rafairchild2

I am in the same boat as you. I have a couple of 4-day weekends, leading up to Christmas, and again this year I will take 2+ weeks off during the Christmas "stand-down" at NATO. And most of those weekends and "vacation-time" will be in my workshop.

Vacation... Last week I took a 4-day weekend of from my day job... Wound up putting ~40hours in the workshop. How many of us do that on "vacation"?

Thanks. Forgot to mention it is Red Oak, one of my preferred hardwoods to work with. Actually, I prefer any Fruit or nut tree wood to cut.

Here's a freebee from Steve Good https://www.stevedgood.com/timerun.pdf If you want to go crazy, then add all these runners to the base.

I started a new feature on my personal blog site, and actually recorded a video to go along with the photos. "What's on my Workbench". Usually, I have a few projects going on at the same time, I also have a few that are already set with the patterns glued on. Lots of patterns are already printed and sitting on a shelf. Kind of A.D.D. if you ask me! I have another post here tracking my Flag, Eagle, and Lady Liberty project, but this is another one that I am plugging away at currently. This is a 1937 design from Germany (Saxony), it will hold 5 tea candles when done. This pattern was given to me by someone in Germany and the plan is to give it as a gift to a German Officer I work with at NATO HQ. I kind of wish that I had done this 4 years ago when my Branch Head "Colonel Paul" was my boss, He was from the Saxony area. It would have made a great going away/ retirement gift for him. He was one of the best bosses I have had. Lots of detail work!

Making a few adjustments to the base layer of this piece. I had resized the eagle, and need to account for the change. One I am satisfied with what I penciled in, I will red pen it for these old eyes

Okay, here's day two. The eagle has landed! As I was arranging the elements of this, I decided to put Lady Liberty on a riser, rather than having her at the same level as the eagle. Aesthetically, I believe it looks better with three levels. Oh and the score... 1 broken crown point broken and repaired. 1 broken eagle tail feather repaired. Now I have a dilemma on how I will finish this. I was going to do a rattle can finish, Of course, Red and blue for the flag, and if I add an accent backer that would be white. The eagle was going to be gold, and for Lady Liberty, I was going to do a mix of 3 rattle colors and simulate copper, her original finish. I have included a photo of one of my multi-rattle can finishes. As you can see it comes out well. The thing is, in order to get the desired effects, I have to lay multiple, THICK, coats of paint. I am afraid that those will clog the small line veining in Liberty and the Eagle. This would mean going in by hand and clearing them all out. Because of how many and how fragile the pieces are, I am having second thoughts. I do not want plain wood or stain. I am thinking of bringing out my airbrush, as that is thin paint, but the effect will not be the same as I had planned. Any thoughts on that for finishing?

A few months ago a French Officer I work with at NATO SACT HQ* asked if I could make a US Flag for him out of wood. I thought I could come up with something better, and told him so, but I said it would be a while. Well, I am slowly working on it getting done and the first piece was cut out this morning. I using 1/4" and 1/2" Basswood for this piece as I will be painting it. I am using a couple of patterns from Steve Good combining Lady Liberty from another of his patterns. Of course, since the French gave us Liberty as a gift, adding her to this piece is a bit more meaningful in my mind. So here is where I am at today, and will post updates as this piece progresses. *North American Treaty Organization Supreme Allied Command Transformation Head Quarters in Norfolk VA.

Excellent Frank, I am sure you will like it. To bad we were not closer (I am in VA Beach), I'd help you put it together and on the bench. The 4212 is probably the one I should have gotten too, but as you saw in our PMs, I got the 4214 for only a $7 difference. As I was driving home from work yesterday, I had an epiphany. My workbenches not only roll, but they are adjustable in height. So as soon as I got home, got out of my office clothes, I proceeded to lower the work bench the new 4214T sits on by 5 inches. I could have done 6 inches, but I would lose one bolt securing it then. (Two is one, one is none.) I had to move the "monster" off the workbench, I slid it over to my other bench. Lowered each bench leg, flipped it back over and then slid the monster back into place. Of course, the 6-inch difference in height made it a little tricky to move then, so I advise all... don't be dumb like me... .trying to heft a 4214T by yourself. Combined with me adjusting the chuck movement, I can stay seated in my stool at the same height as I scroll at. It's only when I carve, I will have to lower it some. No big deal.

If this was going to be a one-off, then that might work. Getting the emblem in scale I am not sure right now. Thanks for the suggestion.

It's a Sue Mey. She sells them on her personal site and Etsy.

I am with you on the spirals. I just can't seem to get the hang of them. Plus, they give me a lot rougher cut than my FD Ultra reverse blades. I am moving into doing more fretwork style pieces and have had success with #1 and #3 FD ultra-Reverse blades, but I know I could do bigger pieces if I master spirals. Sigh...

I could, but that is something I do not want to do as I lose a lot of potential in the larger DP. I am just going to get a lower table/stand for it. BTW, cutting it down would be a bear as that tube is THICK!

First time requesting a pattern. This one is beyond me. I am trying to get a vector image from repro it's been a bit elusive. Is this logo doable for a pattern request? If the meridian and parallel lines cause an issue feel free to not include them. I plan on making gifts for officers who are rotating out of SACT HQ. Thanks, in advance! Richard

Here's the monster. And yup, assembled it and hoisted the head in place all by myself. I already had the press table so I figured I would install it on my new press. But as you can see it is way high now. I used to be able to spin from my saw to the drill press in my stool. Now I have to stand and the drill is at eye level, which messes up my workflow a little. But I am with Kevin. I raise and lower the table to adjust the depth, use a 3/4" scrap wood for the drill through. Never liked the screwing thingie.

Yours works for me too! I might have to look at Inkscape as well. I do like when the waste area is grey. These old eyes just aint the same no more...

Funny you say that. I generally keep my lines at 1 point thickness, this way I can see any drifting early on and micro adjust my cut. Usually I will go no more than 2 points thick. Many times, the other thing I do is bring my patterns into photoshop and do a "color overlay" (lighten option), so my lines are magenta instead of black. This way I can see them better. Below is a 2-pt. sample.

When I was doing combat handgun training, we always taught... Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast... I do the same thing with scrolling.

I just got the 4214T Sunday. It is a monster compared to the WEN 10" drill press, pretty heavy. I actually assembled it and got it on the work-table by myself. I actually assembled on the table. Just lifting the head into place was a little challenging. I think it is too high right now as the drill bit is at eye level. I like it a little lower, so I will purchase a stand for it that is lower. I will get photos of it today after work.

Yes, I have been quite satisfied with WEN tools. I have their air filtration system, large and small belt/disc sanders, and the bench grinder converted to a flex sander on one side. I just purchased their 4214T drill press with light and laser, I will give my small 10" to my son in law. it has been a work horse for me. I just wanted cranks and laser. My rotary tool is a WEN also. I actually started with the WEN scroll saw, but outgrew that in about 3 months and went to the 21" Excalibur.

Also, try and cut as much as possible with the "waste" area to the right of my blade. I use Flying Dutchman and noticed that it favors the right side, and that's where it will drift to. I find I have the best control and best lines using this rule. Plus, if I screw up, most of the time it will be in the waste area and not the "live" area. Seems I am repeating this tip a bit today.

Welcome aboard!! Here's a tip for you that I gave recently, that you might find helpful as you learn the craft.

Another set of Nativities completed today. Sue Mey design as well. I did these two designs, and a third is ready for cutting for next week. Now I take a short break from nativity cutting and this week will be working on a Flag, Eagle, and Statue of Liberty. (I combined a couple of Steve Goods designs into one). This will be for a French Officer I work with at NATO.

Welcome to the world of Intarsia James! Great job. There are quite a few designers that have outstanding patterns. This will keep you busy at the saw for sure! What I like about our scrollsaw "hobby"... passion... Is that it is so varied. I can do puzzles today, toy cars the next, intarsia the following day, and stay occupied for weeks, then do some Welsh Love Spoons (yup, YOU got me addicted to those!), then switch to intricate fretwork, and look up and the weekend has passed by. No way we could get bored with this. Though I took four days off from my FT job at NATO for the long weekend and ended up spending 10+ hours a day in my workshop!!

Outstanding work! What blade(s) did you use for this?