Scroll Saw Village

As woodworkers, we are in awe of exotic and unusual species of wood.  We scramble to find the right project for this wood.  However, not all woods are safe to use.  Many species can trigger allergic reactions when exposed to these woods.  Wood allergies can range from minor discomfort to life-threatening reactions.  Here’s a Wood Toxcity Chart that you can download and print for your workshop.  While it’s not an exhaustive list, it should give you a good idea of what to look out for.  So, next time you work with a wood that you’re unfamiliar with, check the species against this chart.  That way you know if you’re experiencing symptoms.

We’re moving right along with lesson 3 of our classroom series as we learn to use Inkscape to make our own scroll saw patterns. This lesson we learn to align our objects. This lesson plays a huge role as we need precise positioning of our objects to create our pattern. First, we talk about layers and object order. Then we’ll discuss the very handy option of grouping objects which gives us great latitude for control and manipulation. We take a peek at guidelines as useful reference. And lastly, we take the guesswork out of object placement and discuss the aligning and distributing tools. You can find the video, written instruction, downloadable source material and classroom discussion at Scroll Saw Village in the Village University forum.
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This episode is all about sharing my latest projects.  If you can’t see the video below, please go to Scroll Saw Goodies and check it out there.

Wood Deals Online – I wanted to share a project that I’ve been working on over the last few weeks.  What started out as a tool to make my life easier, I quickly realized other folks would really enjoy this too.  But first, a little backstory.  I normally like to buy my  lumber online.  I find that I have a better selection and the prices are very reasonable.  One of my favorite places to shop for wood is eBay.  However, if you have ever shopped through eBay, it can be a bit overwhelming.  There is a lot of information thrown at you, you have to sift through so much garbage, and it can be cumbersome to find what you’re looking for.  So I created brand new website called WoodDealsOnline.com.   I gather all of the information from eBay and package it up in a nice friendly interface and organized it for easy shopping. We have woods broken into craft type (pen turning, wood turning, carving, scroll sawing, marquetry, etc.).  We also have the woods broken down by species, which intarsia artists will absolutely love!  So if you’re looking for birdseye maple or the all elusive ebony, it’s just a click away.  We even have the woods broken down by characteristics such as burl, spalting, tiger, etc.  This website is mostly geared to the woodcrafter/small woodworker, but furniture builders will find it very useful as well.

Be sure to check out the above video for a tour of the new website, then head over to Wood Deals Online and kick the tires a bit.  I confident you’ll like what you see.  Make sure you bookmark the website so that when you’re ready to buy wood for your next project, you’ll have it available.  You won’t regret it.

The Village Square – I’m happy to announce The Village Square, a monthly newsletter brought to you by Scroll Saw Village.  Subscribing to the newsletter is absolutely free.  Inside you’ll find informative articles, tips, pattern/project spotlights and more.  It will be conveniently delivered to your email inbox on the first Monday of each month.  Be sure to sign up now so you don’t miss out on a single issue!

The Village Store – When Scroll Saw Goodies was hosted on blogspot.com (before moving to Scroll Saw Village), I had a small Amazon associates store where I hand picked a number of products I believe my readers would enjoy.  It took some time, but I finally brought it back.  The store is now hosted on Scroll Saw Village.  You can easily find it in the top navigation bar.  Inside you’ll find a lot of great books organized by subject, a nice selection of clipart, professional graphics suites, and even scroll saws.  There are a lot of great stuff inside, so be sure to check it out.  If you don’t find what you’re looking for, click the Amazon banner to shop directly from Amazon.  It doesn’t cost you any extra, and any purchases made as a result of the store or banner helps support this podcast and website.  So next time you think of Amazon shopping, think of us and click our banner first.  You’re support is greatly appreciated.  We also have associate links to Rockler and Woodcraft.  So check those out too.

Inkscape Class – One last announcement that I didn’t cover in the video, we will be holding an Inkscape class starting at the beginning of September.  We’ll learn to use Inkscape to create our own scroll saw patterns.  It will operate much the same way as our GIMP class.  It will be held in the Village University forum and include video demonstrations, written instructions and class discussions.  It will be a 4 week class, with 2 lessons each week.  So mark your calender.

Now that we have our base pattern, it’s time to clean it up and get it ready for scrolling!  This will be lesson 6 of 8 as we learn to use  GIMP to create our own scroll saw patterns.  The pattern is really starting to take shape.  This episode we talk about using brushes, then we explore the different elements that make up scroll saw patterns.  You can find this video, written instruction, illustrations, and discussion held in our online classroom at Scroll Saw Village in the Village University forum.  It’s free to take and to participate in, so swing on by and say hi.  And now, on with the show!

If you enjoyed this pattern making series, please consider a small donation.
Proceeds go to supporting SSG podcast and other tutorials. Thank you for your support.
Make A Donation

We’re rolling up our sleeves and starting the pattern making process. This is lesson 5 of our ongoing classroom series on creating scroll saw portrait patterns with GIMP. Today we’re learning about layers and their benefits, then we begin creating our base pattern; the foundation of our scroll saw pattern! Be sure to check out the forums for written instruction, downloadable source material, and classroom discussion where you can get all of your questions answered! Enjoy the show!

If you enjoyed this pattern making series, please consider a small donation.
Proceeds go to supporting SSG podcast and other tutorials. Thank you for your support.
Make A Donation

I love my scroll saw, but there are other tools on my wish list too.  Like a lathe!  Wouldn’t that be fun?  It would be awesome if there was such a thing as a scroll saw/lathe combo.  Nah.  That’s just too good to be true.  Or is it? And if we make this wonder-tool ourselves, we can save the earth too!   Could it be possible?  Well, Roy Underhill can make it happen in his article Lathe from a Loft (Popular Woodworking, Oct 2000 issue). The Woodworking Magazine blog has made this article available in PDF format for easy printing and reading.  The article is a humourous approach to building this wonder-machine, but still includes detailed building instrucitons and photo illustrations.  Even if you don’t intend to build your own scroll saw/lathe combo, check it out.  Its a very entertaining read.

My wife hates it when I spray finish my projects indoors.  She doesn’t like the smell and she worries about what’s floating around in the air.  Most of the time, I have to wait for her to go shopping.  Then I bolt downstairs with my spray can in one hand and an arm full of projects in the other and hope the smell dissapears before she gets home.

It would be great if I could find a way to finish my projects indoors without anybody being the wiser?  If I only had a spray booth.   Well Paul Adamson from Military Modeling has a great tutorial on how to make a small spraybooth out of materials you can find off the shelf.  Best of all, its small enough to store out of sight when you don’t need it.  He includes a detailed description of the process, along with several photographs.  Check it out.  It might be the next tool you need in your arsonal (and keep you out of the doghouse too).

David Pruett from Folding Rule blog and podcast has a really neat project that’s perfect for scrollers; a saw blade organizer! He designed this organizer for a friend that does a lot of marquetry. David’s design will hold 6 blade tubes, a Archimedes drill, and drill bits. Beautifully made of cherry and finished with shellac and hand rubbed wax. He includes some great pictures with commentary, a video overview, links to sources, and a free project plan presented in PDF format. This is a really cool, check it out!

Thanks to Handi for the heads up on this really great project!

The price of tools and supplies can add up pretty quick.  Especially time saving tools such as sanding mops.  Steve from Scroll Saw Workshop has a great tutorial provided by one of his readers, Rick.  He provides step-by-step instructions on how to create your own sanding mop.  It looks Rick’s version of the sanding mop is designed for a lathe, but the concepts can easily be adapted to be used with a drill press.  Steve also gives a great demonstration video on how to use a commercial sanding mop.  You’ll soon realize its something you’ll want in your shop too!  Check it out!

Choosing the right scroll saw for you is an important decision. It can really make or break your enjoyment of this great hobby. Knowing what to look for is half the battle. In this episode, I cover a few things to look for when choosing your next scroll saw.

Here are a few helpful resources I found when researching this episode:

• The New Scroll Saw Handbook by Patrick Spielman – A must-own book for every scroller. This will tell you everything you could possibly want to know about the scroll saw. Highly recommended.
• Rick Hutcheson’s website has a lot of great information about scroll saws, including a nice article called “Choosing a saw.”
• SAW (Scroll Saw Association of the World) also has a great article called “Choosing A Saw.”
• The Home Depot has a pretty good buying guide for scroll saws.
• Woodcraftplans.com has a nice article “Beginner’s Guide To the Scrollsaw” with a specific section on choosing a scroll saw.

Aside:
I recorded this episode last week, but the sheer amount of information provided required a lot more editing time than I expected. This episode runs about 35 minutes. I used a higher compression when making the MP3. So the sound quality may not be as good as last time, but the file size is 8 megs as opposed to 42. This will save you a lot of download time and save me a lot of bandwidth. Let me know if this isn’t something you can live with. I can tweek my settings until most everybody is happy. Anyway, on with the show!