FrankEV

That is assuming the scroller using the flat blade is very good at following the lines and making the inside points meet and the outside points are neatly accomplished. In reviewing many of the photos of projects shown in this forum, I can state, without any reservation, that there are more "buggers" visable by the straight blade users than those who use spirals because the spirals "look like" they are intended to be that way. When using straight blades and spinning the work piece at changes of direction, the point/corner is often messed up worse than any spiral blade would do. I know because it happens to me quite often, even on simple cutouts. In my opinion, spiral blades, for patterns like the one the OP mentioned and most wildlife portraits, are much more forgiving for tha apperance of the overall finished project. FEATHERS AND FUR are not smooth.

I'd bet if you use a #2/0 spiral, after the cut is complete and a backer affixed, you won;t be able to tell that the points are "round" when viewed from a typical viewing distance of a few feet. You can only tell they are "round" under the magnifier light. And. cutting time would be MUCH quicker. It will be very intersting if you do it both ways...Please return and post your findings.

I hear you!!!!! Somebody else somewhere herein said to grab the blade with a pair of pliers pulling the blade straight before letting it slide down to the table to prevent kinking the blade and allowing it to break. This does work and you may have only broken 20 blades. I'm in the process of cutting some 3/4" Poplar with #0 and #1 Pegas spiral blades in a many hole pattern. I still break some blades but because most get dull real quick and when I tend to push tooooo hard, they break.

From my woodshop days making a glued up panel requires a lot of work and equipment. If I was making a 24" wide panel I would use four nom 8" wide boards (yes that is 30") and a min 3/4" thick (or what ever the carving machine requires). The edges need to be jointed or they will NEVER pull together. Yes you flip the boards so the growth rings alternate up down up down. I would use biscuits, but for a csarving panel this might not work well unless they can be place outside the cut area. Then to make the panel appropriate for carving the panel would need to be planned to a uniform "flat" thickness. Hard to find a planner that wide. Of course the panel then needs to be sanded smoth with a wide belt sander. Only after all that you then cut the panel to the final panel size the pattern needs. Way too much work to make the panel yourself. I didn't have the wide sander but I've made table tops this way...lots of sanding work is necessary to get a flat surface.. I would suggest you check out some local custom cabinet maker shops that deal in making solid hardwood cabinetry. They deal in doing this kind of work all the time and they have the wood and equipment. I'm betting you can find one who would be willing to make the panel for you and even do grain matching so the panel would be very uniform. Might be a little coastly but worth the cost to eliminate the hassel of making it yourself for a one-off project.

Excelent cutting. I'll make a wager that over time, for most "many hole portrait type cuttings" you will go to spirals more and more. I found that to be the case. Now I dont like using straight blades unless it is for long straight or curved lines and/or doing lettering. After a while you will hate to have to "spin the work" at every corner or point. Follow up in a few months and let us know what you opinion of spirals is then!

Bump: Original post edited to add updated photo.

You all realize that you don't paint each cut out area. I paint before afixing the cut panel to the backer and I paint well outside the lines and cover all of an area having a common color. The hardest part is to make sure the entire cut out areas are covered. It easy to miss pointy corners and areas where two colors are very close together. Painting is just time consuming...multiple coats and drying time in between. I dont pretend to be an artist, so I use the original to copy the collors. Mixing paints to produce shading effects does take a little practice and patience, but it is not rocket science.

I like it a lot. Extreamly nice. Going to put that one on my "to do" list for next year. I will probably make it much larger and put it on a 1/2 backer with a poly finish so it could hang outside.

Very nice subject and well cut. If you formalized the pattern you might want to upload it to the library. I know I might like to get the pattern. The frame is well done also, but just wondering if you considered a wider dark frame? Just my opinion but I feel the frame gets lost against the light colored cut panel. JFI, most store bought standard "picture" frames (not "document/certificate" frames) are approximately 1 1/4" tp 1 3/4" wide. A narrow frame of a contrasting color works well when the picture iself is single or double matted.

Yep, Great work. I guess you just plan to glue the cat as the backer....right?

This colorful 12” x 15 1/2” fretwork portrait was made from a free decal stencil image by Henny Donovan that I found online and reworked into a scrollable pattern in Inkscape. I’ve uploaded the pattern to the Library. The pattern was cut in 5/32” solid core Maple ply using Pegas #0 spiral blades and affixed to a 1/4” hand painted BB ply backer. The coloring was done using acrylic craft paints. I used the original image as a guide to doing the coloring. I’ve attached the original image for comparison. The final panel was protected with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Lacquer. FYI, the painting process is a time consuming effort. The frame is a simple Poplar frame painted Gloss Black It should be noted that in the actual cutting there is contrast in the Parrots eye that is not visible in the photo because shadow hides the light grey color surrounding the black pupil.

I like a lot!!!!! Beautiful. Enjoy the use of the new saw!

Fantastic work. I'm overly partial to Eagles and this one is wonderful. I'd make one to be proudly displayed in my office...if I had an office. Now my overcrouded computer desk in the corner of my livingroom only has room for my "Grumpy Old Man" Sign .

Absolutely beautiful work. Your sisters are going to love them. The stretched wire for hanging paintings is a classic way and great for larger framed work. My only objection to that method is that the portrait tends to lean out from the wall at the top a little. Most of our framed portrait work is done in typical photo sizes (8x10, 11X14 or some variations near those sizes). And, most when cut in BB ply or similar, are rather light weight as we don't put our work under glass. A simple sawtooth hanger is most often more than enough and only requires a small brad nail in the wall to hang on. This method keeps the work flat against the wall for best viewing (IMHO). The swivel tabs to hold you work in the frame are great, but you must make the rabbet depth to match the thickness of the panel. I happent to use framing pins to hold the work in the frame so I make my rabbets deeper than the panel thickness. And, they are a lot easier and quicker to shoot in with the stapler like device.

Great cutting for newbie.

Cuttings look good. I'm not a Zombie fan but I like Rose. Hard to see any delamination faults in the pic. One trick is to make sure you sand the cut panel well down to a least 200 grit but I go down to 600 grit before attaching your tape for the pattern. Also, when removing the pattern make sure you peel the tape in the direction of the wood grain, NOT AGAINST IT, in order to minimize lift up. And, Duck brand shelf liner available from walmart is a better than painters tape, removes easier and a lot cheaper. Just my personal comment and opinion. Your pics would look better if you placed your cut panels on a solid dark background (if not the planned backer) and shoot them as perpendicular to the panel as possible.

Nice work, but Autumn is 9 months from now. BTW, Your small text in "gold/yellow" and "centered" was difficult to read. did not even notice it at first. If that was done on purpose I would suggest against it.

Extremely neat cutting. Very nice.

Great pattern, great subject and great cut. Realy realy nice. Are you gonna try making an oval frame for it?

Really really nice! Is that Burl Maple?

Now that is different and just wonderful. Very nice cutting and finish.

This work is using power carving tools with a Dremel or the like. My carving chisels are still available if you are interested.

Just bought a Bosch...it was highly recommended by a reliable source..

Believe it or not, we rarely ever have Pop Top Tabs in our house as neither of us like to drink any thing from cans! I can also see that the work may not hang straight as the tab is rounded and not necessarily self centering. That being said, I aplaud you idea and commitment to recycling..

Thank you for all you comments. As I mentioned in the original post, the choice of Pattern is key to a good sculpture subject. In thjis case I found the dark feather area of this pattern did not depict the Eagle Body Fethers well. In the simple B&W photo pattern file, the overall pattern looked good and I only realized the poor representation of the fethers after the cutting was complete (Part of lessons being learned) as I was trying to add details to make it more realalistic. I was so focused on the sculpturing and coloring of the bust that I did not address the background - orther than trying to remove a lot of sculpturing marks left from the lowering process and present a smoooth surface. I do like your suggestionto to use a blue coloration to represent sky. It is still possible to add color to the background and I'm seriously considersing doimg so. Again, thank you, I appreciate the suggestions and comments. Great way to learn.