A challenge for me..in progress..will be long

[Gill]

Lin, this is a gem of a thread. Thank you so much for going to such trouble to show us how this project is progressed. It's particularly interesting to see how you handle the plexi.

I've never tried a glue roller myself but the idea came to me as I was reading your thread. I think it's an experiment I might try out too.

Gill

 

[Lin]

More pics.....Base assembly

Pic fourteen shows how I find the points on the frame itself for the screws. The base is 3/4" thick and the drilled holes in it have been counter sunk on both sides....deeper on the bottom. I do a small counter sink on the top of the holes to give room for glue and wood when the screws them selves are put in...I use 3/4" wood screws to find placement. I put them in and the tips just peak above the base. Using the center fret on the overlay as a guide to the middle screw I place the frame on top and press down......The tips of the screws mark the frame bottom with just a little bittly mark. I then use an awl to make a starter hole, using the marks as a guide...keeping the holes centered on the thickness. I then use a screw in each starter hole of the frame and get a good start on it. At this point you will have some wood displacement from the screw going in...Ya know...a burr of wood on the bottom of the frame.
I don't have a proper tool to take care of this so I make do with a drill bit. I twist the bit round and round to make a small champer on each hole to get rid of the wood burrs....sand a bit if needed.

Pic fifteen shows the bottom of the base after assembly. I used 1" number 6 wood screws and a line of glue on the bottom of the frame and a bit of glue on the screws themselves. Putting one of these together....being as large as it is.....can be an experience all in itself. Generally some bad words come outta my mouth before I get the screws totally seated. This is another part of this project I was hoping someone here could shed some light on as to an easier more efficient way to do this. I used little green felt disc on the bottom of the frame after finishing to cover the screws and all around the permiter to keep the piece from marring any surface it is sitting on.

Now the frame goes into the finishing stages......Four coats or more of lacquering and a lot of sanding after the first coat. Next pics up will be the finished piece...(front and back)...no pics will be in it. The customer won't have all her pics till the family gets together at Thanksgiving.

Lin

 

[Chris Knight]

Lin,
It is going to look fabulous when finished. I marvel at your ability to avoid breaking all the short grain pieces in the "overlay"

As far as fixing it goes, I would do much as you do, except that after predrilling holes in the base, I would glue the piece to the base and then before inserting screws, drill the appropriate sized hole for the screw up into the piece through the predrilled holes, then screw it. With no gap between the piece and the base and having a pilot hole, there will be no "excess" wood created by putting in the screw. You could avoid predrilling too, if you were confident about drilling pilot holes for the screws exactly in line with the piece.

Having glued it, I would need fewer screws as well.

 

[Waka]

Lin

I'm sat in my office with my mouth wide open, what a wonderful piece of work, you must have the patience of a saint. Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[Lin]

Well folks.....The frame is done......short the pics that will be put into it after Thankgsgiving.
Chris, Thanks for the tip....Will try it out on a smaller piece first...I would have a heart attack if I messed up one of these large ones near the end of the process.
I hope that this thread has shed some light on "Scrolling" and fretwork. This piece is probably the hardest I have done so far....I really do enjoy "Scrolling" and all the different things that can be done with the saw.....
I appreciate the tips and all the kinds words about my work from the people on this forum.....You guys and gals are great.
Here's the final pics....

The bottom

The back

The front

Needless to say....I'm glad this one is done....No to get back to the other three projects I'm working on.
Lin

 

[trevtheturner]

I have followed this thread from the outset, Lin, and have found it fascinating to follow your progress to such a brilliant result. Well done indeed.

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Greenfield Bob]

Lin,
You did a great job on it and I'm sure you are glad it's finished.
You are going to use lacquer for the finish, is it going be water base or oil?
Something else, did you keep track of how much time you have in on this project?

Bob

 

[Lin]

Trev, Glad you enjoyed the look see into my world of "Scrolling". When I first started I would've never thought I could do anything even close to this.....

Bob, Well I guess I did to good of a job on keeping the glare from the finish off the pics...It already has two coats of Deft semi-gloss and two coats of Deft gloss lacquer on it......lol

I do not track my time very well at all.....I do know that from start to finish it took me 4 weeks to do this frame......but I generally only work on my woodworking projects on the week-ends....During the same time I did this frame....I did the Segmented Arabian, A wedding plaque, Two portrait style cuttings, 30 ornaments, and have a "Work To Live" lettering piece almost done and am in the middle of cutting a "Kitty" box and one of those ringed type fruit baskets by John Nelson.......plus Cut another of the Arabian's today......Shaping on it will start next week-end. I have done one of these type frames in seven days..(three of those days were waiting for the oil to dry)...I wasnt' working at the JOB that week and had to have it done for a wedding....
I may be starting another one of the frames here shortly....customer mulling over whether to order the one that houses an 8 by 10 photo.
Lin

 

[CHJ]

Your patience, diligence and determination do you credit Lin. I sincerely hope that the final recipient cherishes the work for what it is, an outstanding piece of Craftsmanship.

 

[Chris Knight]

Lin,
That is a great job. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to document the process for us. You are a very skilled lady!

 

[devonwoody]

Lin: I worry for you in case a calamity should occur after all that amazing work.

Must be one of the greatest pieces of fret around at the present time.

 

[Gill]

That's magnificent, Lin. Thanks for detailing its progress.

=D>

Gill

 

[scroller frank]

Lin,
what a great piece of work,
fantastic ,an amazing amount of time and effort.
thanks for taking the time to share it with us all.
all the best with the next one!!!!!!!!

-------- frank------------

 

[Gill]

Hi Lin

Can I ask you for a little clarification about how you applied the lacquer to your frame, especially the fretwork overlay? Reading back through the thread, I can't seem to find if you applied the finish before gluing the fretwork to the frame or how you managaed to get such a smooth result.

Gill

 

[Lin]

Gill, I applied the lacquer after the overlay was glued up and the base was attached......I start out by lacquering the bottom of the piece. I give the bottom two to three coats of semi-gloss...sanding after the first coat...then I do the rest of the frame.....starting with semi-gloss.....and sanding after the first coat. I use two or three coats of semi-gloss then two coats of gloss on the frame and top of base....front and back. The sanding after the first coats on it takes some time.......can't get into all the little fret areas but I do take the time to get to all the areas I can...I use spray lacquer from a can....I can control it fairly well and if I do mess up.......the next coat will melt back to the previous coat.....helping cover my mistake. Any runs I happen to get....I scrape off and sand smooth and the next coat will cover them up....As long as you don't get to close when spraying or hold the can inthe same area to long......runs generally don't happen.
Lin

 

[dedee]

During the same time I did this frame....I did the Segmented Arabian, A wedding plaque, Two portrait style cuttings, 30 ornaments, and have a "Work To Live" lettering piece almost done and am in the middle of cutting a "Kitty" box and one of those ringed type fruit baskets by John Nelson.......plus Cut another of the Arabian's today......

Do you eat or sleep at all? :shock:

Fantastic piece.

Andy

 

[Gill]

Thanks for that, Lin. Spray lacquer it will be (eventually).

Gill

 

[Lin]

Andy, Thanks for the chuckle.......Quite honestly.....There are times when I feel I need more sleep........do to the JOB not my "Addiction" with the scrollsaw. This is the busy time of year for me......so I seem to always have several projects in the works. I was suppose to start an 8 heart frame this past week-end but the buyer ran into some $$ issues so that order is gone.....but I got an order from Virginia via e-mail for the 8 x 10 frame which will be a bit eaiser to do...I do like to have more than one piece going at a time.....There is always something to do...and each is different so it makes the time cutting go by fast. Scrolling goes fairly quickly when you get to it.....and as Gill has said......"You get into the zone".
Still working on what ornament to cut for my granddaughters this year......I try to come up with something new each year.......all hand made. I have croceted several over the years and now they get scrolled ornaments....The latest CCW mag has some really neat compound ornaments in it that are two piece......Thinking that may be the way I go this year....I have some 1.5" cedar that would make beautiful compound ornaments.
Lin