Gifts & Test Pieces

[PeteG]

I've made a couple of the plant pot holders for Mothers Day, in Oak. Although I can't decide how to finish them, was thinking linseed oil!

A little story about the wood!
I mentioned in passing to my mum that I was after some nice wood and without saying anything, she spent several hours driving round timber yards in Lancashire.
A couple of days later I get a phone call, "Get the kettle and open the side gate". My good old mum is outside with 19 pieces of rough sawn Oak and Iroko. What a star

I haven't made anything in Oak before and they took quite a bit longer to cut than the one I did plywood. I had a little accident with the little girl holding the umbrella,
my hands felt a bit numb after a few hours cutting and I dropped it, it fell on the tip of the umbrella and broke a bit off!





I made this one to practise cutting letters, again in Oak.



I used Ash for the fish.



Ash again for the cross. I didn't pay attention to template which asked for 1/2" stock, I used 1" which was way too think for the little heart shaped base it should have been on.



A couple of penguins in Ash, nice and easy to cut and good fun



Saturday night I decided to have a go at this little chap, a mouse sat on a piece of cheese. Our lass thought it was brilliant but then tells me I'm becoming obsessed, and with her next breath tells me
to make another one! Don't figure



As luck would have it, on Sunday I get a mail shot from Steve Good with plans for a shelf cat. It has to be a deep shelf for the cat to sit on, but it works great on a box of Ritz crackers



I've made a proper mess in the shed but had great fun this past week. I've loss count of how many hours I've spent, the amount of tea I've drunk and the number of blades I've broken.
So I'm off to clean the mess up and carry on with this obsession :lol:

 

[bodgerbaz]

A mostly good collection of work pieces. Well done. The cat and mouse is great fun. I think linseed or a light varnish will look great.

Barry

 

[mseries]

They are great. I am not going to show mrs mseries these pictures though, she'll add that cat to my TODO list !!! I don't have a scroll saw but after showing her the pics of the Christmas decorations on here she said she's going to buy me one (except she calls it a fec saw or fez saw)

 

[Chippygeoff]

Well done Pete. You are going forward in leaps and bounds. Sadly for the wife scrolling is highly addictive, very soon she will be coming to your workshop saying it's time for bed, or maybe breakfast. Personally I would steer clear of linseed oil, ordinary linseed oil can take days to dry. Have you tried wood silk, it's a spray on type polish that will highlight the grain and leave a lovely sheen. As all your pieces are for indoors you don't need an outside finish. You could also use wax polish and use a shoe brush to buff it up. I totally ignore the thickness of the wood stipulated on patterns. I use a thivckness that I feel is suited to the pattern. Sometimes I will cut a pattern quite thin if it is going to be mounted on a backing piece.

 

[PeteG]

A mostly good collection of work pieces. Well done. The cat and mouse is great fun. I think linseed or a light varnish will look great.

Barry

Thanks Barry I think I'll go with the linseed oil then

They are great. I am not going to show mrs mseries these pictures though, she'll add that cat to my TODO list !!! I don't have a scroll saw but after showing her the pics of the Christmas decorations on here she said she's going to buy me one (except she calls it a fec saw or fez saw)

You'll have great fun mseries but you're right, the TODO list will get BIGGER! I tried not to think about Christmas decorations in January, until our lass mentioned them over the weekend, "What are you making for next Christmas, and why don't you start now"! I reckon she wants me out of the house :lol: What with Mothers Day, Easter, Valentines Day and all the Birthdays, I wouldn't be surprised to find the spare bed in the shed!

 

[PeteG]

Well done Pete. You are going forward in leaps and bounds. Sadly for the wife scrolling is highly addictive, very soon she will be coming to your workshop saying it's time for bed, or maybe breakfast. Personally I would steer clear of linseed oil, ordinary linseed oil can take days to dry. Have you tried wood silk, it's a spray on type polish that will highlight the grain and leave a lovely sheen. As all your pieces are for indoors you don't need an outside finish. You could also use wax polish and use a shoe brush to buff it up. I totally ignore the thickness of the wood stipulated on patterns. I use a thivckness that I feel is suited to the pattern. Sometimes I will cut a pattern quite thin if it is going to be mounted on a backing piece.

Hello Geoff She doesn't venture in to the shed much, not since she bought me a cordless phone last year When it rings I know it'll be fo rone or two things, to get something out of the freezer, or tea is ready
I'll have a look for some wood silk, if it's in spray can that'll be great. I have Bri Wax but didn't fancy trying to get it in all those nooks and crannies.
Some of the pieces above need cleaning up, I used the Olson belt sanders on the plant pot holders and they worked a treat, although some area where too small to get in to.
I looked for some patterns over the weekend that used thick or thickish wood so I didn't spend too much time putting the timber through the thicknesser, or at least not all of it.
And I need to get to grips with sawing some of the boards in half on the bandsaw! After I've had a clean up I'll make a higher fence, as I need to plan/thickness more wood
before my next little creation. Reckon I'll have a go at a vase with a bow on, and may be a couple of boxes

 

[jonluv]

Lovely work Pete--I like to use Tung Oil on hardwoods just seems to add a bit of depth to the piece

 

[Lumberman]

I think all these pieces are grand Pete especially the one of the cat and mouse{ very whimsical)
where do you get your patterns from. I think Danish oil would make an excellent finish or even a vegetable oil
Well done.

Harry.

 

[nadnerb]

Hi Pete
I was going to say wood silk but Geoff bet me to it. The spray caqn is the best as it gets into all the small spaces.
Regards
Brendan

 

[PeteG]

Lovely work Pete--I like to use Tung Oil on hardwoods just seems to add a bit of depth to the piece

Thank you Jon I haven't heard of Tung oil but then there's a lot I haven't heard of! I reckon I'll have to try a few different finishes to see which I prefer

I think all these pieces are grand Pete especially the one of the cat and mouse{ very whimsical)
where do you get your patterns from. I think Danish oil would make an excellent finish or even a vegetable oil
Well done.

Harry.

Hello Harry I'm pretty sure nearly all the patterns are from Steve Good http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.co.uk/2008_03_28_archive.html and I think the penguins are from this one
http://www.woodworkingarchive.biz/woode ... uzzle.html

 

[Claymore]

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[jamiecrawford]

Mate, you've excelled yourself! Very finished look to the cuts. I have some catching up to do, and no mistake

 

[PeteG]

Lovely work Pete! some unusual designs there and agree with Geoff regarding Wood Silk you can get it at Wilkinsons for around £1.50 a tin (in the section where they sell household cleaning and furniture polish)
Cheers
Brian

Appreciated Brian I'm trying not to do anything to complicated at the moment! Working with different woods has been a lesson and how the blade reacts with the grain, and after re-reading the post Geoff put up last week about blades I solved a couple of problems I'd been having with blade tension, or should I say not have the correct tension. I'll try Wilkos tomorrow, they seem to have a few oils on the list.

Mate, you've excelled yourself! Very finished look to the cuts. I have some catching up to do, and no mistake

Thanks Jamie The Olson sanding belts are pretty good and saved a lot of time on the pot holders. I bought a magnifying lamp from Maplin last week, recommended by Geoff, it took a little getting used to but
it's brilliant and has made a huge difference for me. On the fairy pot holder there is an eye lash which I couldn't see properly on the plywood test piece, with the magifier you couldn't miss it. Well worth £25.00!
I also bought some small diamond files on Amazon which worked a treat on the Oak pieces.