FrankEV

I'll say very nice and different! Nice paintwork. I was wondering about the plywood for an outdoor project until I read that you were coating it in epoxy. That should make it withstand up to the elements nicely. You might want to think of a real sign post to hang it on. Those plant hangers tend to bend or loosen up in the ground with the wind blowing on what ever is hanging on them.

From what can be seen in the photo the cutting looks real good. Having never tried to cut a puzzle, I'm curious. What is your cutting procedure? One piece at a time or row by row? Do you tape the rows together as you go?

The cutting and coloring look nice. Fortunately you did not add why and am very glad you did not. For that reason I hope this presentation does not lead to any political discussions/opinions being posted in this forum! I have been very pleased that to this date this forum has not participated in such.

I havn't done "millions" of holes, but have done a couple of projects in 3/4" material. Using small bits (like #64) and the Dremel operatinag at it highest speed, I have no trouble drilling nice straight holes fairly quickly. I don't push the bit throught to fast, just let it do its thing with a nice steady pressure on the handle. If I was using a larger bit I would knock the speed down. The only trick to using this set up is the need to position the point of the bit only about an 1/8" above the work so positioning over the cut out area is easier to line up. A good light on the panel also helps.

I've posted this a few time before but think it is worth sharing again. This is my solution for not having a drill press! The Dremel drill press as is, because of it is only 3" from the bit to the post, is imparactical to use for drilling blade holes in almost any fretwork larger than 6" wide. However, I had the idea in my head I could do something to make it work and Home Depot near me had the Dremel Drill Press/Tool Station in stock for $45. I took a chance (knowing I could return it if I could not make it work) and bought it this morning. After I got it home and did some investigating how I could make it work the light bulb lit up in my brain and this was the result. There is a shelf above my workbench that was just the correct height {Actually needs to be the height of the post plus about 2 inches] to allow me to mount the base upside down. I slid the Drill press body on the post opposite of what is normal. The press can be rotated around the post allowing it to be swung out of the way if necessary. I use a piece of 1/4" ply as a drill backer and set the stop so the bit will not punch into the workbench top. Very easy to locate the bit ove the point where the hole is needed. From the bit to the wall is about 11" so as positioned it can accomodate panels up to about 22" wide. I have two Dremel Rotary Tools so this one will be a dedicated drill for drilling blade holes, although the tool holder body can be rotated up to 90 degrees and used for other operations. I don't think I will be braking as many drill bits with this setup. I located it near the rear corner of the workbench so it should not interfere tooooooo much with other workbench usage. As the say, where there is a will there is a way. And when space is at a premium, you have to think outside the box and make evey square inch count. This set up is working very well for me.

Denny, I sarted with using the bottles of Acrylic paints but have recently started to use the Artist Acrylic paints that comes in the tubes. I also use the Artist Oil based paints that come in the tubes. Both allow mixing of small amounts of basic colors to obtain various colors. I'm having fun experimenting with both and learning which works better for me. I tend to use the acrylics when the color is applied to the backer under the cut panel and the oil based paints when applying to the cut panel itself. The oil based paints work (for me) a little better for the dry brush technique and I seem to be able to blend the colorations a little better. I shouldn't really be concerned how long a project takes but more on what the end result is. I'm usually cutting another project, or making a frame, while the paint dries anyway. I only complain about the drying time of oil base paints becaue I am impatient . I'm seeing a few more of our members adding color to their work which I'm very clad to see.

Beautiful!!!!! Extreamly well done. The little bit of color does wonders. I'm sure your "lovely" wife loves it. Hope you signed and dated it so you won't forget which Valentines day it was made for.

Yeah, I like to add some color...makes some of these portraits pop. I don't feel I have a very good artistic eye. I'm just experimenting as I go. I will use a photo (like I did for these Racoons0 in an attemp to get the colors close to correct. I couldn't paint a picture if my life depended on it, but I have been able to enhance some of the patterns I've cut by adding color. A set of inexpensive acrylic craft paints and a set of cheap brushes would get you started. The oil base art paints are a little easier to mix and blend colors, but do take a long time to dry.

Was looking for something different and I found this 11” x 14” pattern called Double Trouble by Jeff Zaffino on the Scroller Website. Looked challenging…boy, was that quite an understatement! This cutting took toooo many hours as the pattern has well over 400 holes and many of the cuts were not much bigger than the #64 drill bit I used for the Pegas #2/0 spiral blades I used. Because of the many tiny cuts it was difficult to work cutting on this pattern for more that 2 or 3 hours at one time. The cut panel is 1/4” thick Mahogany solid core plywood affixed to a 1/8” thick BB plywood backer painted Flat Black. I chose the Mahogany plywood because after studying the pattern I knew that I was going to add color and the Mahogany color would work well for the tree. The coloring was done with Artist Oil Paints using the dry brush technique in order to obtain the shading and highlighting. This requires the first application to be dry before applying another tint. Oil base Artist paints take a long time to dry and this extended the project time considerably. The border is painted also to create a matted effect. The finished panel was protected with two coats of clear spray Polyurethane after the coloring was complete and dry. The Frame is another simple 1 3/4” wide Poplar frame stained with Minwax Brazilian Rosewood Gel Stain and protected with two coats of clear spray Polyurethane. I used the Minwax pre-stain wood treatment before applying the Gel Stain. In my opinion this stain color is about the best looking slightly transparent color for the Poplar wood.

How nice! Great Story! I did the standard dozen Roses thing this morning for my lady and will be making a fancy dinner tomorrow. That being said she did approach me this morning with a suggestion for a project she would like me to make for her. I found the appropriate patterns and ready to start cutting. Probaly more than 400 holes, so it will take a while and wont be ready by this Valentines day.

Maybe we are saying the same thing, but I'm not sure. You had said you though about adding brirght Jamican colors to the background. I liked the idea, but in mu mind it would only work outside the leaves inside the edge border. A black background should remain around Marley's image. Hope that is clear to what I invision.

Red Oak is great for picture frames but not the best for cuttings, especially thin panels. If Red Oak is a look that you want you can get Red Oak 1/4" x 12" x 19.5"Panels solid core plywood in boxes of 10 from Home Dedpot. Free delivery to your location. I have purchased their Cherry, Oak, Mahagony and Birch in addition to my go to panels of Maple and Walnut. Not quite as cheep as BB Ply, but very nice quality product. Your cutting looks good. Any plans to mount it on a backer for display? Right now, like the "real" Bigfoot, very invisable.

Lots of great work nicely displayed! Wish I had empty walls. What will happen when you run out of space?

Extremely nice work. I think a nice bold Jamacian colored background would look great on the Bob Marly cut, but not behind the his head within the leaves.

All really really nice. Great cutting. Font cutting just perfect. I lLove the "two" pretty kittys!

Welcome to the Village from the East Coast of Central Florida, Lots of fre patterns in the Pattern Library. Check them out and jump in and start cutting. Got questions, fire away, you will get answers real quick. Lots of truel experts in our membership will ing to help..

Very neat cutting and a really great way to use up scraps. As long as you have an outlet for them its a Win-Win situation. I have a lot of small 1/8 and 1/4 panel leftovers. I know I should do a bunch of ornaments for Xmas or some of the small multi layer patterns that are available, but the bigger projects always seem more satisfying to complete.

Nice cutting for a quickie!!! Looks thin. I would hope it is going to be applied to something.

The Plaque looks great. But I'm confused. Your title "Strangman". is that a misspelling? Shouldn't it be "Strongman"? Or, am I missing something?

Very, very well done cutting!

In another post under “Scrollers Q&A” I asked about what projects I should/could do with some beautiful Walnut and Soft Maple I just acquired. A box, made of a combination of Walnut and Maple, was suggested in a number of the replies. The walnut plank was 3/4” X 17” X 8’ but had a large knot hole in one end. I was able to cut about 14”off the end with the hole and cut the cut off up into a number of pieces. I was able to cut up the cut off into the various sized pieces I needed for this project and actually re-sawed them into 1/4” thickness on the table saw. (I do not have a band saw so, not the best way, but my only choice). This nominal 5" X7" Tribal Box is a Steve Good pattern which I followed, but not really. I did not cut the boxes from thick material but instead formed them from the 1/4” material I salvaged from the cut off pieces. I did use the fret work patterns except that I stack cut and only cut half of the top pattern and opened it like a book to apply to the top. I also stack cut the bottom scroll work also. The top projecting pediment was the only piece that was a single layer. I mitered the corners of the boxes and bottom fretwork at the vertical belt sander and used my strap clamp to hold it square while the glue dried. I rounded the corners of the boxes and the Maple top and bottom slabs at the sander. After some hand sanding with 100 and then 600 grit paper I applied a coat of Lacquer sanding sealer, then finished sanding with1500 grit paper and finally applied multiple coats of spray clear gloss Lacquer. OK, so does anyone know what a Tribal Box is used for?

DEleted

Really, really nice. Love the pattern. Great Frame.

I just purchsed that Dewalt saw on Amazon. Expecting delivery this coming Thursday. I guess you did not see my query "Which Table Saw" in Scroller Q&A just a few days ago.

If you found it in the craft area it is either Bass or Balsa wood. If you found it in the kitchen area it is propbaply wood intended to be used for serving/cooking food like Susi. You can find nice Cedar planks about that same size, about 1/4"(-) thick for cooking fish on in specialty kitchen ware shops. As the package says, made in China so you will probably never know what it is.