Round Desk Boxclock

I'm always looking for ways to use up even the smallest scraps of wood. I call this a boxclock. It requires a 1 7/16" mini clock insert. You should be able to take just about any scrap from your bin and make this project.

It does require three different thicknesses of wood. The top and bottom are 1/8" thick. The inner box is 1/2" thick and the outer box is 3/4" thick.

Thanks to everyone who helped with the test in yesterdays post. I had a couple things I wanted to check and it went well. First I was making sure that most people are receiving the email newsletter. I get a few emails every week from people missing the newsletter. There are about 6000 subscribers to the newsletter and about 4800 clicked the link. That's more than I expected so I think it's safe to assume the newsletter is being delivered most of the time.

The second thing I was checking is how much the newsletter costs me in ad revenue. The way I am able to put out all the patterns for free is that I depend on donations and ad revenue to cover expenses. My goal is to one day make enough from ad revenue that I could stop asking for donations. Unfortunately the newsletter stops readers from visiting the blog so I don't make the ad revenue. That's okay it just means I need to continue to grow the blog readership until the add revenue increases. I know everyone hates ads but I try to keep them as inconspicuous as possible. I only use text ads on the blog. The test showed that the newsletter cost me about a 400% decline in ad revenue. I will happily give that up if the newsletter helps me continue to grow the total subscriber number of the blog and I think it does. Thanks again for the help today. You guys always come through for me.

That's enough of the boring stuff. Let's go make some saw dust.



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Help me with a test.

Many of you receive my email newsletter. I need some help trying to understand how many of you only read the newsletter and do not visit the blog. Only if you are reading this in the Email Newsletter click the link below. This will open your browser and visit my blog. Just close it after it loads and thanks for your help.

CLICK THIS LINK TO LOAD THE WEB PAGE.

60 Second Scroll Saw Tip - More Lumber Yard Terminology

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Ten new mini clock patterns.

This pattern book has ten new mini clock patterns. Each clock requires a 1 7/16" mini clock insert. Use a 1 3/8" forstner bit to drill the hole for the clock.



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Very simple intarsia pattern.

Simple little decorative project. My wife decorated our master bath with a sea life theme. I wanted something simple and not too big to sit on a shelf.



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I had to share this with you guys.

Bob Calhoun, a good friend from Australia sent me a picture of his latest intarsia work. Bob has an incredible talent of capturing the characters spirit. When I opened this email and saw this self portrait of Bob motoring down the road I laughed out loud. Besides being funny, the piece of art is very well executed. This work rates up there with my favorites of all time. Thanks Bob, you are an inspiration.

Another Scroll Saw Basket Pattern

I guess I am in the basket making mood. Here is another basket pattern to go with the other two I posted in the last week. This basket is 6 1/4" long and 4 1/4" deep.

You may have noticed that I removed the Boy Scout pattern from yesterdays post. I am usually pretty careful about not using copyrighted or trademarked logos in patterns. In this case the Boy scout logo is trademarked and they require a license for use. After a gentle reminder from a reader I decided it was best to remove the pattern. Sorry if this caused any inconvenience to anyone.



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Heart Basket Scroll Saw Pattern

Here is another basket pattern for you to cut. This basket is about 5 inches long. I used maple for the basket and bloodwood for the top and bottom. The bloodwood seemed appropriate for the project. It adds a nice look to use contrasting woods to this project.




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Scroll Saw Basket Pattern

This basket is almost 8 inches long and 4.5 inches wide. It's big enough to be a small candy basket. If you like you could double the size of the pattern and it would make a nice center piece for your table. You do want to make the top and bottom pieces thinner than the basket rings. The piece looks clunky if they are all the same thickness.

I want to take a minute to talk about the email newsletter. When you sign up for a subscription you will receive any post I make on the blog in your email. Unfortunately this can get screwed up from time to time. I send out thousands of newsletters almost every day. Luckily this is an automated process handled by a division of Google. Most of the time it works well but occasionally subscribers tell me they stop receiving the newsletter. If you go more than two or three days without receiving the newsletter it's likely something is wrong. Most of the time the problem is that your email client has decided to send the email to your spam or junk folder. If the newsletter stops coming check and see if this has happened to you. If that is not the case send me an email and I'll see if I can get it corrected.

Speaking of email. I am way behind again. All I can do is apologize and assure you I am doing my best to get to them. Please keep the email coming. I really do read them all it just takes much longer to get a chance to answer them.




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O Canada.

I love watching sports of all kinds and the Olympics are a special event where most of the world comes together to showcase their incredible athletes. As probably everyone knows the winter Olympics are happening right now in Vancouver Canada.

I'm one of the guys that can watch the Olympic sport of kurling without any idea what is going on and cheer like a mad man. I love the drama of the down hill skier winning a gold metal by .018 seconds. Watching the athletes succeed and fail after years of training can be heart wrenching and thrilling all at the same time.

Canada is one of the most beautiful and friendly countries in the world. They are the perfect host for winter games. I wanted to salute Vancouver and all of Canada for allowing the world enjoy a couple weeks of their hard work. The official slogan of this winter's Olympics is "With glowing hearts". I think that pretty much says it all.

If anyone has the opportunity to gift this project to an Olympic athlete please let me know about it and please, please send pictures.



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Carole Rothman- More bowl making techniques.

In this video Carole continues her series of techniques for making wooden scroll saw bowls. She describes the process she follows to drill the entry holes. Visit her site to watch previous videos

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Youtube link to the video.

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Installing fonts to be used for creating scroll saw patterns.

This video will give me some place to point to answer an email that I get weekly. I use several different fonts in creating my scroll saw patterns. Many of you are interested in designing your own patterns and need different fonts on your computer. Every week someone sends me an email asking how to install fonts on their computer. This video will show one solution. There is more than one way to do everything in Windows. This just happens to be the way I think gives you the best chance to succeed.

There are several places to get fonts online. I don't want to recommend any particular site because there will always be someone that has trouble so I'll let you do your own Google search for fonts. This video assumes you already have the font downloaded on your computer and it is ready to install.

If you have trouble seeing the video in the small viewer click the full screen button at the bottom next to the speaker icon in the video.

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Army Strong Scroll Saw Pattern

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60 Second Scroll Saw Tip - Lumber yard terminology

Click the speaker to play audio.

This is the board foot calculator I talk about in the audio above. It does not require installation. Just download it to your computer and un-zip it. It's very basic but will help you in determining the cost of hardwood when they price it by board feet instead of per/board.



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Inspirational Word Blocks

Here are a few patterns for inspirational word blocks. After cutting the word out, glue on the back and use risers blocks to lift the word out of the block. The instructions are included in the pattern book. One note. Make sure you hide the entry hole for the outside cut of the word in a corner.

Before one of you ask why I did not just use a bevel cut to extrude the letters. I wanted the kerf to show around the letters. The riser blocks let that happen. If you look at the pieces in the picture below you will see how the block in constructed.




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Personalized Hammer with a Scroll Saw

In this two part video I will show you the techniques I use to make personalized hammers on the scroll saw. These make great gifts for anyone who enjoys tools. It's a pretty easy project to make. You can put names of people, businesses or short sayings on the hammer. I purchased the hammer above for $6 at a discount store.

You will need a stencil font installed on your computer to make the patterns for your hammer. Here is a link to the font you see on the hammer above. Save the font to your hard drive then right click the file and select "install" from the context menu.

If anyone needs help installing the font and creating the pattern in a word processor let me know and I'll do a video tutorial showing how it's done.

Part One:

Part Two:

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More from Carole Rothman.

In the following videos Carol demonstrates the sanding techniques she uses to create the beautiful wooden bowls she makes. You can visit Carol's website here.

I recently received my copy of Carole's book "Wooden Bowls from the Scroll Saw". It really is a beautiful book. The pictures are large and inspirational. The techniques are explained well the patterns are plentiful and diverse enough to keep them from getting boring. The book is well worth the cover price.

I know I have talked about Carole's book here a couple of times but I have always loved making bowls on the scroll saw and Carole takes it to a whole new level.



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Light Bulb Bud Vase.

Light bulb bud vase. Okay it's a little strange but you will be the only one on your block that has one. The pattern includes the technique to empty out the light bulb. Make sure you wear safety glasses and protect your hands.

The bulb has to be installed before you glue on the top ring. The bulb is completely captured after the top ring is glued on.

The wood flower is not included in the pattern but if you look in the online catalog you will find it there.



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Lovers Valentine Pattern

Don't forget your sweetheart on Valentine's Day.

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Woman Scroll Saw Artist Sign

I received several emails asking me to do the Scroll Saw Artist sign in a female version. Here it is and thanks for keeping me on my toes ladies.



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Scroll Saw Artist Sign

Hang out your shingle with this scroll saw artist sign. The pattern includes two sizes. One is 10" long and the other is 14".



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Fish Fear Me Scroll Saw Pattern.

Fishing patterns are always popular. Here is an 8" plate or wall plaque for the fisherman in your life.

In my 60 second audio tip yesterday I talked briefly about controlling dust on the scroll saw. I would like to ask a favor. If any of you have developed a good system to keep dust under control while scrolling I would love to see pictures of the setup. I am especially interested in efficiency, low noise and reasonable cost. I am interested in both the ability to keep the work area clean and have a healthy environment to breath in. If I can gather enough good information and tips I will do a video to pass the information along the everyone. Thanks for your help.




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60 Second Scroll Saw Tip - Saw Dust

I have no idea why I call these 60 second tips. I can't say hello in 60 seconds. This one is about 3 minutes and the subject is important so it deserves a little more time.

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Incredible work from Douglas Green.

Click to Enlarge

I received this picture in my email today from Douglas Green. Douglas took the individual Military Patterns that I have designed over the years and combined them into an incredible 30" x 22" dedication to our men and women in service.

Douglas plans to hang the piece in the machine shop where he works. They build parts for the Airforce.

Thanks Douglas for sharing your work with everyone. One of my favorite pieces I have seen in a long time.