FrankEV

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.

The background is just the un-stained Poplar finished with poly. Poplar is not a very pretty wood and was only used as it wsa all that I could find localy, Did not want to use Pine and Oak was too coatly to experiment with. Wasn't sure it was going to come out even as well as it did. Think I'll shoot another pic tomorrow with differet lighting to see if I can improve the view of the frame.

This Sculptured Fretwork portrait of an Eagle Bust (my go to subject) was made from a slightly modified and resized pattern by G&K Woodworking to suit an 11” x 14” panel. I used nominal 1” x 12” Poplar purchased a Lowes as I did not want to invest a lot of money for any expensive wood as this was my first attempt at doing a sculptured portrait. The fretwork was cut using Pegas #1 Spiral blades and the panel was affixed to a painted Black 1/4” thick BB Ply Backer after sculpturing and coloring was completed. I would like to take this opportunity to give a big THANK YOU to Dick Mira for sharing information regarding the sculpturing and coloring process. I was his support and encouragement that gave me the confidence to try this kind of project. This first attempt was a very big learning experience. The first lesson learned is that the choice for an appropriate pattern is very important. Since I'm not capable of making my own patterns I need to utilize those made by others, and since most are not made with sculpturing in mind they may often need to be modified somewhat. I quickly learned that the sculpturing process is not easy, requires a lot of attention to details and a lot of hand sanding. I also learned that the sculpturing and painting process is very time consuming, especially waiting for the finishing materials to dry in between coats. I also made a custom Poplar Frame embellished with some premade decorative trim. The frame was stained with Minwax Red Mahogany and the trim colored with a light coat of gold(ish) colored paint. The frame is protected with multiple coats of Wipe-On-Poly. Edit 12/28/20: It will be a little while before I upload a new photo. Decided to take some of the comments and suggestions to heart and work on the background. Edit 1/3/21: Here is my Eagle Bust Portrait with a colored bacground. I saw a photo of a real Eagle with a blue background that had fuzzy stars. Could not figure out how to make my stars fuzzy. The two coats of the blue poly/paint mix over the original poly finish took forever to dry. Then the stars, using a stencil and spray can white, and another coat of Wipe-on Poly.

The cutting on both is nice. but...... The first one is a little nicer because it is darker, but the uneven tone of the wood/stain (?) is a distraction. Unfortunately I wont give any real acalades to either. Not sure if it is the choice of the wood or stain or both. And, just in my opinion, I'm not fond of the overly ragged distressed panel edges. The eye apealing presentation is just not there.

Very well done. I'm sure it will be displayed with pride.

Great job on the cut, looks real nice. Yep, very suitable for the use of spiral blades. They would probably have reduced your cutting time significantly. I would guess at least half asuming skilled in their use.

Another great project well done. I'm looking very close...you know why.

Hey, I'm 78 also. I feel i'm in good company here in the Village. Glad you are happy with your system.

They sure are nice and a great use of scrap wood.

Look at the thread Gifts - Scroll Saw Challenge under the heading General Scroll Sawing Lots of Ideas. I show three Items I made for my S.O. You will find it near the bottom of the first page.