crupiea

I constantly amd tweaking my finishing process. What I usually do is use spray paint. That leads to an insane amount of aggrivation as it seems the better I get at it, the worse I get at it at the same time. Spend more time chasing failures and fixing them than anything else. So figured something has to change. been wanting to use my airbrush and cheap acrylic paints but I need something that covers bigger areas more effectively. Looked at harbor freaight and they have the quick change airbruch kit for $11. Just a little gun with pots for the paints. Just adjust the nozzle on the bottles to get the right amount of spray. Already have a little compressor. This thing works great. Cross between a spray can and airbrush. Not the accurary of an airbrush but you can use just about any old paint you want as long as you thin it right. Plus, the clean up is just cleaning the little plastic pot and nozzle. Sprayed my new project with cheapo walmart acrylic craft paint. gave it a great first coat, Then finished it off with the same cheapo paint and used a magic sponge for a brush for a smooth finish. If you are looking for some cheap fun, this tool is it.

Made this one from a sign I saw on a street post down the way from me. made it a few years back.

The caps on those cans are the trouble. What I did to solve this was as soon as i am done using the can, I take the nozzle off and leave it soaking in a mason jar of mineral spirits. This solved 99% of the trouble.

I dont sweat the blades too much. Funny that I can go through one blade for an entire project, next day go through 5 just doing something small. Always feel its me when blades are breaking a lot. That said, I also use blades until they break. I have no issues using an old rusty bent blade as long as I can feed it through the wood. I have been using the same dozen #3 fd blades for about 10 years, srs. Broke one recently and honestly could not remember the last time I did. I only use them for cutting large pieces to size and such though so they dont get a lot of use. My go to blades are jewelers 2/0 and they are only $20 a gross on amazon so can break alot before I feel it.

Blue tape is like $4 a roll. no way am I using that to cover anything. I use it as sparingly as I can. Just spray a thin coat of glue,. wait a few minutes until barely tacky and put it on the wood. Practice with it. If its too tacky, it will be a nightmare to get off. If you waited another 2 minutes it would stay in place and peel right off when done. Just a feel thing. I would rather practice this method than spend money of blue tape to be honest. I am pretty thrifty that way.

I have a cheapo harbor freight one I have had for years. Works fine. It it usually al wrapped up in a bunch of twisty cords so i just make room for my foot on it. Injured my foot not too long ago and had to use it with the other foot, that was harder than I thought to control. I wish i could find one that had a variable speed thing, like a sewing machine pedal, push lighter and it goes slower. hards, goes faster. i dont think this is a thing though.

It would have some sort of balance wheel like a sewing machine so I could go one stroke at a time in tight areas by turning the wheel by hand. Also it would use most of the blade. It has to be able to go super slow as well. Again, like an industrial sewing machine can if you finesse it right.

I just use a very light coat of super 77 on the pattern. wait at least 3 minutes and put it on the wood. Sometimes might need a few more minutes, just depends on how tacky it is. i think uit should be just barely tacky, it stays on long enough to do the job and comes right off without hassle. Its a fine line though between tacky and too tacky. Nothing more irritating than it sticking on the wood/ I have never had the pattern fall off mid scrolling even though I think it might sometimes.

I am a fish tank air pump guy. I use one for my dewalt. I taped the hose to the existing hose. For the end of the hose I put in the bottom piece of a ballpoint stick pen. This gives my constant flow and also a pinpoint directionalm thing.

Thats fantastic. Nice to get some validation that a good number of people really like your work!!

I scroll in my dining room. One big advantage of being single.

I started out doing regular sillouettes where you cut out the pieces and toss them and save the main piece. had to worry abotu those eye pieces and such that would fall out if not connected and the like. I was doing one and sort of winging it one day and after I cut out the pieces i had difficulty seeing exactly what i was doing so i put the cut out pieces back in to see if I could figure it out. Was sold right then and there that by just having contrasting color pieces it will make the artwork much better, for me anyway. I have thought about going back to some sillouettes but doing them the other way, Getting rid of the main pattern and only saving the cut out pieces but havent got around to it yet. Sort of a photo negative type thing.

You could just make it actual size but you might need a lot of wood and a huge saw.

I am a counter clockwise cutter. if I go clockwise i have issues oddly. Not that the wood reacts any differently, its just not as comfortable for me.

I find the regular 2/0 blades very floaty on 1/4" wood. Cant control them as well as I like. Works great on 1/8" though. I have been using a #1 for the 1/4 stuff and its working pretty well. My usual go to blades are 2/0 jewelers blades from pike. They are very fine but stiffer so can handle the 1/4" stock better. On the down side, they have no reverse teeth and make a mess on the back of the piece that needs sanding.

This is one of my favorites I recently completed.

Thanks, This is just spray paint.

Thanks, I cut the pieces out and write on the back a number so I know where they go back. Then I paint them and glue them back onto a backing. As you probably know the hard part is keeping track of the pieces.

No reason why not to use simple baltic birch plywood 1/8" Use pre conditioner and sand it smooth before you start cutting. If you are going to spray paint it use primer instead and sand that. Once done it will accept finish nicely. You can get some blowouts because of the fine detail. What I do to prevent this and save countless hours of frustration is to stack 2 pieces together like I am stack cutting it. Then I use a #2 pike jewelers blade. This gives tight cuts and the backing prevents the blowouts. Without the backing these blades make a terrible mess that would be a nightmare to sand. Also when done if you need to do more sanding you basically can use that extra backing as a sanding jig to place the piece in also works great to hold the piece for painting or whatever. I use light brown spray paint, it pretty much works for skin tones as well as a wood look. Plus it gets into the nooks and crannies easily. Just some thoughts. These dont have to be stained like wood if you dont want to. its your project and you can paint it any way you wish.

Just completed this piece.

I agree the prices and availability have gone through the roof. being in california I cant order it online either as I am clearly too stupid to responsibly use a can of glue. I can of course go to walmart and buy it if in stock.

I use a light coat of spray glue and wait 3-4 minutes. This is with super 77 or the blue loctite glue. It should be barely tacky. Too tacky and it sticks too firm and is hard to remove. Takes some practice to get it just right. This way it stays on long enough to cut and comes right off easily.

Couple car related ones I did a while back.

Good info. I tried once to cut a piece of pvc and it melted back together as fast as i cut it so once I was through it was sealed shut again. really mystified me until I realized what was going on.

Great work, very detailed!!