# pieces now finished



## pixy (2 Aug 2008)

Hi Guys Two pieces now finished yesterday I hope you like them


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## tanyabub (2 Aug 2008)

Very nice, especially the boxer. =D> 

I think I must have missed a thread somewhere but are these shaped slices of wood stuck together or carved from one piece.
I'm very much a woodwork novice so talk to me like I'm stupid :wink:


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## Gill (2 Aug 2008)

Very nice indeed  . I especially like the paint effects on the boxer; you'd never guess it was a piece of plain MDF once upon a time.

Gill


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## PowerTool (2 Aug 2008)

Both very nice pieces,but as already said,the boxer dog is something special  

Andrew


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## pixy (2 Aug 2008)

Hi Tanya The boxer dog is made from 1" MDF. a pattern is stuck to the surface then with my scroll saw each individual piece is cut out, then sanded into shape. actually it is very much like carving but you don't have the depth of material.The nose of the dog is the piece I shape first as that is the point that is furthest out then you just work from there, by the way it is only the second one I have done and I really love it. The dogs head stick is made from thick exteria plywood , carved and finished of with a pyrography wood burning pen.Thanks guys for the comments it makes it all worth while. As it is an American craft and not a real lot of people over here do it , it can be hard getting started.
Mal


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## tanyabub (3 Aug 2008)

Thanks for the explanation, and the fact that's it's only your second piece just makes it all seem all the more impressive. 
I can't believe the terrier is made from ply. How do you shape it without it chipping and splitting?

I know what you mean about the american thing. 
All the first scroll saw stuff I came across was American and I started out reading a US Forum although sometimes it was confusing with them mentioning things I'd never heard of or was ever likely to be able to get easily.
As far as I know there is no UK magazine covering this type of woodcraft and all the books I've seen so far seem to be American too.


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## Gill (3 Aug 2008)

I'd definitely like to see a more detailed photo of the terrier, possibly several taken from different angles. As Tanya says, tis hard to credit that it's made from plywood.

I like the American scroll saw forums and I often post on one. However, I quite understand that although they genuinely _try _to be international, there are some things which they're not well suited for. It's so irritating when they start talking about proprietary brands and products which aren't available in the UK. As for imperial measurements... :evil: . That's why this board was opened.

There used to be a UK magazine but it went out of circulation a few years ago. I was delighted to find that some of its projects have been compiled into these books:

Advanced Scrollsaw Projects, and
Simple Scrollsaw Projects.

They might be worth considering, although I haven't bought them myself - I've got the magazines  .

Gill

PS Although the 'Murricans now dominate scrolling, apparently it originated in Norfolk! The first treadle fretsaws were produced by an agricultural firm as a byproduct of farming machinery. I can't adduce any evidence to support this claim, just a memory of a conversation with someone who knew someone at Hobbies of Dereham.


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## pixy (3 Aug 2008)

Hi Gill here are some more pics of the stick and one of the first intarsia I did not very well finished I'm afraid. Mal;


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## tanyabub (3 Aug 2008)

I will check out the books. Shame about the mag though  
I know I could subscribe to Scrollsaw Workshop magazine but then as with the forums a lot of the ads and articles may not be relevant.



> PS Although the 'Murricans now dominate scrolling, apparently it originated in Norfolk! The first treadle fretsaws were produced by an agricultural firm as a byproduct of farming machinery. I can't adduce any evidence to support this claim, just a memory of a conversation with someone who knew someone at Hobbies of Dereham



Well according to John A Nelson in his book 'Scroll Saw Workbook' the first ever thin scroll saw blades were made in the 1500s by a German clockmaker, and the first person to make a name for themselves in the art of the scrollsaw was a Frenchman called Andre Boulle. A woodworking school in Paris still bears his name, apparently.
There is no mention of who or where the first ever prototype treadle machine came from though.

Now, I have no idea which version is true but I do much prefer Gill's. I'm sure we must have had something to do with it. :wink:


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## Gill (3 Aug 2008)

I just love those sticks, Mal; thanks for showing us. And if that terrier had been my first attempt, I'd have been absolutely delighted. Sometimes we are our own worse critics.

Tanya - John Nelson is right, the fine fretsaw blades we recognise today did originate in Germany at around that time and Boulle developed techniques to decorate furniture very ornately. He used lots of other materials besides wood, including tortoiseshell and mother of pearl. However, these were cut with hand frames which were not mechanically powered. I think you'll find the first mechanically operated fretsaws were the treadle fretsaws which came out of Norfolk in the 1860s.

Gill


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## pixy (3 Aug 2008)

Sorry Gill I think I must have given you the wronge impretion . I have been making stick for some time but after my heart attack I had to give up beeting on the shoots where I sold my sticks. Recently I was very presently suprised to find my son had stated making them and very tallented too. Here are two of his sticks


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## Gill (3 Aug 2008)

I believe I did understand you, Mal. You're a very accomplished stick maker whose talents have obviously been passed to the next generation. I didn't express myself clearly when I referred to your terrier, without actually identifying the segmentation as being the piece in my mind. I really do think it is delightful and all the more praiseworthy for being a first foray into that particular woodwork discipline.

I take it that your terrier portrait is indeed a segmentation (cut from the one board) rather than intarsia (cut from several different boards)?

Gill


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## pixy (6 Aug 2008)

Yes your right Gill but I look at it now and I am quite embarrassed about the finish
Today On the way back from my sons in Newport Pagnell I visited a company I've seen on the net called Airbrush Pro .I bought a compressor and air line and paints from them got a great deal ,Can't wait to try it out Mal


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