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.

Selecting wood for your intarsia project could be a tricky deal.  Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a chart you can look at to help you choose?  Well, Mike Mathiew from Midlotian Woodworks has a great article and reference chart he wrote for Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts (Spring, 2009).  He includes a picture of each wood, a color description, intarsia uses, and effects over time. The article and chart is free to download and print from SSW&C website and made available in PDF format.  I’d suggest printing out the chart on photo paper to ensure color accuracy.  Check it out!

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.

Finding a hardwood dealer can be tough. Where I live, the one and only hardwood dealer doesn’t even advertise in the yellow pages! I had to ask around before finding somebody who knows where I could buy hardwood.

Well, to make things a little simpler, I found a great website. Wood Finder will locate the nearest hardwood dealer to your home. Looking for an exotic hardwood that only grows in a 4 foot area of South America? Well, they’ll find that too. So next time you need a little lumber for your next project, and rather not spend more on shipping than on the lumber; or you need to locate that super exotic wood from South America, check out this great search engine. Wood Finder will certainly help you on your quest.