It's never to early to think about Christmas

[bodgerbaz]

Having submitted some pictures a while ago showing my shiny new workshop, and thank you to everyone for the lovely comments, I thought I'd better show you that I haven't been spending ALL my time out there sitting down and drinking German beer :wink:

This is a Halloween present which I'll be sending to my son and his family who love Halloween. They all dress up and have a huge party with their friends. It's a Sue Mey design and I stack-cut two copies for him to do something with.

A Shelia Landry Designs Pattern (and stack-cut with 3 pieces of 3mm plywood) which was backed with sparkly green, sparkly red and shiny plain red card.

Sue Mey's Snow Globe patterns stack cut and in a variety of colours and transparent snow acetate.

Some of Sue Mey's wonderful Christmas Words - stack cut using 3mm ply - and finished with acrylic paint.

I stack-cut two 3mm thick copies of Sue Mey's fabulous "Jingle Bells" tree.

Finally, I've so far stack-cut three of Sue Mey's 'Mittens' designs and used 1.5mm plywood to make 6 of each pattern. They should look good hanging on a Christmas tree.

If anyone would like to make their own versions I'd be happy to post the pattern reference numbers and web links if allowed.

Thanks for looking

Barry

 

[Stooby]

Amazing, they all look fantastic. Off to my second ever Halloween party this year and need to make something to take. Also our family love Christmas. I haven't downloaded any of Sue Meys designs. How advanced are they to cut and how long did something like the house and the snow gloves each take to make?
Well done on many amazing items.

 

[Claymore]

........

 

[beganasatree]

Like the house,how long did it take to do??

Peter

 

[bodgerbaz]

Thank you for the kind feedback.

The Haunted House is pattern 'NW499 - Haunted house' and can be accessed via http://www.scrollsawartist.com/haunted-house.html and there are lots more Halloween patterns here http://www.scrollsawartist.com/scroll-s ... /halloween

There are two sizes of pattern included in the purchase and I wanted to cut the larger size but the widest plywood I had was 300mm (1ft) so I had to reduce the pattern to 80% so it would fit. I used two pieces of 3mm plywood as I thought 2 x 3mm was a better thickness to cut and I got two for the price of one ;-)

I cut two pieces of ply, bound them tightly together with a few strips of masking tape then I stuck down the pattern which I had previously printed on to a single A4 label. There are a lot of tiny pieces to cut out and it's quite fiddly in places but the single A4 label did very well and was stuck throughout.

Next it was drilling tiny entry holes for the blade to be inserted. I did this on two or three occasions and did the obvious ones first as it can get confusing which part has to be cut out and which bit has to be left behind.

I also found that because of the size of the piece, spinning it around on tight turns was taxing and had to be well anticipated as the piece was bulky to manoeuvre quickly, so keep the speed down it stop it running away with you.

I used #3 reverse tooth blades throughout (because I was concerned about possible tear-out on the smaller pieces) but also a #5 reverse tooth blade for a few single thick line cuts. I still got some tear-out but it was on the reverse side and doesn't really show.

Time-wise, I didn't really keep a tally of how long it took, and because of the concentration involved I only cut for about 60 - 90 minutes at a time. Then I'd go off and do something else and maybe come back for another hour or so later. But to answer your question, I guess it took me maybe 8 - 10 hours in total over a few days at a couple of hours a day???

If you do cut one - and I'm so pleased that I did (although I'd never cut another one) - take your time and don't rush it, cut little and often and remember that it isn't a scale model of the Houses of Parliament. It's a fun haunted house and if you go wrong or come off the line - adapt it to suit and get back onto the line smoothly. There's so much going on in the piece, no one will notice because they haven't seen the original pattern.

Good luck

Barry

 

[bodgerbaz]

Beautiful work Barry! you must have superb eyesight to do such fiddly work
Cheers
Brian
ps Love the haunted house, we actually live in one but not as gothic as yours

Thanks Brian. I have a big illuminated magnifying glass which helps me with the cutting and yes it was fiddly. It must be great living in a house like that ;-)

Barry

 

[bodgerbaz]

. . . . how long did the snow gloves each take to make?

Thanks Stooby. The snow globes were stack-cut so for each one that I cut - I got several - so the time to cut each pattern is greatly reduced.

I cut 6 pieces of 1.5mm ply, about 4" (100mm) square and bound them tightly with masking tape. I then stuck on the pattern which I had printed onto a sticky label and drilled some entry holes in the waste areas that had to be removed.

I did all the internal cuts but DID NOT cut around the outside of the snow globe.

When I'd finished the internal cuts I took the stack apart and left the pattern attached to the top piece. I lightly sanded the reverse side and both sides of the other 5 pieces.

I'm fortunate that my wife is also a crafter so has lots of card making supplies in her cupboard. She gave me some transparent acetate with snow on it and some glittery thin card (I can ask her where she got them if you like?).

I cut out 4" squares of snow acetate and coloured card and using the top piece (with the pattern attached) I stuck the acetate on the back followed by the card. Only then did I cut around the outside of the snow globe. Because the wood, acetate and card were all stuck together I could gently cut out the final shape with a #2 blade as the piece was very thin.

Once separated I had the finished snow globe (with a perfect outside edge) and the 4" square ply 'frame' with the snow globe cut out.

I then stuck acetate and coloured card to each of the remaining 5 pieces of ply and placed the 'frame' over each one and carefully drew around the inside of the 'frame' with a fine pencil. When the 'frame' is then removed I had a pencil snow globe outside cut to follow and cut them out one at a time.

It sounds a bit fiddly but the results look great and apart from the final outside cuts - which are one at a time - all the internal cuts are only cut one as they are stacked together.

Time taken for the stacked internal cuts are only about 20 minutes.

Barry

 

[martinka]

Excellent work, Barry. Almost makes me want to shed my Grinch image.

 

[bodgerbaz]

Go on Martin . . . you now you want to ;-)

You're amongst friends here

 

[bodgerbaz]

Before I send the haunted house to my son I thought I'd make a few quick bats to go with them. I downloaded a Steve Good pattern and spent a couple of hours this morning making the bats below. I stack-cut 3 x 3mm pieces of ply and for two cuts produced six bats. They're actually white ply but he can paint them and they should look something like this :-

 

[AES]

That's all excellent wok in my eyes Barry, and very professional looking - quite the equal or even better looking than the stuff I see on the stalls at the Autumn and Christmas markets stalls here in Basel.

You clearly have the patience of a saint (or a ghost).

AES

 

[8squared]

Lovely patterns and great work.

I'm just working on what plans I'm doing for Christmas also, I don't want a repeat of last year.

The missus decided it would be good if I could make some Christmas tree tea light candle holders, as my kids have two teachers each plus helpers and spares in case we forgot someone I needed to make 50 in a week.

I'm looking at doing a Christmas burble plus something not Christmas related with a clock insert.

 

[bodgerbaz]

Thank you for the kind comments, they are very much appreciated.

A lot of the stuff that I've seen on Christmas Market stalls look to be laser-cut Andy . . . as far as patience goes, it's a nice place to cut but I also take lots of breaks ;-)

8squared - let us know what you're going to make and don't forget the pictures. You'll need to get your skates on if you have that much to make ;-)

Barry

 

[AES]

Yup, I've noticed your comments about stopping to cut every so often - it's good advice, and something I need to get to better grips with - apart from anything else it would help with my back problems.

Not sure about laser cutting. Obviously too big an investment for hobbyists (I guess) but though I haven't looked all that carefully, from what little I've seen, laser cutting doesn't always lead to charred edges. Actually some "hand cut" toys I've seen in department stores etc actually look rougher than I can produce!

P.S. A PM on it's way to you shortly.

AES

 

[scrimper]

Some very nice work indeed! =D>