Messages

1

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Wood for Christmas Ornaments

« on: November 20, 2018, 06:46:52 pm »

I've made a lot of ornaments over the past 20+ years and I think aesthetically speaking.

Which or what type of Christmas ornaments do you find sell the best? Christmas tree ornaments or do you sell the bigger projects?

I don't sell anything.  I make ornaments to give away to family and friends, etc.  Last year I made about 100.  I make ornaments that appeal to me and that offer a challenge.

2

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Wood for Christmas Ornaments

« on: November 01, 2018, 12:02:12 pm »

Just did an experiment with one Christmas ornament.

I stack cut four - three with 1/8" plywood, and one with 1/4" plywood, all Baltic Birch.  I then painted two, and put some Tried & True finish on a third.

Here are my observations:
1> 1/8" is much nicer than 1/4".  The 1/4" in this case is just too chunky
2> These are from a set of Christmas ornaments from Steve.  The default size is larger than we like.  We are going to reduce the size via photocopying the pattern and try again.  The one pattern I used produced an ornmanet that is 4 7/8" tall
3> The painted ones are not as nice as I had hoped.  The paint - one was a Christmas green, the other silver/chrome - just don't improve the ornments
4> The Tried & True finish did not do much of anything for the plywood.  I think I will try some spray shellac next
5> Cutting the round part, around the hole for a wire, is tricky.  That needs a lot of practice.

Does this match the results from others here?

My questions for others here:
- how do you finish your ornaments?  Do you paint?
- do you find the sizes of ornament patterns a bit on the large size?

Thanks in advance!

I've finished ornaments several different ways.  It depends on the wood I'm using and the pattern.  I've used paint, stain, dye, Danish Oil & Shellac.  Shellac is my favorite finish for many scrolled projects.  Baltic birch is pretty plain, so leaving it natural or just with a clear finish doesn't really enhance it's visual appeal much.  However, depending on the style of the ornament, that may be OK.  Sometimes I supplement with paint or dye.  Stain doesn't do well on BBP, as it tends to be blotchy.

I've never cut any of Steve's ornament patterns.  I have patterns for hundreds of ornaments of all shapes, styles and sizes.  Generally speaking, I don't really care for very large ornaments, but it depends on the style and the pattern. 

3

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Cutting Plexiglass

« on: October 26, 2018, 04:20:07 pm »

Not all material called Plexiglas is the same.  It's sort of a generic name for acrylic sheet material.  Acrylic does tend to melt behind the cut, with the slightest of heat, so getting the right combination of blade speed, feed rate and blade is critical.  I've cut polycarbonate, which looks just like what most people would call Plexiglas and it was less prone to fusing back together.  Maybe it has a higher melt temp, dunno, but there is a definite difference.

4

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Wood for Christmas Ornaments

« on: October 12, 2018, 04:17:09 pm »

Michaels carries it here, in small sheets.  A little pricey, but convenient.

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Wood for Christmas Ornaments

« on: October 11, 2018, 04:24:45 pm »

I'm actually considering going to 3/32" or 1/16" for my ornaments this year.  BB ply is much less fragile and prone to breakage than hardwood of the same thickness.

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Wood for Christmas Ornaments

« on: September 26, 2018, 04:21:20 pm »

I've made a lot of ornaments over the past 20+ years and I think aesthetically speaking, the thinner the material the better.  I resaw and plane my own hardwood, so I can make it whatever thickness I want.  For really delicate fretwork ornaments, I typically use 1/8" Baltic Birch ply.  It's stronger and less prone to breakage.

7

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Foot switch

« on: June 07, 2018, 11:56:51 am »

I suspect the sitting vs standing position is at the root of the choice in switches.  I sit and use the deadman style footswitch.  The other type would be something of a bother to use. 

With all due respect to Steve, no one makes the "rules" for scrolling.  The great thing about this hobby is that there are many ways to accomplish just about any task.  I presume Steve would agree with that statement.  I feel quite confident that he never intended for his tone to come across as "dictatorial".  Please don't read too much into it.

Now, as for top feeding vs bottom feeding.......

8

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Wood Selection for Scrollsaw Patterns

« on: June 07, 2018, 11:44:34 am »

The choice of species is entirely up to the individual doing the cutting.  Factors that weigh in the decision will be; availability, cost, ease of cutting, appearance, etc.  You have total freedom to decide which of these factors carry the most weight and which you can disregard.  This is a good opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with various species of domestic woods (leave exotics out of the discussion for now, to simplify things).  You can cut most domestic hardwoods with only a little more effort than wood like pine.  Pine is OK to practice on, but I don't care for it for most fretwork type projects.  YMMV.

That said; red oak, white oak, cherry, walnut, birch, poplar & maple are the most commonly available domestic hardwoods.  They all cut fine, with some minor considerations for issues such as burning, but have much different appearances, grain & finishing characteristics.  My suggestion would be to pick a piece of wood that is available, affordable and has an appealing appearance (to you) and cut away.  You will learn the various qualities of each species, as you gain some experience, but don't let confusion over the choice of wood prevent you from gaining that experience.

Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

9

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Blade plumb

« on: June 07, 2018, 11:32:57 am »

The important thing is that the blade is square, through its entire range of motion, not just when it is sitting still.  The DeWalt, as well as most other saws, cuts with a slight oscillating action.  It's only a few thousands of an inch, but it means that most of the time, when the saw is not running, the blade will be slightly out of square, front to back.

To check if your saw is cutting evenly, with no over or under cut; take a thick piece of wood, the thicker the better and just kiss it with the running blade to make a shallow kerf in one edge.  Examine the kerf to see if it is deeper on the top or the bottom.  If it is, then there may be some adjustment that needs made.  I believe that Rick Hutcheson's website has info on some of the methods people have used to minimize the variance.  Under normal circumstances, the saw should make an even kerf and no adjustment should be necessary.

10

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Which Glue

« on: December 04, 2017, 03:13:06 pm »

For such applications, I typically use a common PVA glue like Titebond II.  I believe Carole Rothman prefers Weldbond when gluing up layers for her stacked ring bowls.  It's a PVA as well.  Both dry clear and should not present a visible glue line.  Interfering with finishes is another issue.  Any PVA glue residue that isn't removed form the surface of the wood, will show up noticeably once a finish is applied.  It's important to inspect any glue up for this prior to finishing.  You could try a hide glue.  Titebond offers a pre-mixed version of hide glue.  It supposedly does not interfere with finishes, but I'm not certain if that means that squeeze out won't show under a finish or not.  Hide glue is a dark glue, so the glue line may be visible, especially contrasted against a lighter colored wood.  I recommend testing it on some scrap before using it on a project.

I really think you will be fine with the PVA glue of your choice.  Even a white PVA, such as Elmers glue should work well in your application.

11

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: A question..

« on: November 15, 2017, 02:58:42 pm »

Something to keep in mind, Baltic Birch is a hardwood, in it's own right.  One of the species used to make BB plywood is Silver Birch, which has a Janka Scale rating of 1210, which is comparable in hardness to red oak, ash and beech.  Sugar (hard) Maple has a janka scale rating of 1450, so the wood itself isn't even all that much softer than hard Maple.  Couple that with the alternating grain pattern of the different layers and the glue and it's easy to see how it can he hard on blades.

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Stack cutting

« on: November 10, 2017, 09:18:01 am »

Thank you Bill for the info. I am going to try and cut two 1/4" baltic birch plywood. I am planning on using aFDUR #1.

I've had good luck with the FDUR #1.  It will cut very fine detail, but also seems to hold up pretty well in thicker stock.  I think you'll be fine with that combination.

Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

13

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Glue????

« on: November 09, 2017, 01:35:09 pm »

Glue squeeze out is the bane of all woodworkers.  For applying backers, you need to determine just how much glue is really necessary and where it should be applied.  The entire back of the piece does not need to have glue on it.  I use a white glue, that dries clear, but use it sparingly.  If the piece is relatively small, I use Aleene's Tacky glue.  It's a little thicker than regular white glue, so you can use a toothpick to apply it, if you want and sets up pretty quick.  If the piece is large, and I need more open time, I'll use Elmers White glue.  Again, applying it with the smallest utensil I can, that will do the job.  I've used small, cheap artist brushes with good results.

If there are really small, delicate areas that I want to apply glue, I'll save them for last and use a tiny bit of gel CA glue, just in those spots.  The CA glue is easier to get pinpoint control, but it sets up very quick, so that's why I use it only where necessary and right before I'm ready to apply the backer.

14

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Sanding Blades

« on: November 09, 2017, 01:25:34 pm »

I've never used them, but have always been skeptical that they were of much practical use.  First off, you can't thread them through very small openings, so you are limited to where they can be used.  Second, I think it's best to focus on using the proper blade and practicing your technique, so as to eliminate the need or at least significantly minimize the amount of sanding required.  I do use some small files, with various profiles, to clean up some areas that may require a little tweaking.

15

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Stack cutting

« on: November 09, 2017, 01:19:15 pm »

Short answer is, Certainly. 

However, your results will depend on a couple factors; are you using the proper blade?  and have you secured the blanks together sufficiently?

The blade factors, in because some folks may think they can use the same blade to cut a stack that they would use to cut a single layer.  That may or may not be true, in reality.  How thick you make your stack is a compromise between the efficiency gain of cutting multiples and being able to use the preferred blade.  For example, one might want to cut a finely detailed pattern, out of 1/8" BB ply.  For a single layer, the smallest blade available would normally be the choice. However, if you wanted to stack 6 of them together, you likely wouldn't have as much success with that same blade, so you need to consider how big the blade needs to be to cut the desired thickness of the stack and will that blade allow me to readily cut the detail in the pattern?  Personally, I usually try to keep my stacks 1/2" or under.  This is because most of the time, I'm cutting patterns with enough detail that I want to use a very small blade.  Going much thicker than that slows the cutting down too much and dulls my blades too quickly.  YMMV

There are several methods for holding all the layers together in your stack.  Some folks wrap the stack with tape.  Others drive small brads into the waste areas.  Some use small pieces of double back tape, applied between the layers, to hold them together.  I like to use hot glue on the edges of the stack to bond them together.  Each method has its pros & cons.  Bottom line is that if the layers happen to shift during the cut, you have effectively spoiled most, if not all of the layers, so it's important to choose a method that is secure, but still permits easy "unstacking" of the finished pieces.