Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Cutting Vinyl on the Scroll Saw. It works great.


This is not your everyday scroll saw project. Yes it is a scroll saw project. In this project we will cut permanent vinyl with the scroll saw and apply it to a coffee mug or any other object you like.

Why would we want to cut vinyl on a scroll saw? Because we can. We can also stack cut several at a time to make many stickers at once. This is great if you have a family reunion or other event and want to make several gifts. In this example I will stack cut two stickers but I could just as easily have cut 20. I bought the coffee mug for $1.50 and the vinyl was only pennies per sticker.

The limitation to this technique over a vinyl cutter is that it's best to have a pattern that is one piece. In this case all the letters were designed to be touching. You can do individual letters but it's difficult.
 You will need a few things to get started. Oracal 651 Glossy vinyl come in several colors. It is designed for outdoor use and is very strong stuff. It is not dishwasher safe but I have put my mug in the dishwasher twice and it is fine. Your results may vary. Notice in the picture above that you can use these stickers for items like smart phone cases. The possibilities are endless.
http://amzn.to/2G9KjmT

 
 We will use 1/8" thick Baltic birch plywood as the carrier for the vinyl. Cut two pieces of BB ply just slightly larger than the pattern. Cut as many sheets of the vinyl as you want to cut the same size as the BB ply.
 Make a sandwich with the vinyl in the middle, glossy face up.
 Wrap the sandwich in blue painters tape and apply the pattern to the top of the stack. Make sure you apply the pattern to the side with the top of the vinly.
Now we can drill our entry holes and make our cuts. I like to use a #2/0 or #1 reverse tooth blade to get a nice smooth cut.
Finish the cut. Use good technique so you get a nice continuous edge.
Remove the vinyl stickers and clean the edges of any saw dust. I use compressed air to get the edges really clean. You don't want the sawdust getting under the sicker.  You can see that I cut two. Remember you can cut several at a time and still get great results.
Cut a piece of the transfer tape large enough to accept the vinyl sticker.
Remove the paper backing from the transfer tape. Lay the transfer tape down sticky side up.
Carefully lay the vinyl sticker on the transfer tape. Be careful to not get wrinkles.
Use a sharp tip to pry the backing off the vinyl. Go slow and press down the vinyl if it tries to lift.
 Prepare the object to accept the vinyl by cleaning it with soap. Make sure it is completely dry befor you apply the vinyl.
 Carefully lay the transfer tape on the object. I try to lay it from the center out making sure there are no wrinkles. Go slow.
 Use a credit card to burnish the vinyl on the object so it is stuck very well.
Gently pull back the transfer tape. Use your credit card to remove any bubbles. You can clean any residual glue with soap and water.
If you are very careful you can skip the transfer tape. Trust me when I say the transfer tape is worth the money but if you must then go very slow. In the picture above I just peeled back the paper backing with an Razor knife. I then applied it to my scroll saw magnifying lamp.


This is a project that screams for you to be able to make your own custom patterns.
Consider downloading Inkscape and learning the basics. it is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Silhouette Cameo 3 Vinyl cutter.

http://amzn.to/2DIBxax

If you are interested in getting more serious about cutting vinyl then the Silhouette Cameo 3 is a great machine. I have owned one for a few weeks now and am very pleased with how it works.  I was able to make several giveaway mugs for my recent presentation in Atlanta. They turned out pretty nice.
The machine will cut all types of material. I am just getting started is understanding the potential of this machine but I plan to use it to it's fullest.

By the way. The Dollar General store is a great place to pick up mugs, water bottles etc for vinyl transfer projects.



Bear Woods and Scroll Saw Workshop Sponsored Giveaway.


ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

What!!!!! This is crazy. 
Prize #1.... $300 Bear Woods gift certificate
Prize #2.... $150 Bear Woods gift certificate.
Stephen from Bear Woods and myself want to take the giveaway up a notch this month. We will be increasing the value of the gift certificate to $300 for prize#1 and $150 for prize number two. You can buy a lot of Pegas scroll saw blades, clock parts and more with this giveaway.

2Ways2Win. 

Way1
$300 gift certificate. Simply use the link above to enter every day. The more you enter the better your chance to win a $300 gift certificate. Winner randomly drawn from all entries.
Way2
$150 gift certificate.  Visit this page where you can find instructions.
Winner randonly drawn from all elegible entries.



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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. 
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.

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. 

Unique Wooden Vases:
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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