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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
We have a winner. Giveaway Drawing for 6/30/10.
Live stream Canceled.
Hey guys, the live stream scheduled for 6/30/2010 at 9pm has been canceled. The computer that I do the streaming from is having hiccups right now and I doubt I can get it running right in time for the stream. That computer has not had a wipe and restore for almost a year so i guess that will be my weekend chore. One of the problems is that the email client is getting flaky. I will try to backup the email before i do the restore but don't be surprised if I lose some email. Thanks for your patience and understanding.I will be uploading a video of the giveaway winner tomorrow night.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Knock on wood. No wait, that's my head.
Just imagine opening your email and seeing yourself in wood looking back. That's exactly what happened to me tonight. Bob Calhoun from Australia designed and cut this intarsia picture of yours truly. I know, I know it's a bit scary but for what he had to work with I love it and I got a cool tan too.Bob, my wife thinks you have a little too much free time on your hands but I appreciate all the work you put into the picture. Thanks and I look forward to receiving it.
I just had to share this with you guys. I hope no children were in the room. If they were keep a close eye on them for the next couple of days. Signs of trauma include bed wetting and an unreasonable fear of wood.
Bob, once again you leave me speechless with your talent. Thank you.
Rust be Gone.
I know many of you are dealing with rust. It's important from a safety as well cosmetic point to keep the surface of your tools smooth and slick. I received an email tonight from Sherry asking what I do in my shop to get rid of rust and keep it from coming back. I have used a few different products over the years and these are what I have found to work best for me.
For light areas of rust I would use WD-40 to penetrate and loosen the rust. I would then use a Scotch-brite pad to remove the rust. After the surface was clean, a treatment of Johnson paste wax would help prevent the rust from returning. It's important to use a wax that does not contain silicon. Silicon can interfere with wood stains and finishing techniques. I used these products for years and they work fine.
A couple years ago I switched over to the T-9 product line. I like the T-9 rust protection a little better than the paste wax simply because it's easier and faster. I also think the T-9 rust remover works a bit better than WD-40 at loosening the rust. You can find the T-9 products at most good woodworking stores. Woodcraft sells the product if you cannot find it locally.
The number one tip is to prevent the rust in the first place. If you live in an area where rust is a problem use one of these rust protectors before you see the first spots. You will save a lot of elbow grease with a little prevention. Rust can be a pain to get rid of once it gets a good hold on your tool.
The Scrollsaw Workshop is primarily supported by donations. If you enjoy this Blog and would like to make a donation please click this link. Your support is greatly appreciated.Make A Donation
For light areas of rust I would use WD-40 to penetrate and loosen the rust. I would then use a Scotch-brite pad to remove the rust. After the surface was clean, a treatment of Johnson paste wax would help prevent the rust from returning. It's important to use a wax that does not contain silicon. Silicon can interfere with wood stains and finishing techniques. I used these products for years and they work fine.
A couple years ago I switched over to the T-9 product line. I like the T-9 rust protection a little better than the paste wax simply because it's easier and faster. I also think the T-9 rust remover works a bit better than WD-40 at loosening the rust. You can find the T-9 products at most good woodworking stores. Woodcraft sells the product if you cannot find it locally.
The number one tip is to prevent the rust in the first place. If you live in an area where rust is a problem use one of these rust protectors before you see the first spots. You will save a lot of elbow grease with a little prevention. Rust can be a pain to get rid of once it gets a good hold on your tool.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
Dollar Bill Jigsaw Puzzle Box.
For those of you that downloaded the Dollar Bill Jigsaw puzzle pattern here is a box to hold it.
I will be doing the second giveaway this Wednesday 6/30/2010 at 9pm Eastern Time. I will do a live stream for the giveaway. I hope you can attend. I will do the giveaway then we will quickly move to open chat. We will keep it short. If you have any questions for me to answer during the live stream send me an email. You can visit the live stream here.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Brother can you spare a dollar?
I know times are tough but if you can spare a dollar you can cut this jigsaw puzzle. It is a 60 piece puzzle and should make a nice gift for anyone who likes money. I'll design a box to hold the puzzle tomorrow.
If you need instructions about how to use jigsaw puzzle templates watch the "Jigsaw Puzzle Template Book" demonstration video on my blog.
Shameless plug: If you enjoy this pattern then consider buying my "Jigsaw Puzzle Pattern Book". It has templates to turn you snapshots into family heirloom gifts. The book is $7 and you can find it at the top of my blog.
Before I get a hundred email about destroying money this is perfectly legal. According to the US Mint there are no sanctions against defacing currency as long as there is no fraudulent intent.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
World Cup Fever.
This pattern requires a 1 7/16" / 36mm mini clock insert. The world has football fever right now and I'm sure you have someone in your family who would love to have a gift to remember the event.
Friday, June 25, 2010
A neat feature in Windows to view scroll saw patterns.
I have been looking for alternatives ways for scrollers to catalog their patterns. Last night I mentioned that I would be adding the picture of the finished project to the first page of my pattern books. The reason I made this change was so the solution I'm showing tonight will work best. Watch the video and let me know what you think.
The Scrollsaw Workshop is primarily supported by donations. If you enjoy this Blog and would like to make a donation please click this link. Your support is greatly appreciated.Make A Donation
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Thursday, June 24, 2010
I want to address a common email I receive from some of my readers not from the US. About 20% of you are from other countries and I have become friends with many of you. It has been one of my biggest thrills to get to know people from places like Russia, Australia, Iran, Israel, Germany, France and many many others.
One thing that stands out loud and clear is that a common interest brings everyone closer together and breaks down artificial barriers that could other wise keep people apart. When we are talking about scrolling no one cares if I'm American or Iranian.
Occasionally I post a pattern that shows American bias. This email from a scroller in the Netherlands expresses frustration that I hear from more than a few of my over seas readers. I'll let you read his concern then reply.
Dear Friends,
This is example number 100000 about a totally USA-oriented patriotic pattern.
I am sorry to say, but I am getting a little bit tired about this implicit amirican patriotism.( while your country is not doing so extreme well).
I think you Have to realize that a part of your friends/scrollers is simply not American.(I am from the Netherlands/Europe).
So……….I have said whot I wanted to say.
Sorry about my bad English. It is not my native language.
I am American. 80% of my readers are American. I don't mean to insult anyone with my patterns but these are the type of patterns that get requested. I try to give my readers what they want. The fact is I get more requests for American patriotic patterns and religious patterns than anything else. If I were receiving large numbers of requests for European themed patterns then I would be happy to do some. I do not get those requests. Obviously I am not as well schooled in European history so they might be more limited by ignorance on my part.
I do not make apologies for being a patriotic American. The fact that some believe America is "not doing so extremely well" does not change my patriotism at all. I also have met hundreds of friends from nearly every country in the world because of my blog. We all have scrolling in common and where in the world we come from makes no difference. I hope they are as patriotic about their country as I am about mine. There is no reason that patriotism means we have to disrespect others.
I am not naive enough to believe everyone should think America is great. Sometimes we piss me off also. I do not post patterns that I think are inappropriate for my readers. I will continue to post some patterns that show an American bias. This is not to disrespect any other country but only to honor the country I love.
I doubt it will be possible for me to do patterns for holidays from many countries just because of time but I will look into doing a few for countries where my reader base is large enough to make sense.
To the writer of the above email let me say I understand your frustration. You come to my site looking for a fun pattern to cut and there is a pattern that is useless to you. At least I hope that's what causes the frustration and not just an anti-American bias. There is a big difference between patriotism and nationalism. Let's wave each others flags high with patriotism and leave the nationalism to our governments who seem to never understand that when left alone we all get along pretty good without their help.
Now stepping down from my soapbox.
America the Beautiful Scroll Saw Pattern.
Show your patriotism this July 4th and every day with this America the Beautiful word art.
The picture above shows a change I have made to the cover sheets of my patterns. With this release I will add the image of the finished pattern to the cover sheet. I have had this request for a while. I am looking into the possibility of changing the cover sheets of the older patterns also.With the release of Adobe Reader 8.1 Windows has had the ability to show thumbnails of the cover sheet when the directory is opened with explorer. For those of you that use this windows option it makes it very easy to organize and find patterns stored on your hard drive.
Unfortunately this Windows/Adobe features seems to be buggy. It works for some but others will just see the default Adobe Icon. This occurs no mater how the thumbnail option is set in Windows.
Windows will also show the thumbnails of different graphic formats so if I can find out all the facts about the pdf thumbnail issue it will make finding patterns a snap in windows.
I need help investigating this problem from some of you computer geeks. Look at the picture above. Notice how Explorer is showing the four folders then a thumbnail of a .jpg pattern. Next it shows the cover sheet of a .pdf pattern. The rest of the .pdf's are showing the default Adobe icon. All these .pdf files were created the same way but some show the thumbnail and other do not. I have google searched this problem and can not come up with a fix.Apparently Windows will not natively show the thumbnails. Adobe added this feature to Windows with their release of 8.1. Un-installing and reinstalling Adobe Reader does not seem to always helps. The problem happens on XP, Vista and Windows 7. There are some reports that installing other Adobe software causes the thumbnails to break. I can't verify this so far.
There is one registry hack floating around that looks like it might help but I need something I can tell my casual readers without them having to edit the registry.
If any of you have run into a solution or have any facts about this issue please email me. Thanks for the help. If we can get this working correctly it will solve the problem of cataloging patterns.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Let's get ready to celebrate the 4th of July.
This pattern book has five ornaments to celebrate Americas birthday.Here is a fun video showing the production of wooden toys in the facilities of Maple Landmark Woodcraft. Has nothing to do with scrolling but I'm always looking for videos about woodworking and I thought this one was worth sharing.
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Monday, June 21, 2010
Kellie's Basket, Scroll Saw Pattern.
I enjoy designing and making scroll saw baskets. I like to come up with different types of weave and different sizes. This one is not so much a weave as it is just a decorative pattern. The walls are pretty thin. Less than 1/8" so you need to be accurate while you cut them. They have corner posts for strength. I kept the handle basic.In this example I used 1/2" walnut for the top, bottom and handle. The weave is cut from pine. The dimensions are 5.25 x 4.
The heat here in Lexington is still unbearable for most of the day. 90 + every day for a while now and more to come. The heat index is about as bad as we can get. It's keeping me out of my un-air-conditioned shop for the most part. For those of you that I have told I would work on a project or pattern it will take a while.
For those of you new to the Scrollsaw Workshop I want to welcome you and invite you to visit the Community Forum. There are over 1300 scrollers from all over the world sharing ideas and enjoying each others company. You can find the link to the Forum on the left side of the blog. Go ahead and sign up. You will me some nice folks there that enjoy the hobby as much as you do.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
60 second audio tip - Selling at your first show.
This is a reply to an email from one of my readers about selling scroll saw works at his first show. The audio for this 60 second tip is about 9 minutes. I'm long winded, what can I say.
Press button to play audio.
The Scrollsaw Workshop is primarily supported by donations. If you enjoy this Blog and would like to make a donation please click this link. Your support is greatly appreciated.Make A Donation
Press button to play audio.Friday, June 18, 2010
I feel like I have made a mistake and I want to correct it.
In June of 2009 I reviewed a software package named Filepick. The program is written by a very nice gentleman named Robert Briggs. The program allows you to catalog patterns in a database and recall them by picture. It does a very good job.I released my Pattern Library software the other day and it competes with Filepick too closely. I do not want to compete with Filepick because it is a big source of income for Robert and his wife. I just don't need the money that bad to hurt the Briggs.
Robert wrote me a letter and asked why I would try to compete with his software. He was very nice about it and did not tell me I had to stop but I should. Our hobby is too small for any cutthroat behavior and I don't want to be thought of in that way. For this I would like to apologize to Robert and his wife.
I really had no bad intent I just did not think the situation through very well. I was just trying to give my readers something they ask for often.
I have decided to remove the software from the server. I deleted the posts and the video.
For anyone that gave a donation for the software just send me an email and I will make sure you get it back.
For those of you looking for a pattern cataloging software package please check out Filepick. It is $39.95 Canadian dollars and worth every penny. Filepick has many of the features you guys are looking for. If you collect patterns then you will find Filepick invaluable when you start searching for a pattern.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Nick Eldred Scrollsaw Workshop Giveaway Winner!
Congratulations to Nick Eldred from the United Kingdom. Nick was the winner of the mid-month giveaway. He was selected from around 3500 entries to receive the "Wildlife Portraits in Wood" book.All the entries for this month are still good until the next drawing 6/30/2010. Remember to keep the entries coming every day.
Check this out. Kathy Jaeger's beautiful clock.
About a year ago Kathy started taking scroll saw lessons. She had cut a few small projects then she saw a picture of this clock. She told her teacher, Jutta that she was going to cut that clock. It took her a while but she kept with it and look at the results.This is a good example of jumping in the deep end and learning to swim. Don't be intimidated by patterns that look too challenging. If you take your time you can do more than you think you can. Just take each piece at a time. Don't get in a hurry. Ask for help if you need it. Don't let mistakes frustrate you and wonderful things will happen.
Kathy you did a beautiful job on your clock. Can't wait to see the next project. Thanks for letting me share this photo and inspiring others to push their skills.
Welcome to our Home Scroll Saw Pattern
Scrollsaw Workshop Giveaway Drawing 6/16/2010. We have a winner.
It's time to the mid-month giveaway. We had over 3500 entries. Keep the entries comming and we will have the next drawing 6/30/2010. Watch the drawing in the video to find out who the winner is. It might be you.
The Scrollsaw Workshop is primarily supported by donations. If you enjoy this Blog and would like to make a donation please click this link. Your support is greatly appreciated.Make A Donation
If you are reading this in the email newsletter you may not be able to see the video. Please visit the blog and watch it in the the Daily Post section.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Update from Jim Jackson about the Officer Memorial Badge.
A couple weeks ago I asked for your help. I knew I could count on you guys. I asked for some of you to cut the memorial badge to help the families of the slain officers of the West Memphis police department. The badges were shipped to Jim hoping to raise a little money for the families. Today I received an update from Jim that I wanted to share.
Here is the email from Jim:
Steve, just to give you an update on how things are going. I played in the benefit golf tournament last friday and the Chief addressed the people before the tournament. You can tell he is in good spirits and appreciates all the support he and his family and the police force is receiving. He has received emails and mail from all over the world, literally.
Now as for our project, I have received scroll work from all over the unites states, it is so wonderful. Even received some from Wasilla Alaska, Sarah Palin's home town. I have received so many beautiful things, some just like your pattern, some with changes, some different pieces. The chief is due back to work tomorrow and my son is going to give him some pieces for himself and the families of the fallen officers. One scroller, bless his heart, sent me a check, wishing it was more. Everyone is so wonderful and kind, when I open each and every package, I get tears in my eyes, for the wonderful things people are doing for the fallen officers. I am seeing that each and every officer, office worker in the pd and associated employees are receiving one of these special offerings. I'm meeting with the proper people in W. Memphis next week to put these memorials up for donations. Thank you and everyone involved, i can never express my feelings on this tremendous outpouring of support and love. Thank you a million times over
Thanks to all my FRIENDS in the scrolling world, one day i hope to be good enough at it to lend a hand.
Great Blade Holder From Walt Nicholson
I received this blade holder project from Walt the other day. He was good enough to allow me to share it with everyone.
I really like the way it pivots back out of the way when not needed.
The front left mounting bolt is removed and replaced with a longer bolt. A couple of nuts and a washer are added as shown in the picture.
Walt used a 1 x 6 piece of pine for the holder. The small hole in the corner is large enough for a nylon bushing. The mounting bolt needs to fit into the nylon bushing. Then use another washer and nut to hold the board in place. 1" holes are drilled for the blade bottles. The bottle have a lip to hold them in the holes. The inside row has two holes missing for clearance. Walt did not give the length of the board so you will need to measure as appropriate.
The bottles can be found at http://www.stevespanglerscience.com. 15 bottle can be purchased for $9.95 + shipping. Walt says they are extremely tough and durable. He has dropped them on concrete with no breakage. Walt suggest that you print some labels for the board so the blades can be identified easily.Thanks Walt.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
2010 Texas Scroll Saw Picnic.
Cherie Johnson was kind enough to send me pictures of this weekends Texas Scroll Saw Picnic. The Picnic is sponsored by the DFW Scrollers and Lyndal's Backyard Workshop.
The event was held in the Denton Civic Center.
Thanks Cherie, looks like a great show. I'm sure everyone had a great time.
If you would like to see the rest of Cherie's photos visit her album here.