Dress up your QI Charger with the Scroll Saw.

When I purchased the new iPhone this year I was happy to see that they now supported QI charging. For those of you not familiar with QI charging let me explain. A QI charger charges the smartphone by simply laying the phone on the charger. No connection to the phone is necessary. They are very convenient.  The newer iPhones support QI charging as well as many Android phones. Check you smartphone specs before you buy a QI charger.

One problem though. They are usually ugly. I decided to dress mine up a little by making a wooden enclosure for it. The enclosure also makes it easier to line up the phone with the charger. If they are off center charging will not start.

This is the QI charger I purchased from Amazon. It is an incredible buy at $8.99 as of this writing. This pattern is designed around this charger. You probably won't find one cheaper so this is a good one to experiment with. The first one I purchased was over $50. This one seems to work even better than the expensive one I purchased. 

Installing this charger in the enclosure has not impacted the charging time at all. The top of the wooden enclosure is around 1/16" thick and does not seem to affect the charging at all.

Click to watch the video.

 I milled the top as thin as I could get it then sanded it to the 1/16" thickness.

The purchased charger is approximately 3/8" thick. I used 1/2" thick wood and just shimmed the charger until it was flush with the top. We want the charger as clos to the phone as possible. 

 I just used a small piece of wood for the shim. I sanded it until I got the righ heigth on the charger.

I installed the back plate with screws. I want to be able to remove the charger if needed. Notice that I countersank the pre-drilled holes. I did not want the screw heads scratching my desk. Rubber feet can be added if you prefer. 

 I great tip for driving these soft brass screws is soap. Apply a little soap to the tip and it will screw in with ease.

 I made a mistake here. I put glue where the lightning bold fretwork is on the top. I had to wipe off some of the glue. Pay more attention than I did when applying the glue.

Lots of clamps are called for. You want the seams to disappear as much as possible. After the glue dries, sand the edges until flush. I gently rounded the corners and broke over all the hard edges. Apply the finish of your choice and you are ready to charge in style.

Buy the QI Charger

Currently $8.99 on Amazon.

Brian Hall and Son Painted project.

I have said it before but I'll repeat myself. I am not a big fan of painting wood. I love the look of natural wood. I have also seen too many poorly painted projects. Painting is difficult to execute well.

I received this picture in an email today. It was from Brian Hall. Here is what he wrote. This is one case where I think this project looks very nice painted.  Brians son definately does a nice job with his airbrush.

Hi Steve,

I am new to scrolling and have been watching some of your videos on YouTube. I found your fish bowl pattern that you kindly supplied on your website and thought you might be interested in the finished result. What makes it different is that my son, who is a dab-hand with an airbrush, painted it and I think he did a brilliant job.

Regards

Order your custom signature coin:

Click to Order

Laser engraved with your name.

$12 per sheet of 12 coins plus $3.50 shipping

I can only ship inside the US.

Inlay these coins into that special project

using only a 1" Forstner bit.

I did not make it to the post office today in time to get the outstanding orders shipped. I will take them to the post office first thing Monday.

I'm starting to get feedback from customers now. The response has been very positive. People seem to like the new design. Thanks for all the orders.

Order your 3D nameplate.

Click to Order.

I'm still taking orders for the custom 3D nameplates

These are $5 per pattern. 

Use first and last name or two first names.

Patterns delivered by email.

Pay on delivery.

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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. 

www.scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com

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.

Click here to Order. 

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.

The Scrollsaw Workshop is primarily supported by donations. If you enjoy this Blog and would like to make a donation please click this Button. Your support is greatly appreciated. 

My Sponsors:

Support the businesses who support our community.

Shop Bear Woods for your craft supply needs.

Home of Pegas scroll saw blades.

Visit Heritage Wood Specialties

for you scroll saw ready boards.

Living Hinge Scroll Saw Box.

This is a small round lidded box. It is unique because the walls of the box are wrapped around the bottom and top rim. The 1/8" thick plywood is cut in a way to make it bendable. This is sometimes called a living hinge.

Living hinges are usually cut with a laser. I'm not sure it has been done on a scroll saw before but it works quite well. 

This was a bit of an experiment. I wanted to make sure it would work on a scroll saw. This technique can be used to make much larger boxes. It's just a matter of cutting a whole bunch of straight lines. Maybe we will try a large box later.

Here you can see the series of cuts in the wall of the box. I cut these with a #1 blade. I also used a micro drill bit to keep the interior entry holes as small as possible. 

 The lid of the box is made in two layers so it sits on top of the box.

This picture shows a good view of the cuts that make the living hinge. These cuts go pretty fast once you get started.

I will say that gluing and clamping the box is the biggest challenge to the project. I thought about using a two hose clamp after I finished. That may be the best option.

The reason for yesterday's poll.

Click image to enlarge.

Yesterday I posted a poll. The questions was:

(When you install a new scroll saw blade do you put the blade in the top or bottom clamp first?)

This write-up won't make much sense if you are not familiar with the Jet scroll saw.

I had a reason for asking this question. The Jet scroll saw has a unique clamping system. Some folks love it and some are not so crazy about it. The part that some don't like is that the bottom clamp has to be removed to install a new blade. 

Pegas listened to this complaint and made a new lower clamp that replaces the stock clamp. Replacing just the lower clamp with the Pegas clamp keeps the unique upper Jet clamp in place and solves the lower clamp problem.

It did present a new problem for me. With the new Pegas lower clamp installed you have to install the scroll saw blade in the lower clamp first. I never do it that way. I always install the blade in the upper clamp. Then I drop the blade down through the table and insert the blade into the lower clamp. I find this way easier because it lines up the blade with the lower clamp and I don't have to look under the table or fiddle with doing it blindly. It's just the way I do it.

I actually thought that this is the way most scrollers install a scroll saw blade. I was apparently wrong.

Of the people who answered the poll, 395 install the blade in the upper clamp first. 647 install the blade in the lower clamp first. This is way different than I would have predicted. Neither way is wrong. I just had it in my mind that I knew the most common technique. 

The good news is that the new Pegas/Jet clamp should work for most people.

Order your custom signature coins.

$12 per sheet of 12 coins plus $3.50 shipping.

Four designs to choose from.

These wooden signature coins are embedded into that special project using

a 1" Forstner bit. Show the pride you have in your work with a special

signature. What better way to sign a woodworking project than with wood?

- -

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. 

www.scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com

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.

Click here to Order. 

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.

The Scrollsaw Workshop is primarily supported by donations. If you enjoy this Blog and would like to make a donation please click this Button. Your support is greatly appreciated. 

My Sponsors:

Support the businesses who support our community.

Shop Bear Woods for your craft supply needs.

Home of Pegas scroll saw blades.

Visit Heritage Wood Specialties

for you scroll saw ready boards.

Ad: Affiliate

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