FrankEV

Just a FYI. Looking at her site she does absolutly beautiful work. However, according to her site, even though you pay for the pattern it is not yours and she specifically states that her patterns can only be for personal use only and further states the cut products can not be sold. Those restrictions will make me shy away from using any of her patterns unless I plan to hang it in my own home.

Very well done. Any car guy will know what it is. However I have seen some cuts like this have the cars brand and model cut into the background somewhere. Helps with presentation when hung where non car guys might see it. Quick question. What is the standard photo frame sizes over there? Over here standard photo sizes are 8"X10" (20.32x25.40) and 11"x14" (23.94x35.56). When I can, I will try to size my panels to suit the standard frame unless the pattern will not allow it. I will often enlarge or reduce the pattern as needed to suit a standard Photo size. An 11"X14" is not that difficut to reach while cutting. I don't use paper sizes like our Letter (8 1/2 x11) or Tabloid (11X17) for portraits, as they are not quite as proportionaly appealing.

That is VERY VERY VERY nice. Great Job! She doesn't show that pattern on her site. How can it be obtained? I don't subcribe to that mag.

As others are doing I'm getting a early start on making some planned give aways for Christmas. I looked for a pattern that could be hung eiither inside or outside and found this S Good 7 1/2 x10 1/2 Merry Christmas/Cross/Oval that I felt fit that desire. I wanted to make six plaques for my neighbors and family, so I decided to attempt stack cutting. Cutting stacks of 3/4" and 1" was not difficult but was a lot slower than what I am used too. Also, dulls the blades real quick. The Oval is 1/2" Sanded Ply that I stack cut two at a time. I rought cut the oval with a #3 Pegs MGT blade staying on the waste side of the line and then used my bench mounted belt sander to true up the oval eliminating the typical marks from starting and stopping. The ovals were then sanded to a fine finish with 1500 grit paper. The Crosses are 1/4" thk BB Ply stack cut three at a time using a Pegas #1 MGT Blade. After cleanup the crosses were painted rattle can spray Hunter Green. The final coat had green glitter applied while still wet.. I did brake a small bit off in one of the stacks and had a beast of a time getting it out without destroying the stack. The paint and glitter hides the mess in one place. The words Merry Christmas is 1/8" BB Ply stack cut all six at one time using a Pegas #0 spiral blade. After clean up the Merry Christmas was paintd rattle can spray Bright Red. And Again, the final coat had red glitter applied while wet . Waiting for paint to dry and then glue to set takes a lot of time. I first glued the crosses to the ovals and then glued the words to the cross. After which I added a picture hanger on the back side and coated the entire assembled plaque with multiple coats of clear polyurethane. . Dusting the glitter onto the wet paint made it them sparkle and added another dimension to the plaques, but it is a messy job. I'm goning to have sparkles in my workshop forever .

Welcome from the East Coast of Central florida. I did a lot of woodworking when I lived in NC in my dedicated 24X30 Woodworking shop with all the major equipment. When I moved to Florida Had to give it all up. However, i'm able to make sawdust again, even if it is only a dustpan at a time, in my mini workshop with very limited equipment. Great people here in the Village with a wealth of knowledge and the willingness to share. Looking forward to see your work.

My Robin (my lady) likes your robin. Very nice!

Great job. That cut would take me a lot longer than 6 1/2 hours. Even though my Pegas has a lifting arm, I stll bottom feed because I can never get the blade to go through the work without kinking when threading down from the top. I think I would also leave as is. A nice custom made frame will make it a complete.

Welcome to the Village from the East Coast of Central Florida. Although I have completed a number of projects I'm relatively a newbie also. Only been at this for about 5 months. I also started with the Porter Cable Scroll Saw. It is a fairly good saw but has a tnedancy for the blade to wobble side to side, at least mine did, when starting which made it a little difficult to sart the cut exactly where you want it. After only a short time I decided to buy a better quality saw and got a 21" Pegas. I have two quick sugggestions. One buy yourself a LED lighted magnifyier lamp and get a foot operated on/off switch. Both will make scrolling a lot more enjoyable. Harbor Fraight sells a relatively inexpensive foot switch.

Very nice job.

S. Good 8X10 mutiple layer Pattern Modified. Three layers of 1/8 BB Ply. The pattern came with 4 layers, but I did not care for the 3rd layer. Seemed not to be needed Even my Lady said the same thing, so it wsn't just my opinion. All the cutouts in the Turtle completed with Pagus #0 spiral while all other areas cut with a Pagus #3 MGT. Then we both looked at it when it was just cut and in the natural wood we both said it needs to be painted. Did all painting using acrylic craft paints. Painting all the top layer holes in the Turtle was the hardest part of the project. Set in a store bought frame that can be wall hung on or use the table top stand.

Great project, your grandaughter should love it. JFYI, drawing velum, available at craft stores, makes good light difuser and is a little bit more durable than just printer paper and it won't yellow from the heat from the bulb. Would like to see a side view to see how you created the table stand and mounted the light. Thanks

Kevin, The "Pumkins" are cut from 1/2 X !2 X 12 Sanded Ply from patterns purchased from https://theholzbrothers.com/ ($3.79/downloadable). You can get any name of letter you want. Painted with rattel can orange and acrylic green for the stem. The "Happy Fall Y'All" is a Steve Good pattern. He gives you a small and a large pattern. I did the large approximately 12 X 11. I used 1/4 BB for the cut and afixed to 1/2" sanded ply backer painted dark brown. The Leaves were painted with acrylic craft paint. Applied a multi coats of polyurethane to make it suitable for outdoor use. HTH Frank

Very Very nice. Our Country will miss her!

You are absolutely correct...as I said you just can't fix stupid. When it gets on a roll it just keeps on going like the Energiser Bunny!

Made door hamging Pumpkins for the naeighbors on each side of me with their names in them, Then made a "Happy Fall Y'all" sign for the front of my house.

H. Botas pattern called Horse (not toooo imaginative name) resized slightly to suit a standard 11X14 frame. Cut from 1/8 BB Ply and affixed to a 1/8 BB Backer painted dark brown. Cut with Pagus #0 spiral blades (more than a few used). Panel set loose in a Custom made Poplar Frame stained with Minwax Early American. A fitting color, I thought, for the subject. This project had its fair share of "You Just Can't Fix Stupid" happenings. First after applying the shelf liner as normal I used spray adheasive to affix the pattern to the panel. It then sat on the bench for a few days while I finished up some other work, Now it was time to start cutting only to find I applied the pattern to the back (wood) side, not on top of the liner material. OK, so I cut it anyway as is. The bottom side with the liner on it did not cut clean and hung on to every fuzzie. Messy to say the least. Finished the cut and now had to remove the liner and the pattern. The liner came off fairly easy but in the busy areas it was hard to see if any liittle bits remained. I use clear liner I get at Walmart. Took a lot of time to make sure it was all off. Now it was time to remove the pattern. Used Mineral Sperits as some on here have said they use and yes it released the paper pattern but it was difficult to get all the adheasive off. The wood soaked up the MS and it took a few days to dry so it could be sanded. The remnant adheisive gummed up the sand paper and had to use a razor blade to scrape off the residue befor it could be finally sanded. Then I made the Frame. Needless to say "Stupid" just kept happening. Won't bore you with that story. This, what appeared to be a rather easy project, took about 4 extra days to complete. All in all I'm fairly happy with the final results, but I have to keep "Stupid" from taking it toll in the future.

David, Try this. On some scrap ply, draw some free hand variopus size round, oval, irregular and some other shapes for cut out. Drill blade holes, and position the cut area directly in front of you just like when using a straight blade. Hold the work with both hands on either side and try to gently proceed the blade to the cut line allways starting in the same direction. I always go counter clockwise aroung the cut as this works best for me. Let the blade gently follow the line controlling the slow movement with both hands. I find I almost need to "think" which way I want the blade to go to help my hands (something like how the mind controlls the hands when playing on a Weegee board). I will often stop and and reposition the work if the line I'm following goes straight away or towards me as I find this is the hardest to controll. I'm much more comfortable when the blade is traveling somewhat sideways along the cut line. Although the aim is to follow the line, I tend to err towards the waste side of the line as I can allways go back and shave off as necessary to get back to the line...this takes gentle hand control and practice also. It won't take much practice to learn to control the spiral blades. Then select an Animal or bird Pattern with 300+ holes and by the time you are done you will be a master...guarenteed .

I guess after talking about cameras on smart phones, I just found your statement "Older Technology" amusing. Wasn't ment to be derogatory at all. I totally agree, simple is often better.

This is the way I do it from my android phione, very simple. Assuming you do have a PC USB to Phone cord, with both the PC and Phone turned on and the cord connected to both just bring up two separate File Explorer windows. In one, open your file where you want your photos to reside. In the other find your phone listed in the left hand column...usually under "This PC" and click on it. Your phone may or may not have an SD card, if it does click on"Card" , if not Click on "Phone". A list of folders will apear, clic on" DCIM". Another list of folders will apear click on "Camera". A listing of the Photos that you have taken will apear listed as .jpg's. I sort by date so you can fingd the latest you just shot. At this point you can just drag and drop (Copy or Move) the photos from your Phone to the folder in the other Explorer window on your computer. However, here (on the phone) if you click on your photo, it will open in "Photos" editor where you can crop, rotate, etc. After croping I "Save a Copy", renaming it and saving it in the photos folder on your PC. I know there are other ways this can be done, but this works for me. Not sure if all is the same if you are using an IPhone, but the procedure shoud be similar. Someone else may be able to verify that.

I think you did a fine job with the spiral blade....it looks great. I enjoy, and i'm getting quite comfortable with, spirals for portraits, especially of birds and anamils. Feathers and fur don't need straight lines . For straight lines, smooth curving lines and most font (block or script), I much prefer the standard type blades.

I'm catching up with him also...78 and getting older every day. That is a beautiful job on that BD card. He will really love it, I'm sure. Unfortunately we here on this side of the pond are still on the feet and Inch system and I could not visualize 24cm X 22CM, so I had to use my converter software to get 9 1/2IN x 8 3/4in.

A colored backer is nice but I agree with RabidAlien, I think a darker backer would read much better.

Great Idea. Sure wish I could do something like that in my front yard. Not in my neighbohood. Need to get a permit to even have a yard sale and can only do a few a year.

This is what I did not want anyone to think when I offered these suggestions. As I said, MOST will not have a digital camera, tripod or photo light sourse. However, with a few simple considerations many can do some things to make a posted photo much better.

This subject is not about doing Scroll Saw work itself. It is about taking photos of your work to post in this forum, especially in the Bragging Rights Forum. I love looking at the work of others. The photos can be as informative, if not even more so, than the write up about the piece. However, when the photo is taken on a busy cluttered background, too dark, skewed, or shown in an unfinished condition, I just want to scream. Please do not think I’m on a rant here, but would just like to offer some suggestions for consideration: 1. You can easily and cheaply purchase a large plain white poster board to use as a background or a roll of white backdrop paper. a. Most of our projects will fit within the size of a large inexpensive poster board. b. If possible hang the poster board so the wall hanging projects can be hung vertically, without any tilt or skew. c. Before posting, crop the photo to eliminate any excess area included in the original photo. d. White roll backdrop paper can be found in places like Hobby Lobby or Michaels and is used to shoot photos of projects that sit on a surface by draping the paper over a combination of a vertical and horizontal surface (like a chair). 2. Try to shoot the photo with indirect natural daylight if possible. a. Don’t use a flash as you will get to much bounce back. b. Don’t use a household incandescent light source as this will change the color of the wood in the panel. c. You can use the ISO setting to shoot the photo in low light situations. 3. Most of us will use the camera on our smart phones, but if you have a digital camera and tripod the quality can be much improved. a. Taking the photo with a smart phone is OK, but it is very difficult to frame the image and keep the camera lens square with the project panel in order to prevent skewing the panel in the photo. b. Taking the photo with a digital camera mounted on a tripod will make framing the image and keeping the lens square with the panel much easier. 4. I would much prefer to see finished projects, rather than just a cut panel, in the Bragging Rights Forum. a. A cut panel without a proper backer is not really much to see or admire unless the piece is intended to be open. However, this is most often with thicker wood, not ¼” or less ply. b. Again, even without a frame, if the project will be framed, it is not much to look at. c. There are other forums to show work in progress rather that in Bragging Rights.