking at the pic, I see the patten is not very intricate but it is somewhat repeitive. Lots of fine lines making the cutting boring but, IMHO, rather simple. Should not be a dificult piece to cut without breaking many blades. Your cutting of the lettering is real nice. You probably did not use the spirals and had no problems cutting them. Spirals do take a good amount of practice to get them to work for you. .