FrankEV

I sign and date (month/year) on the back with a wood burning tool.

I've mentioned this in a few replies already. Like a lot of others you can buy the Baltic Birch ply from various sources you can find on E-bay. They are the 12" x 24" panels in 1/8 and 1/4 thicknecess by the box load. It is OK and I do ues it but I actually prefer to use Columbia Forest Products 5/32 in. or 1/4 in. x 1 ft. x 1 ft. 7 in. PureBond Plywood Project Panel (10-Pack) available from Home Depot with free delivery to your home. They are available in various wood (Cherry, Oak, Mahogney, Maple and Walnut)at a cost about $30 per box of 10 depending on the wood. I typically use Maple and Walnut for the contrast. The Walnut works good when stained with a Walnut stain to get a nice darck rich backer for those portaits like eagles and other anamals. These panels cut well and finish nicely. I always sand my panels with 600 grit paper before applying a shelf liner material that the pattern is then afixed to with spray adheasive. This prevents any material lifitng when the liner material is removed. The liner also keep the top layer from being picked up by the blade. Hope this info was a help.

If you are so happy with the 788, why are you selling it for only $25? OH, maybe yiu are talking about the plaque? Cost for our work is very subjective, what the market will handle and what return you are expecting or need.. You need to ask yourself questions like: How much is the material investment? How many hour to cut? What is my hourly rate? Do I want to make a profit or just trying to get my cost back? Etc.! With regard to the plaque, the scroll work is very nce but the project seems unfinished to me. Backer? Hangers? Frame? Selling for outdoor use...weather proof finish? Panel looks thin for outdoor usage. For example, a backer painted bright orange would look real good. Maybe an Orange Frame also.

Subject outstanding!!!! Cutting beautiful!!! If you add a frame, post a follow up photo.

Your "friend" is definately on the dark side...he will realy like this cut. You did a great job. I'm with your wife on the frame! Just me, but I'm not into the burnt finish Might have been better if just distressed.

Like the song says it 5 o'clock some where...therefore, it is also wine time somewhere! My lady was looking over my shoulder and read it the same way I did at first; coffee "WITH" wine. Took us a double take to read the "UNTIL'. The font for the word until is not, IMHO, the best choice. If you added the extended line before the "u" , had it been at the bottom it may have read better. Capitols for the first letter of each word may have also made it read better. BTW, nice scroll work. Where will it hang...over the coffee pot?

I find spiral blades work great for portraits like the eagles and others, but I just cannot make them work for straight or curved smooth lines, especially when cutting fonts or the like. Thanks

My lady uses a local Chiropractor who is a real nice friendly guy. She has been showing off my projects to him and he wants me to use his watting room walls to display some of my work, which I plan to do. In between other projects I put together a pattern for this 5 1/2" X 21" Plaque to hang in his office. I used two layers of 1/4" thick Poplar. Backer layer painted Black. The small script font is Birds of Paridice Font from dafont.com. Scrollable by just adding a few bridges with Pegas 2/0 MGT blades. Did have a couple of repairable problems that you can see if you look close....on the wall from a few feet away it wont be noticeable. My bigest problem with this plaque was trying to cut toward the ends with the panel rotated directly at my stomach...my arms are really not long enought to see and control the cut. When rotated the other way the panel just cleared the saw but my light arm kept getting in the way. Gotta be more careful about the project size in the future . The second project is a slightly modified Russ Beard Eagle (#1) pattern downloaded from the laibrary. The modification was to eliminate the small frame as part of the pattern and added a little detail to the bottom to make the patten 11" X 14" friendly. Top panel is 1/8" BB Ply and the bottom layer is 1/4 Walnut solid Core plywood staind dark Walnut. Lacquer Finish. Pegas #2/0 and #0 Spiral balades The panel is set loose into a store bought frame from Hobby Lobby. I know, lots of Eagles! Kinda my thing...still have a bunch more eagle patterns waiting.

Yes the answer is to sand before applying the shelf liner. I've forgotten to sand and get the same results. I actuately sand using 600 grit paper to get a very smooth surface. And, BTW, don't forget to remove the sanding dust from the panel before applying the liner. if you don't then it will not adhear very well and will lift. I use the clear shelf liner from Walmart and never have a problem with it lifting from the panel. I do rub it on well but don't try to really burnish it on. I have more problem with the spray adheasive releasing the pattern paper from the liner during cutting small/tight areas. One other suggestion is to remove the pattern and liner in the direction of the grain when possible. Pulling it off cross grain can cause the stringy surface to lift also. And, one more thing. Is the Duck Shelf Liner noted as "repositional". I would not use liner that cannot be repositioned. The adheasive grabs to strongly.

I'm with everybody else...great cutting and very nice subject.

That is absolutely terrific and a very neat idea.

Great job, great subject. Half the size meanes half as much cutting...yeah right!!!!

Am I your Friend?????????? VERY VERY VERY NICE!! I did one early on when I first started scrolling. Ued the actual Bar & Shield pattern and realized after getting started I had floating pieces that I had to glue to the backer seperately. Mine looks good from 20 yards away but up close, not so much. Hangs in my workshop where only I can see it.

Veryy very nice. Horse and dogs, how could it be any better? Just me personally, I think I would prefer a darker contrasting frame. To my eyes the panel gets a little lost in the frame.

I use natural window light when I shoot the pics of my projects on wall in my sunroom. All the pics come out a little on the dark side but if I use flash there is toooo much harsh light bounce back. I need to get a better photo light source. Next I'll be probably have to build a photo studio to take pics of the projects.

Yes, it is only three layers. The center layer seems to be a dense wood celuloise (sp?) material. Cuts relatively clean if you are careful at sharp points. Works well with both regular and spiral blades. I believe the panels are intended for use with Laser cutting equipment. I get them delivered to my home free in boxes of ten from Home Depot. They are called Columbia Forest Products PureBond Plywood Project Panels and come in 5/32" thk or 1/4" thk and are 12" X19". They can be gotten in various woods. I typically use Maple and Walnut. The walnut when stainded with a wallnut stain can be made very dark for good contrast between the top and bottom layers of a project. About $30/box or $3/panel, depending on the thickness and wood type. IMHO it cuts nicer/cleaner and finishes better than BB Ply.

I like the scroll work, but is there a little bit more to the story. I'm confused.

There are two patterns on one sheet from The Wodden Teddy Bear. I liked this one the best of the two. The other has the word LOVE as part of the stem also but in a script type font that you need to have the Rose horizontal in order to read it. I liked the simplicity of the single Rose, but without the addition of the color it just did not pop . Even using a contrasting backer, as most projects do, it was just tooooooo simple! Thanks

This is a Wooden Teddy Bear pattern cut out of 1/4" solid core ply using a Pegas #1 MGT and a #1 Pegas spiral blade for the leaves. The Rose is painted with craft acylic paints. The backer is an 8x10 piece of 1/8" thk BB Ply stained with a clear stain. After the painted rose was glued to the backer the panel was finished with multiple coats of clear gloss lacquar. The panel is loose fit into a store bought frame and uses the cardboard backer with table stand that comes with the frame to hold the panel into the frame. It can, therefore, be a wall hanging or table displayed. This was a quick "fun cut" taking less than 2 hours. Painting and finishing was much more time consuming that the scroll work.

Very nice work. Was that pattern her family's actual coat of arms?

Very nice work, but sorry, that table cloth, or whatever it is, has to go! You should take pride in your work and not hide it with a background like that. Difficult to tell even what it is. A simple white poster board would be a much better background.

My 11X14 pattern. Top layer 5/32" Maple solid core ply over a high gloss black painted backer. All cutting was done using a Pegas #0 MGT blade. The panel was finished with mutiple coats of high gloss lacquar. The Font is from dafont.com called Hard Sports and was very scrolable requiring NO bridges, and it lent itself to the subject nicely. I found the free bike/riider figure on line. I cusom made the frame. I cut down a 2 1/2" wide Poplar board to 1 3/4". After gluing up the miters I distressed the wood with various bits for my Dremel tool and then finished it with a combination of Expresso and Weathered oak stain followed by multiple coats of satin lacquar. Hobby Looby sells an almost identacle frame for over $30. This one cost me about $6, the price of a 6' long piece of a nominal Poplar 1 x 3 from Lowes with the understanding that everything else I needED I already had.. This project is what I would call a "half fun cut". The font cutting was time consuming and tedious but oveall enjoyable and satisfying...but not much fun. Lots of eye strain. The Bike/Rider image was an easy and quick cutting... fun to see come together. This project will probably wind up hanging in some bikers man cave. I was thinking this same quote, slightly modified to read "WHEN LIFE THROWS YOU A CURVE...STAY ON THE LINE" with a scroller image might make a good project.

A fun cut to me is one that is relatively simple and quick to do, but one that produces a good looking final project. A large, intricate, challenging cut may be satisfying to do as well, and something I really enjoy, but they normally require a lot of concentration and patience so therefore, not what I call a "fun" cut. Edit: I have to qualify my statements as it is what your definition of "Fun" is. IMHO there is a big difference between "Fun" and "Enjoyable/Satisfying". A "Fun" project is most likely enjoyable and satisfying but a "Enjoyable/Satisfying" project may not be "Fun" to do.

What do you do for patterns that are larger than 8 1/2 x 11? A lot of the patterns I do are designed for 11 x 14.

Me and my spiral bades got together again to produce this 11" x 14" Charles Hand Pattern having 260 holes. Both layers 5/32" thick solid core ply (top maple, bottom walnut stained a deep walnut). Pegas 2/0 spiral blades throught out except for a Pegas #5 MGT for the lower area perrimeter straight line edge cut hidden under frame. Panel finished with multiple coats of high gloss lacquar and installed loose fit in a store bought frame. Managed to do all the cutouts with only one minor break through between adjacent cuts. I actually found I could stay on the lines fairly well. Of course, there are really no smooth line cuts so who will know the difference anyway. Cutting time overall around 12 hours, but most of that time was used threading the blade through the holes. Of course I did use about 15 blades as the threading would oftern kink the blade and then, within one or two more cuts, "snap" another blade breaks.