Messages

481

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Attention all UK scrollers-Top Rated Blades

« on: May 09, 2013, 12:39:04 pm »

Steve I have used them several times and found them good both for quality and service
my only query is why has FD rebranded there blades inn the uk?
Dave

482

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Question for UK members

« on: May 09, 2013, 12:35:25 pm »

Martin I think you will  find that the gear you've seen at ?21 a sheet will be birch faced ply and not BB
as for the 5x5 bit I dont know.
Have you tried Arnold Laver, they have a good reputation and they seem to be popular in yorkshire
Hull and Leeds plus various others. Let us know how you go on, as I am looking for similar.
Dave

483

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Am I on the right track part 2

« on: May 07, 2013, 11:38:11 am »

thank you all for the encouraging comments, the good side is that this whole thing is already going commercial, just hope I can satisfy the customers.
king310 nnoits not me, I'm ugly why do you thing I don'y use an avatar
Dave

484

Computer questions / Gimp questions

« on: May 05, 2013, 12:40:48 pm »

Hi
along my learning curve I've some questions about gimp if anyone can help.
1. instead of having to keep stating over when i mess up with a pattern I adopted using layers, thats no problem but as and when I have a unfinished project I of course save it till I can get back.
The problem is, it does not matter how I save the file when I go back to it I only have the layer that I was last working in, any ideas please.
2. I usually resize the pattern to suit a 10 x 8 canvas, and know that the image is 10 x 8 but when I go to print and the dialouge box comes up, I can set my printer prefs to what ever I want but it does not print 10 x 8, if I use the "image settings " tab in the print box it shows that the image is smaller and  if I try and reset those settings to 10 x 8 it auto reverts back itself. I have got round this by opening the image in say powerpoint and then it will print to the correct size?

3. I dont know about you guys but I am finding it hard, managing, but hard to follows the pattern, I keep losing the blade in the black areas ( its the eyes you know) so is it at all possible to convert the colour of the finished pattern to say red, or am I asking a little to much, any help appreciated
regards
Dave

485

General Scroll Saw Talk / Am I on the right track part 2

« on: May 05, 2013, 12:19:46 pm »

Hi All
well I am finally well enough to get back in the shop so my first piece was one of my own patterns I made with a little tuition from some of you guys ( thanks for that) by no means am i a master but what do you think so far
Dave

486

Computer questions / Re: OMG inkscape and gimp wont work

« on: April 30, 2013, 11:04:09 am »

Got the Culprit
I was not fully convinced about HP software affecting the programs so I have run some tests over the last couple of days- it was the graphics tablet, since I have stopped using it everything is now ok
so its in the bin and a new one on the way
Dave

487

Computer questions / Re: OMG inkscape and gimp wont work

« on: April 23, 2013, 01:09:05 pm »

just an update
well its back again
sometimes they load and others they dont.
I have been googleing the problem all day and although I cant get any info on inkscape, I did find an article on gimp of which suggests that it can be caused by a conflict in software "exe or dll" between gimp and hewlett packard. As I have a HP printer it could well be that. Q does any one know how to cure that as I am no PC guru?
In the last hour I have brought the laptop out of the office and downstairs, of course this means there is no printer connected to the pc , thus there is no software/drivers loaded, and low and behold both work fine!!
Dave

488

Computer questions / Re: OMG inkscape and gimp wont work

« on: April 22, 2013, 10:37:19 am »

well
Don I am in agreement ( not that I'm any expert) 2.8 seems to be like a different programme to me, so its already gone. I am not knocking gimp I'm sure its all there some where but for the time being I think its going to be a case of  better the devil you know"
Dave

489

Computer questions / Re: OMG inkscape and gimp wont work

« on: April 21, 2013, 12:48:34 pm »

thanks Don
Thank for the reply
I have been googling the problem and according to pythagorus and all his mates it is a much reported problem, has any one else had this.
There answer was to empty the font cache, but I dont know were that is in vista?
The other suggestion was to keep shutting down , leaving a few minutes and then reboot, again and again.
Any way I have shutdown and had a fag six times now just rebooeted for the seventh time and ha presto both progs work again.
will now be looking to see what this gimp 2.8 has to offer, what were your issues with it Don?
Dave

 

490

Computer questions / OMG inkscape and gimp wont work

« on: April 21, 2013, 11:19:26 am »

HI all since I posted for pattern help a couple of weeks ago I have been practicing every day, all has been fine till I switched on today to find that neither programme will load. I have even gone to the extent of uninstalling both, downloading newer versions and reinstalling, all went OK but they just wont open on the machine, I just get a box telling me that they have stopped working. There has not been any soft or hardware changes to the machine at all. can anyone shed any light please
regards an anxious Dave

491

Ask Steve a question. / Re: Crosscutting BB Plywood

« on: April 09, 2013, 11:32:39 am »

Hi
We disscussed this on another forum recently and:
Definitely the quality and sharpness of the blade will help
A zero tolerance inset plate is also good, but that is inset and not a zero sled, as the sled only protects one side of the cut.
masking tape and scoring can only add to help.
As for the height of the blade, about two teeth above the thickness of the timber is a norm, however this is really only to reduce the amount of the blade being used and thus reducing the torque/resistance on the machine itself.
The other aspect that came up was the quality of the board, sometimes it can be found that one sheet will cut just fine, and the next board (although from the same supplier) gives the results that you have experienced, the only answer we came up with for this is that from time to time the boards can lack in the amount of adhesion in the laminations during  the process of manufacture
HTH
Dave

492

Brag Forum / Re: Lucky Leprechaun

« on: March 26, 2013, 01:02:58 pm »

leprechauns in cornwall-well I never
looks good though mate well done
Dave

493

Pattern Requests. / Re: am I on the right track here

« on: March 26, 2013, 10:29:54 am »

Don thanks very much for your help I dont think I will be cutting that pic but will practise some more and post the results as and when.
Just to clarify, I was confused when you said that you use curves after step 13. I dont have a step 13 and assumed that this was equivalent to step 5 in section B
I now realise that I was sent a updated version of the tutorial and you where referring to the original
this is what I have
Gimp
1.   File?Open
2.   Image?Mode?Grayscale
3.   Paintbrush?removes background by using various sizes of white brush.
4.   Filter?Artistic?Photocopy and go to full size image.  Use the sliders to manipulate a potential pattern. Pay close attention to the eyes and nose areas. Do not worry about blotches or skin tones as they will be removed in the touchup stage. You may need to use layers to achieve optimal details. Click OK.
5.   Paintbrush? use black and white and different size brushes to ?clean up? the pattern.
6.   Paint bucket? flood the background with black to check for floaters. Ctrl Z to go back.
7.   Save as (Export)? name file and save as JPG.
8.   Close Gimp

Inkscape
1.   File?New (window)?Letter (A4 = Metric) Close 1st window.
2.   File?Import (your pattern)
3.   Resize pattern to fit in paper size window by clicking corner and moving.
4.   Path?Trace Bitmap?make sure Brightness cutoff, Smooth and Stack scans are checked. Also make sure pattern is ?selected? in window by clicking on it, or trace does not know what to trace. Brightness cutoff between 550 & 750. When done click OK.
5.   There are now two images, one on top of the other.  Look closely to determine which the original was and right click to delete it.
6.   File?Save As?PLAIN SVG
7.   Close Inkscape.

Gimp
1.   File?Open the SVG file. Checkerboard image will show.
2.   Layer?New Layer?Layer Fill Type = White? OK. All white! Don?t worry!
3.   Layer?Stack?Layer To Bottom.
4.   Image?Flatten Image.
5.   Paint bucket?Flood background to check for floaters one more time.
6.   Use text tools to sign your new pattern.
7.   File?Save as (Export) GIF (smaller file) or JPG.
8.   Done.
   

Dave

494

Pattern Requests. / Re: am I on the right track here

« on: March 25, 2013, 12:20:28 pm »

CONFUSED Thats not the word I would use
but I think I might of got to were you were Don
only hope I can remember how I did it
now what?
Dave

495

Pattern Requests. / Re: am I on the right track here

« on: March 24, 2013, 12:19:42 pm »

Don
Yes thats the text i was using pete sent it to me, but it does not get me to the image you have shown?
Dave
sorry to be a pain