FrankEV

Nicely done!

A week ago, we were at a Dinner Dance with a few friends. The conversation at the table turned from my history as a Dance Instructor in the past to my current work as a Scroll Saw Artist. My lady likes to have me show off my work, so of course, I had to take out my phone and show pictures of my work. A gentleman was looking through the group of pictures and came across a photo of a Hummingbird hovering over flowers that I had made way back in 2020. He liked it so much he wanted to buy it right there and then. I had to tell him I was sorry, but that it had been sold a long time ago. I never make a cutting exactly the same twice…that is why I do not stack cut. And, since I will be seeing him again next Saturday at an Art and Music Festival that we are setting up a booth at, I decided that I would revisit the pattern and make a new version that he might care to purchase. The basic pattern remained the same, but I changed the panel size to 11” x 17” that enlarged the image somewhat, changed the colors a little, and mounted the assembled panel in a Floating Gallery type frame instead of my standard 1 3/4” wide rail frame. The rather simple cutting was done in under two hours using a Pegas #0 Spiral blade. I used my Air Brush to prime the backer with an acrylic sealer and then added the various Air Brush Artist Acrylic colors. The assembled panel was protected with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish spray. The Frame is 1” wide Poplar rails, primed, and painted Black. I do have to pat myself on the back just a little. I think you will agree, that when you compare the attached 2024 photo to the photo of the original from 2020, there is a some improvement in the quality of my work. 2024 2020 Comments and critiques always welcome.

Nothing fancy, just Orangy/Yellow Acrylic paint.

My lady had found an Image of an embroidery Blue Dragon a while ago that she really liked and had asked me several times in the past if I could make a cutting from it. The image was not suitable to make a fret type pattern previously, but I felt I was now able to make a segmented pattern that would work. However, the resulting pattern I developed is made up of a LOT of very small pieces that was a PITA to re-assemble. I use a piece of clear knot free ¾” x 10” Premium Pine to cut the pattern from using Pegas #1 MGT R blades. The Piece is approximatele 8" x 10" and again, Intarsia techniques were used to sculpture the work. This project was also an experiment using water-based color dye to color the wood the blue and black needed. Dying the wood is easy but very sloppy and took forever to dry. The White highlights were done with diluted acrylic paint that when applied immediately dissolved the blue turning the White to a light Blue. The water-based dye also raised the grain that was hard to deal with because the pieces were so small. In the photo this looks like dust but it is the light reflecting off the textured surface. The backer is 1/8” thick BB ply with edges painted Black. The assembled piece was protected with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish spray. My lady is happy (and you know what that means) with it and it will be hung in our home. Comments and critiques always welcome.

Really well done! Beautiful! How about filling the box with clear light blue resin to simulate the Koi and stones being underwater . Intereresting thought but not really suggesting anything, just an image i see in my mind. Quick question. What is the inside depth of the box?

You better stack them with spacers and apply a heavy load on top of the stack to keep them flat while drying or you will have a pile of useless curled up and cracked pieces. No need to plane untill they are dry. 7% on a moisture meter is your goal. Will likely take a year or two.

Oh come on, you got to give us a little more!!! Simple pattern yes, but I'm betting it wasn't a simple project. I see it hanging on and outside wall. How big? what wood? what finish? will it hold up in the weather? BTW, very nice. Looks great on the wall. Do you actually get fall colored leaves in Alabama? Here in Florida, Palms stay green all rear and our Florida Oaks drop scriveled up dead dirty things that do not look like a leaf only to be replaced by new green leaves immediately.

Print pattern, afix to wood, cut, sculpture by sanding, sand some more, prime, paint, glue to backer, apply protective finish, add hanger on back. Any other questions?

Thank you. I realy enjoy doing Intarsia "Art" when it is all about making the image in wood tones. However, for Christmas, I feel these kind of pieces need color. You just cannot get the festive Red, Green, Gold, Black or Snow White from wood. IMO, these pieces are craft type decorations, not art. They are fun, relatively quick to make and do not cost a fortune for exotic wood.

These two free patterns came from Judy Gale Roberts Website. They are Intarsia Patterns I made into Painted Segmented wall hangings that I will be sending to my son and daughter. Again, I cut the patterns from one piece of 1x10 clear premium pine board but added Intarsia techniques to sculpture as well as raise and lower parts to improve the presentation. I made no changes to the patterns except to delete the “floor” area under Santas’ feet. All cutting, painting and finishing details for these pieces are exactly the same as my previous post: Copycat Family Christmas decoration Gifts, so I will not repeat here. All I will add however is; Hoot was a hoot to cut and paint. Nom 7" x 12" Nom 10" x 12" Thanks for reading. Comments and Critiques always welcome.

These days, my brush is mostly my Air Brush Did not know that, thanks.

No. You can get an assortment (6-8) pack of brushes specifically made for Acrylic paints at any craft store like Hobby Lobby, Michales, or even Walmart, for about $10 to $15 that are good. Keep them clean with water, and maybe a brush cleaner once in a while, between uses and they will last a long time. IMO, foam brushes and the cheap throwaway coarse bristle brushes are not suitable to get a nice finish.

Since you have the great facility at your disposal, and access to the stores patronage, you might want to offer an Intro to SS'g Meeting first...open to the general public. Put up posters in the store along with other local establisments if possible and put free adds, where availble, in local papers and the like. Invite any local Sawers you know to attend and "help out" with a presentation. If there is enough interest, be prepared to announce continuing meetings. The helpers who show up and any interested "newbes" would easily form the bases for the Club membership. A club needs "members" and unless you have a lot of local sawers, there may not be enough interst with only those already in the hobby. Just my 2 cents.

In the photo yours looked Great. Assuming you are using acrylic craft paints, here are a few tips. After fine sanding the pieces, apply a coat of an acrylic sealer. Kylon makes one that you can get at Hobby Lobby. I simply use a light coat of any Clear Acrylic Spray. After the sealer dries, a very light buffing with a scotch bright pad willl remove any raised fibers, and provide a fairly smooth but slightly roughed surface, good for painting. Any craft paint, cheap or expensive, will work but do try to use a decent brush. Cheap brushes do not apply the paint properly to get a good finish. Minimum of two thin coats with a very light sanding in between is better than one very heavy coat, so you are less likely to get runs or holidays. Make sure you allow ample dry time between coats. IMO, acrylic paints are soft even after fully dried, compared to oil based paint. A protective coat of a Clear Acrylic Spray Finish after assembly will make everything more durable and the shine will pop. Also makes the work less of a dust collector when hung on the wall. You can paint projects like these using rattle can spray paints, but dry time is much longer, very messy to do small pieces, really should be using a spary booth, again multiple coats needed with sanding in between to get a really fine finish. Hope this may help.

I always do. I developed a Logo that I burn with a engraving laser on to the back of every piece I do. includes a line for my hand written signature and the date.

After reading Richard’s post, aka heppnerguy, of August 17, I jumped on the Idea. I had already planned to make something for my Great-Grandson, who is just turning 1 this month. Also, my Lady's Son and Daughter in law are expecting a baby boy in December, and of course, she asked me to make something “cute” for him. These wall hangings are what I came up with. I found the Snowman and a Santa Segmentation patterns on Good’s Scrollsaw Workshop site that I will send to my Grandson. I also found a Judy Gale Roberts Intarsia Pattern of a Christmas Teddy Bear Pattern, that I used as a Segmentation, that she can send to her son. Like Richard is doing, these will be sent out early, so they will arrive well before Thanksgiving. All three pieces were cut from nominal 1’x10” thick clear premium pine using Pegas #1 MGT R Blades. I started each cutting from one small inconspicuous hole, such that the waste board created a solid border to hold the loose pieces in proper position while they were assembled and glued to the backer. The backer is 1/8” thick BB Ply, with edges painted Black, cut about a sixteenth of an inch inside the pattern outline. Although the patterns were cut from one board, I used typical Intarsia techniques to do sculpturing, lowering some areas while I added shims to elevate other areas to obtain a nice presentation. After all pieces were sanded, I applied an acrylic sealer followed by light sanding and then I painted each piece separately using my Air Brush and Artist Acrylic Air Brush paints. Eight different colors (not counting the tiny bit of gold on the bears buckle I did with a brush), each done separately with significant drying time in between. After the pieces were glued to the backer and the outer waste board removed, the assembly was protected with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish spray. Nom 8" x 11" Nom 8" x 11" Nom 7" x 9" Comments and Critiques always welcome.

No pic! Was it an adult image that was censored?

Now that is really, really nice. Would love to know a few more details, like size, woods used, finish, etc. Also a peek at the box with cover off to side. Love to see the many projects posted, but also like to know more of the What, Where, When, and Why about said projects. I feel I can always learn something! Thanks

A man with a project. Wonderful! WOW, you are able to go back to the shop "After lunch and nap"????? If I don't get into the shop by 6AM and work about 3 hours I would never get anything done. After my early morning shop time might do a few chores done around the yard and then stop for lunch and my afternoon nap which can last to nearly supper time. Sooooo, no shop time for me after my "lunch and nap"!!!!

My latest intarsia piece. for a full discription see my post in the Intrsia/Segmentation Forum. 124 pieces. Comments and critiques always welcome.

To me it is definately an addictive/obsessive hobby, as I too, have a lot of my past projects in storage boxes. That being said, I do find this 'hobby' can be quite boring if cutting patterns is all one does. I need constant new incentives and motivations to get me into the shop to produce more projects. I'm not a pure Artist, but as a past career in Civil/Structural/Architectural Engineering, I have many related talents and craftsmanship skills that allow me to produce various Art pieces using a Scroll Saw. Since moving to Florida I have down sized from my previous large woodworking shop that I had In NC to my now very tiny shop where, I can still make sawdust, but my project sizes are very limited. To prevent getting bored, I have gone to great lenghts over time, to make this 'hobby' more than just about using the Scroll Saw to cut a pattern. Here are just a few of the things I have done and continueto do regularly to make this 'hobby' less boring, more challenging and keep me motivated (or maybe addicted/obsessed) to do more projects. I spend many hours making my own patterns using Inkscape. I have used other's patterns in the past, but cutting a pattern, that I made, is much more rewarding...of course, only when it comes out good! When cutting my art pannels, I really prefer to be cutting many (5 to 8 hundred) hole patterns, rather than simple patterns. Then, of course, I have painstakingly added color to my work in various forms. I have currently graduated to using an Air Brush and Acrylic paints. Getting better with the techniques needed but still need a lot of practice. I also make frames for each of the Art Panels that I do. This is somewhat an art in itself trying to make perfect miters and getting professional quality finiishes of all kinds. Adds considerable time to a project, but breaks up the monotony of just scrolling. I have tried my hand at various Scroll Saw related projects such as Sculptures, Lamps, Boxes, Vases, Signs, etc., in between scrolling my art panels. Most recently, I have begun to dabble in Intarsia, which is proving to be quite interesting and enjoyable while being somewhat artisticaly challenging. The down side of this part of the Scroll Saw 'hobby' is that the Scroll Saw work is a minor part of the project. It takes a back seat to the art of selecting the wood for its color and grain, sculptuing the pieces and assembling them into a beautiful wall hanging. I hope I haven't taken this post too off topic.

When Spiral blades produce a lot of dust on top of the work, it is usually and indication that the blade is installed upside down. I use sopiral blade almost exclusively for fretwork type cutting and have experienced this. Yes, spirals do generate a little bit more dust than straight blades, but not that much and the saw blower can keep the line clear if directed properly. The only other possibility I see is that you applied toooooo much adheasice to attaach the pattern and the glue bled through the paper and the dust is sticking to it. IMHO, not a likely scenario Hope this helps.

Very Nice. Well cut. When checking your cutting up close I found a piece of something stuck to the backside under the upper part of the horn. Just thought you might like to know!

My SOs daughter requested me to make a Bethlehem Star to hang on the wall above her Nativity Scene she displays for Christmas. Believe it or not, I could not find any simple patterns of just a star. I finally found an image of a star made/folded out of card stock that was exactly what I was looking for. I converted the folding pattern to a nominal 6 1/2” x 12 12” cutting pattern. This size is proportionally correct for where it will be displayed over the Nativity set. I’m not sure what to call this…it is not Intarsia nor Segmentation nor Fretwork nor ???…, but I did cut it on the Scroll Saw, so I guess I’m allowed to show it off here. The two stars are identical with the small Star about half-size. I used a Pegas #5 mgt R blade to cut the bottom big star from nominal 3/4” (actual 5/8”) thick Whitewood that had very little grain and the small star from the same board milled to 1/2” thick – on the Table Saw. I sculptured the small star to taper the sides of the points, much like how the card stock was shown after it was folded. If I had used a harder wood, the sharp ends of the Stars points may have held their shape better. After sanding, sculpturing and mounting the small star, I applied an Acrylic Air Brush Sealer White prime coat. I then used my Air Brush to paint the star an Acrylic Craft Paint called Pure Gold. After the paint was dry, I applied a coat of craft glue and a thick coat of Fine Gold Glitter. This was the messy part of the entire project, and you can see in the photo, it is hard to remove from where it is not supposed to be. After the Glue dried the entire Star was coated with a Krylon product called Clear Glitter Blast, that is supposed to brighten up the Glitter while securing it in place. Like photos of most Scroll Saw work, all the blemishes are very visible, but when displayed on the wall it doesn’t look bad at all. My Lady is happy, and I think her daughter will be also. Comments and critiques always welcome.

Beautiful! A lot of small contact points between rings. What glue did you use? How did you aplly and clamp?