FrankEV

You are 100% correct. I'm contemplating how to fix. My adding the coloration to the backer caused the problem. I did not see the problem until I took the pic and submitted this post. Sometimes you don't see a mistake until it is too late. I may attempt to remove the sun. it is too late to change the coloring of the background. EDIT: See revised Post

I adapted a free image of a metal wall hanging to create a nom 10 ½” x 14” Intarsia pattern. Wood used: Aspen, Basswood, Poplar (textured with a wire wheel and enhanced with Green Acrylic paint applied with an Air Brush), Padauk, Walnut, Wenge, Yellowheart, and a Tan mystery wood for the island. The backer is a nominal 5/8” thick Premium Pine panel that was lightly painted using an Air Brush to create a sea to sky background while allowing some of the strong Pine grain to show through. The rails of the Walnut fixed frame are 1 ½” wide forming a 15” x 19” panel. Finish is rattle can spray Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish. Comments and critiques are always welcome. EDIT 2: Yep the sun WAS in the water!!!!! Did not see it until I looked at the original photo with this post. The glue had not curred fully and I was able to remove the sun completely without much visable damage to the background. I'll be deleting the sun from the pattern. With my interpretation of the Island, I feel it is no longer needed. Kind of looked wrong even without the colored background.

Great work. I like both...nothing much more to say!

I adapted original Stained Glass Art by Jillian Sawyer to create a 99 piece, 10” x 15” pattern. Wood used: Aspen, Cedar, Orange Osage, Padauk, Poplar, Roasted Birch, Sapele, Yellowheart, and Wenge. Wood used for leaves and stems was enhanced with Green Dye and the Butterfly wing veins were highlighted with a black sharpie. Assembly is mounted on a 1/8” thick BB Ply backer and finished with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Spray Acrylic Finish. The Poppy was intended to be dark and light Red, much like how Blue was use in the original art. My choice to use Cedar wood for the light Red was poor with the color being more Brown than Red. This was not apparent to me until I brought the Butterfly assembly against the flower assembly. Although this should not have been necessary, but since assembly was too far complete, I found it necessary to improve the Cedar with Red Dye. Comments and critiques allways welcome.

Very Nice. I realalize you said first project, but FWIW, a #7 blade is really large. I'm an avocate of using the smallest blade possible for the kind of cutting you are doing and the thickness of the material you are cutting. You might find a #3 or even a #1 blade would be eaiser to work with for this kind of cutting and materil thickness. Just my two cents.

It seems from what I have gathered there are two ways to approach following pattern lines. It really has more to do with the pattern than the cutting itself. Thick line patterns vs. very thin line patterns. Those who use thick line patterns, they need to split the line to be accurate. Those, like myself, that like very thin line patterns can approach the cutting a little differently. For thin flat fretwork type panel cutting and using (me) spiral blades, the line is more of a suggestion as where to cut. Again using very small blades, a slight deviations from the line to either side does not usually effect the image unless very long,very straight cut lines are needed. Such deviations seen under 5x magnification are not apparent froma normal viewing distance. For Intarsia, however, I find there is a need for much more accurate cutting to obtain a good fit-up. I use the approach of cutting up-to/next-to the line. I cut just to the outside of the individual pieces so if any fit-up sanding is required, there is material to work with. You can always remove material, but you can not add material that has been cut away. Remember, there is always the loss of material between individual pieces due to blade thickness. Again, this is why I prefer, for cutting 3/4" thick material for Intarsia, to use using the smallest regular blades possible...I like Pagus #3 MGT-R for most wood species but they dull and break easily on very hard wood, like Purpleheart. Let me state this is MY way of cutting. It works for me. But, it certainly not the only way to be accurate and successful at cutting any kind of patterns using a Scroll Saw.

Love it. Great wood choices. Great choice for the mounting slab. Yes it is all about applying the finish that make it all come together!

The photo I used had dead leaves, so I assumed it was a winter scene. My leaves are not green as they would be if not winter. I did not even think about the indication of snow on the branch. I just followed the photo when making the pattern. I enjoyed doing the flat fretwork, especially with adding color, but my stockpile of finished pieces was getting too large and insperation for new pieces was getting more difficult to find. Intarsia seemed interesting and challenging. I still get to work with color, if not with paint. Pieces are generally smaller and I don't have to make frames. AND, as I was warnned, without a doubt Intarsia is addictive! In your final question, I guess you are asking about comparing precision between Fretwork sawing and Intarsia sawing. Loaded question! Read on if you have the time. Art panel Fretwork sawing is tedious and care must be taken not to cut into adjacent cut-outs, but following the lines super accurately is not as imperative to the final image. Of course, drilling and treading the blade in the many hole panels I did is a SPITA. I enjoyed useing spiral blades to cut the very thin plywood panels. The results of the cutting is apparent immediately and quite satisfying to the senses. Adding color was my way of kicking the resuts up a knotch. Intarsia, on the other hand, is less about the sawing and more about interpretation of the wood and art being created. That being said, accurate sawing is imperative to get a good fit-up of the pieces. Cutting the same line twice exactly the same is the key to good Intarsia. No quick cutting using spiral blades. However, the sawing is actually the lesser part of the effort when doing Intarsia. The sanding to get good fit and finish, shaping (or sculpturing if you will) to make the art come out of the wood, the wood choices to obtain the art colors, the assembly/glue up, and even the application of the finish must all come together before the art can be viewed and the senses satisfied. You only get a hint along the way of what the final piece will look like before the final finish is applied. I also like to create the patterns for the projects I do. For my flat fretwork I was making more and more of my own patterns. For Intarsia, there are many very good patterns available by some very talented Artisans, but I really do not care to do OP's patterns. I spend many hours at the PC to make my own Intarfsia patterns which I share freely. This is also what makes Intarsia challenging for me.

I adapted a winter scene photo of a Chickadee to create a 10” x 10” Intarsia pattern. This pattern requires very accurate cutting to get a good fit-up. Wood used: Aspen, Basswood, Costa Rica Mahogany, Mahogony, and Wenge. Dye was applied to Aspen for the Light Grey areas. I used a 5/8” thick Premium Pine Project panel from Lowes for the free form plaque type backer. The backer perimeter edge was cut at a 4-degree bevel and then a router was used to round-over the top edge using a 1/8” round-over bit. The completed assembly was protected with multiple coats of a Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish. Comments and critiques welcome. I will post the pattern in Pattern Exchange.

Oh what you can do with a little paint! Really nice. I've got a couple of Seg projects on the back burner bu there is just not enough hours, when I can only do about 3 hours a day.

Pants. long sleeve shirt with laytex glloves ooverlapping and taped, full face respirator mask with scarf to prevent dust from getting on head and neck...and then go at it. Comments from other Intarsia makers have stated the same thing about various woods. Seems like everyone reacts alergy wise differently. I use a full respirator mask when shaping and sanding and a vacumn system. However, my shop is small and dust gets airborn, so it still gets into my nose and it makes me sneeze a lot. Fortunately, no other adverse reactions. I've been meaning to try Bloodwood. I think I will be very careful when I do.

Yep, cute! You might consider rounding the edges of the various layers to give it a more sculptured look.

Nah, you don't want to do that.

True Intarsia uses the natural color of various wood to create the Art. Green and Blue are not readily available as natural wood colors. As I stated in my post, I dyed Aspen ( avery White Wood) the blue and geen areas. All others parts of the Duck are the natural wood color, although I did add the dark shading/shadow by applying a very thin coat of Acrylic Paint with my Air Brush. And yes, I do purchase many various pieces of wood to get the many various colors needed to do Intarsia. Not an inexspensive hobby.

I adapted a photo of a Mallard Duck in Flight to create an 11 ¼” x 10 ¼” Intarsia pattern. Wood used: Aspen, Basswood, Orange Osage, Roasted Birch, Sapele, Yellowheart, and Wenge. Very accurate cutting is needed to get a good fit of the many small parts, especially in the wings. To enhance the piece, I used dye to color Aspen for the Green and Blue areas. For my version I also added some dark shading to match the image using an Airbrush. Backer is 1/8” thick BB Ply and the completed Assembly was protected with multiple coats of a Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish. Original Photo. My version! Comments and critiques welcome. I will post the pattern in Pattern Exchange.

The ornaments look great. I don't have a Hegner, but I'm thinking using a shorter stroke will minimize the number of teeth the is doing the cutting. This would lead me to the idea that the blade would possible dull quicker, heat build up may be greater and breakage may be more frequent. That all being said, I also suspect these possibilities may be very insignincant. JUst what my brain thinks when I read about the shorter stroke.

Looks like a fun loving K9. Great job on the cutting. You bet those spirals work great? But Denny, "professional framing" at retail cost most can't afford, sure makes the rest of us that make our own frames, look cheap. I know the recipient will be thrilled.

3/4"

Angel Fish, a Steve Bundred pattern, is the January 2025 FB PAM. The two-part vertically stacked assembly measures 10 ½” x 10”. Wood used were Padauk, Yellowheart and Purpleheart along with 1/8” BB Ply backers and some scrap Pine shim blocks. Since I did not have the correct size Fostner bits and I do not own any plug cutters, the round eye details were difficult to do, so I cheated and used black paint for the centers. The completed assembly was protected with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish spray. I started this project on January 1, but because the temperatures here in Central Florida have been so cool this month, and my little heater in my shop just can’t keep up, daily shop time has been very limited. Also, the three woods used were all very hard, especially the Purpleheart, and the cutting was very, very slow. I dulled and/or broke way too many Pegas #3 MGT-R blades cutting this project. Comments and Critiques always welcome.

Hobby Lobby brand. Much less expensive than name brands.

Quite beautiful!

No AB on this one. All natural wood colors except I dipped the Poplar in a Green dye solution to enhance the Green color.

She liked a lot, but has not laid claim to it yet.

I created a scrollable 12” X 12”, and a slightly smaller 10” X 10” version, Intarsia Pattern by adapting and modifying a Stained-Glass Pattern titled Hummer, that had been offered free from a now defunct website http://www.designglass.com. Wood used for my 12”x12” version shown: Basswood, Mango, Osage Orange, Padauk, Poplar (with a little green dye help), Sapele, Wenge, Walnut, and Yellowheart. Backer 1/8” thick BB Ply. Finished with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish spray. As always, comments and critiques allways Wlecome. I will share the patterns in Pattern Exchange.

See my edited original post.