Dak0ta52

Kevin, I must say you are the "Letter" man. With all these projects you do and all those letters, I don't think anyone could outcut you in that department. As always, you've done a great job.

Beautiful piece, Brenda! Might I suggest also painting the outside raised section as well to give it a border appearance.

Wow, Dick! You did a fantastic job on that. All those smooth cuts have to be pretty precise or they would stand out like a sore thumb. Everything looks smooth and even. I'm sure with some of those thinner pieces it could be very fragile. Again, excellent job!

I agree, Dave. I'm kind of partial to the stained one also. My supply of pre-fab framing material is starting to dwindle. I have a bunch of small pieces but figure they would be really hard to glue and fit with splines. Also, the pieces I make are usually large enough that they need a little size to them. I don't want to make them so large that they distract from the cutting but rather complement it instead.

Thanks John. I'm trying to build up my Western/Horse pieces. They are having a big trail ride Labor Day weekend and I've been asked to set up a booth. I've only done something similar one other time and that was a community yard sale.

I was commissioned to do a barrel racer for a young lady that won the championship last year. Both pieces are cut on 1/4 Ply Oak with a 1/4 ply Birch backer. The cut piece is stained with Minwax natural, and the backer is stained with Minwax Espresso. The wood frame is stained with Minwax Colonial Pine and the gold frame is pre-fab framing material. Both frames are strengthened with splines in the corners. The pattern, by Julie Popowicz, was altered slightly per request of the customer. The beer logo was removed from the barrel.

Beautiful piece, Alex. The 3D layers really makes this stand out!

Great work, John. I don't think you'll have any trouble getting those sold.

You are to be commended for doing all that fine sanding on such little pieces. Great craftmanship!

I agree with Scrappile, this is the best Johnny Cash I've seen. Great job!

My teenage crush! Sorry for the loss and prayers for her family and friends.

I see nothing wrong with your first cut. In fact, I think it is pretty darn good! If you are familiar with Inkscape, I might suggest putting the cut lines in red and your pattern fill in a light gray. I set my stroke (lines) at .009 of an inch and try to split the line when I'm cutting. If you drift off the line, don't try to jump back onto the line quickly. Gradually work your way back toward the line. As Darryl (Ctutor) said, a light also helps. I have a lighted magnifier that makes the lines look huge and makes them much easier to follow. When I sometimes look around the magnifier straight at the pattern, I think to myself, darn those are really thin lines. Keep up the good work. You'll be jumping on some major fretwork very soon.

Great job on the cutting. I was in bands starting at the age of 12 and did everything from work sound, play bass and rhythm and lead guitar. My whole life was music. I finally called it quits when I was around 60. I was tired of hauling equipment in and out multiple times over weekends. I was constantly listening to music, either to add new tunes to our sets or figure out how chord progressions were played. Since then, I never listen to music. I'm usually having books read to me when I'm in the car or have my headphones on. I'll have to check this young lady out.

Wow! That grass in the bottom right looks like it would be a bugger to cut. You did an excellent job.

Glad you are now Cancer free. Like Ray said, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask. The guys and gals on this forum are fantastic and are eager to offer help or advice. When I first start scrolling, I also purchased the sample pack from Flying Dutchman. When someone posts one of their finished "Brags" on this sit they often credit the pattern maker as well as providing the type of wood used, finishing procedures and the blade they used. I noticed that the Pegas blade seemed to be the blade of choice by a lot of users. Now I exclusively use the Pegas blades. There is a size charts available that tell you what size blade to use with what thickness of wood. I tend to stay on the minimum side of what is required because I like to make the sharp angles where needed in my projects. When I first started scrolling I thought I would never use a spiral blade. After cutting my first piece trying the spiral, I have made them my "go to" blade. It's a little tricky starting out and getting use to them, but once you do, you'll love using them. When I'm cutting patterns with a lot of letters or straight lines, I'm almost certainly got a #2/0 Pegas MGT blade in the saw. Ray also pointed out that Denny Kneppan is a member of this forum and a dealer for Pegas blades as well as other scroll saw items. (Pegas Scroll Saw (artcraftersonline.com) You'll also find that Denny's customer service cannot be beat. I might suggest starting with a few simple patterns. Steve Good has a catalog with several thousand patterns and a lot of them are easy to cut. (Scroll Saw Workshop Catalog (stevedgood.com) When you get the hang of things, jump on over to the pattern library on this site and check out some of the patterns there. You'll find they get a lot more complicated with a lot more fretwork. Also, you'll find that letters can be a little tricky. Just take you time, and by all means, enjoy scrolling!

Thanks Colin. Don't be afraid to jump in and grab the bull by the horns. I look at it as I'm cutting one hole at a time. Although this pattern was a little tricky because I printed it slightly smaller than how it was designed. That makes the holes and bridges a little smaller. Regardless, even though it took around 40 hours, it was a fun cut.

Beautiful piece, Don. I would like to know how you modified your WEN blade holders. I also have a WEN and I purchase blade holders by the dozen. The knobs have broken and I use a nut driver to secure the blade. Maybe a picture if you can. Thanks.

Thanks Freddie. I use spray clear gloss aerosol for my finish. Usually about six coats with light sanding with 600 grit between coats. When I spray, I spray from all four sides to get into all the little nooks and crannies. I keep the piece I'm spraying flat to prevent any runs. I did not prep the birch with a sealer. I use a rag to wipe it on and do this pretty quickly. I then take a dry rag and wipe it off which, as been my experience, removes any blotching. I do not glue the artwork to the frame. Once I glue the frame itself together, I cut slots and add splines to the corners of the frame. after sanding the splines down I finish the frame if it is not a pre-finished frame. In the pictures above, the top piece has a pre-finished frame. The bottom, Maple, I stained with Natural to help bring out the grain. Both frames were sprayed with the clear with sanding between coats. After the frame and piece have cured, I attach the piece to the frame using a Logan Point Driver. Hopefully this answers your questions. If not, don't hesitate to ask.

Welcome to the Village from North Carolina. I've only been scrolling about a year and a half and have learned lots from the kind members of this forum. I purchased an entry level saw and "hope" to one day soon upgrade. Sounds like you got a really nice saw for less than I paid for my entry level. Anyway, if you're like the rest of us, you'll find that scrolling is addictive. Be sure to post pictures of your projects. That encourages us to get off the computer and back on the saw.

Beautiful!

With those little birds, I'd have more paint on my fingers than on the birds. Fantastic job!

Good one, Frank. Love the expression on the cat's face!

Nice job cutting, Danny. When I hear someone mention Elvis, that is how I remember him. He was my sister's heartthrob. Every time a movie he was in would come out, we would all go to the drive-in and watch it. Memorable days many, many years ago. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent, Kevin. I bet of all of them, Mrs. Bobby will be "bedazzled!"

Nice work, Pete. I still hope to do a live edge epoxy pour one day. Like the tractor scene also. Can't wait to see it finished.