TAIrving

What type of wood did you use for the charcuterie board?

Good to hear that you are getting it worked out and will be able to save the project. You seem to have answered 2 questions, one about the glue - it is not waterproof, and the other about the padauk bleeding - due to alcohol. I wondered about the latter, did a search and found a Woodcraft article that confirms that the pigment in padauk is alcohol soluble. Woodsense: Spotlight Padauk (woodcraft.com). They recommend not finishing padauk with shellac because of the alcohol thing.

isopropyl alcohol typically is a mixture of alcohol and water. Most common is a 70% mix where the other 30& is water. But you can also buy 97%. That's the purest form I have seen in the stores.

I used some of the HD project panels a couple of years ago and liked them. I found them to be of solid construction with no voids. I like them better than BBply because they are available with a choice of outer layer including maple, walnut, mahogany, cherry, etc. You can even get them with birch if you must. I don't care for birch as an outer layer because it is difficult to make a nice finish.

Very nice Denny. Sounds like you are planning to do the full 8 trivet set from Sue Mey's pattern. Will be watching to see the others.

Great idea on how to do snow and the beard. I have done Christmas gnomes and the recent Valentine gnomes. I now see that gnomes have a year-round presence.

Very nice detail work.

Very nice Dennis! Nice cutting, especially the veining in the parrot's feathers, the leaves and the bark in the tree trunk. The colors make the parrot jump out. I like the way you used the wood grain in the backer to make it look like the scene is set in the jungle.

Are we equating pistol shooting with pouring coffee? Might be relevant when pouring the wife her first cup in the morning.

Great idea @FrankEV! I gave it a try using acacia and red oak and here is the very preliminary result, still a good bit of sanding and finishing work to go.

OK, guys and gals, you started this on the other thread. But it deserves its own thread. True confession: I think of myself as a top-feeder, but I feel like I am cheating. Question: How do you do it? This question is for other top-feeders only. Bottom-feeders kindly observe respectfully. Background: I started scrolling with a non-moveable arm machine (Porter-Cable). For fretwork I developed the technique of removing the blade at both ends, inserting it through the workpiece, reattaching the blade at both ends and then resetting the tension. I seriously bent some blades before developing this technique. Frustration quickly set in and, after reading up on machines here on this forum, I purchased a Pegas with the intention of doing top-feeding. I love my Pegas scroll saw, but... The problem: The arm raises up and stays up and it is easy to lower it to the hole in the workpiece. The problem is how to get the blade through the hole in the table. I have no problem clamping the blade by feel in the lower clamp. How I do it: I tried everything I could think of and none of them worked. So, I now raise the arm to full height, raise the workpiece to the blade and feed the blade through and, taking a clue from our friends the bottom-feeders, bending over to see what I am doing, lower the workpiece and arm and visually guide the blade through the hole in the table. That’s when I feel like I am cheating. A true top-feeder should not have to bend over to look, that should be for bottom-feeders only. Previous attempts: At first, I tried carefully positioning the hole in the workpiece over the hole in the table but never was able to make that work consistently. Then I bought a laser pointer to point at the table feed-hole, suggested by Steve Good, but could not find a place to mount it. My best previous technique was to lift the workpiece and guide the blade by feeling both the blade and the table feed-hole, but never felt like this was the final answer. Question rephrased: How do you do top-feeding without bending over and looking?

A friend, furniture maker and source of nice scraps of wood, requested a small Christian cross. I did this one, using some of the wood he gave me. The wood is Acacia from his family ranch in central Texas. I resawed it to 1/4" thickness and is about 8" tall. The first picture shows the 3 parts separate and the second picture shows the 3 parts assembled. For those who are religious, it has the symbology of the holy trinity.

Scrollerpete must have bought the last one. The Amazon link says they are out of stock and do not know if or when they will have more.

It does look quite similar to both the Wen and the Scheppach. But they both have an adjustment knob at the back on top of the arm whereas the Toni does not.

Beautiful job and a very touching story. We can all feel your pain. Your BIL must have been a very special person. My condolences for your loss.

Interesting and informative discussion. FWIW, my first vacuum cleaner was completely dead, no funny noises, no slowing down, or such. Suddenly one day, it quit. I think Charley and Scott might have diagnosed what happened and have the answer. The problem is that I can get perfectly good used Oreck vacuum cleaners of the type I am using off eBay for around $25 and it is cheaper to just replace the vacuum cleaner as needed. That leaves more $ for other scrolling toys/tools, wood, patterns, etc.

I found a listing and picture of it Toni Scroll Saw Variable Speed – Africa Tool Distributors. It might be a rebranding of a machine the others of us know of by another name but i do not recognize it. Does it look familiar to anyone?

I made a mistake, part 2 (see part 1 under "Other Woodworks") Last year, in discussions in this forum about dust collection, we talked about vacuum cleaners for dust collection. Per the discussions, I installed a small Oreck vacuum cleaner for use with my scroll saw. I cleverly (or so I thought) wired it to turn off and on with the foot switch which also powered my scroll saw. The vacuum cleaner soon died and wound up in the trash bin. I now have another Oreck dedicated to my scroll saw, not wired to my foot switch. I turn this one on when I sit down at my scroll saw and turn it off when I leave the station. The first one lasted a few months and this one is now going on a year. Conclusion: Vacuum cleaners (Orecks, cannot say about any other brands) are not designed for frequent turning on and off.

I tried it last year and was not happy with it, it pulled up in places while I gave up on it after the one attempt. But it sounds like others have had success with it. I might have to try it again.

Welcome to the hobby Pete. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as do all of us here at the Village. I am recalling a prior discussion here on the forum along these lines. As I understand/recall, the British government is concerned about the safety of you / her citizens, and requires a magnetic switch in such appliances. i.e. deadman style foot switches will not work for you. Regrets but I do not recall the solution, if there is one. Perhaps some of our knowledgeable British members will chime in on this.

Congrats on the new saw! I hope and trust it will give you many years of happy scrolling. New saws always cut great - that is until the first blade gets dull. But then you can always put in a new blade. I seem to recall a Steve Good comment when testing a new at that time brand/type of blades to the effect that it was like getting a new saw.

A name is just a name. My full name is Thurman Algernon Irving, Jr. That should go someways towards an explanation. Setting my middle name aside, I have sometimes been asked if my name is Thurman Irving or Irving Thurman. It is all confusing. Regarding my middle name, the family story is that, at the time my father was born, my grandmother was reading a book whose main protagonist was named Algernon. You can breathe now.

I have changed my screen name; formerly Algae, now TAIrving. I joined this forum 1-1/2 years ago after buying my first scroll saw, a used Porter-Cable, from a neighbor. I had low expectations but wanted to learn something about the scroll-sawing hobby. Wow did I learn! First of all, it is not a hobby, it is an obsession! And so much more! And the learning never stops. Now I have a Pegas scroll saw and a shop full of completed and half-completed projects and my wife has learned to tolerate it all, the endless gifting of projects, me returning from the shop covered in sawdust, etc. Thanks for your camaraderie! See you on the forums.

I presented my wife with the Steve Good Valentine's gnomes this morning for Valentine's Day and she surprised me with a project of her own, a Valentine's card on stretched canvas! She enjoys her crafts, not woodworking, as much as I enjoy scrolling!

I decided to change my screen name. Thanks to Travis for making the change. When I first joined the Village I had no idea of what I was getting into. But now I realize how many friends, how much valuable information, how many new ideas, etc, or just how much I would get hooked into this hobby. And so, a friendlier name (I hope). Cheers to you all and thanks for helping me learn so much about scroll-sawing and woodworking in general. See you on the forums.