This layered candle Christmas ornament is only three inches wide and five inches tall. It is a little delicate so be gentle. This is a perfect pattern for stack cutting. All three layers are 1/8" thick. You can easily stack cut four at a time.
I received an email the other day asking what finish I use on Baltic birch plywood. This is just my opinion but I have decided that for most projects made from BB ply no finish is necessary. Just about everything I have used yellows the ply in a way I don't find pleasing.
Baltic birch plywood has a nice white color after it is sanded. I am fine with that just the way it is.
Let me know if you have a finish that you like when using Baltic birch plywood.
Rip curring on the scroll saw with a fence:
This is a test to answer a question I received from a reader. I would not use a fence to make a straight cut on the scroll saw. With some practice, you can make a very straight cut free hand.
The questions came from Richard. He wanted to know why he could not get a straight cut when he clamped a fence to his scroll saw.
The answer has to do with the way scroll saw blades are made. Most scroll saw blades have a burr on the trailing edge of the blade left over from manufacturing. This burr causes a drift. You have probably noticed that you are pushing the wood at a slight angle when you cut. You are compensating for this drift.
There is a way to get fairly straight cuts with a fence on the scroll saw. Use a spiral blade. They don't have the drift that flat blades do. In the picture above I cut both strips with a spiral blade and got good results.
I measured the cut with the spiral blade and the flat blade in the picture above. You can see that the spiral blade was off by .005 of an inch. The flat blade was off by .06 of an inch. That is a significant difference. You can even see with your eye that the flat blade was not a straight cut. The flat blade pulled to the right during the cut.
I'm sure someone will ask so I will describe it here. The fence I used the test above uses Magswitchs.
These are powerful switches that are activated when the knob is turned. In other words, you can turn the magnet on and off. These are great for jigs. One Magswitch has 95lb of magnetic force.
In the fence above I just set the magnets on the plywood fence. It would be better to cut a hole in the plywood for each magnet. That is what I do for more permanent jigs. This was just a quick setup for this test.
Bear Woods Sponsored Giveaway:
The 1st Winner will receive a $100 Bear Woods gift certificate.
The 2nd winner will receive a completed Charles Dearing artwork.
$12 per sheet of 12 coins plus $3.50 shipping
Inlay with a 1" Forstner Bit.
The perfect way to sign your work.
Email Newsletter Readers: Remember that the Newsletter is just a copy of the daily blog post. To see the post in it's proper formatting click this link. If you ever misplace a pattern or any item you see here you can always find it on the blog. Everything stays on the blog forever.
Products for your consideration:
Scroll Saw Pattern Design Tutorial: DVD
Let me teach you to create a beautiful wooden portrait pattern. I will show you everything you need from start to finish. The video will show you the free software program you can download for Windows or Mac OS. I will show you how to install the program and configure it for best results.
Let me teach you to create a beautiful wooden portrait pattern. I will show you everything you need from start to finish. The video will show you the free software program you can download for Windows or Mac OS. I will show you how to install the program and configure it for best results.
Then I will show you the technique to take your photograph and make a pattern from it. When the pattern is complete we will go in the shop and cut it.
The DVD is $10 plus shipping. This is a data DVD that you will use on your computer to watch the video tutorial
Every Scrollsaw Workshop Pattern from 2007-2017 in DVD
Purchase the entire Scrollsaw Workshop pattern catalog for offline access.
This DVD has 2,300 patterns published from 2007 thru 2017.
The DVD is $20 plus shipping. Ships to 60 countries around the world.
The DVD is $20 plus shipping. Ships to 60 countries around the world.
If you use the DVD on a Windows PC there is a simple viewer program to browse through the patterns.
The DVD also works fine on a MAC. The viewer program is not MAC compatible but there is an included PDF with all the patterns shown as thumbnails for easy viewing.
Want to create beautiful wooden vases on the scroll saw?
My two "Wooden Vases on the Scroll Saw" books make it easy.
The books are $12 each and available for instant download after purchase. Click for Video Demonstration.
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Home of Pegas scroll saw blades.
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