Salt Lake Temple Portrait

A couple of months ago I was asked to cut out the Salt Lake Temple.  I was not sure even how to start or where I could get a pattern. I am active on a couple of forums so I posted the question with a picture of the Salt Lake temple on it. Less than 24 hours later I had a pattern in my hand.  Honestly I didn’t think I could do it.  There were a lot of small cuts and looked like it would take more time and effort I wanted to put in.  Someone had taken the time to create the pattern for me so the least I could do would be to make an effort to cut it out.  One plus side was that I needed to by some tools for the project.  Granted it was new blades and a mini drill bit set. 

So I cut out my blanks of 1/8” birch ply wood.  I stacked cut two out.  I have learned that I do not have as much control cutting out a single sheet of 1/8” material.  I started drilling and cutting.  I quickly learned that I had to slow the saw down a couple of steps.  I learned a little late, but it was ok, to cut out the small pieces before cutting out the larger sections.  The larger cut outs reduced the strength of the part and the board would vibrate with the blade when cutting out the smaller sections.  I only cut through a couple of parts and no one will know where. 

Cutting was one challenging part.  The next part was peeling off the pattern.  This was another reason why I cut two.  I did not have to worry about the pattern on the second piece.  Taking the painter’s tape of carefully was a challenge but it was true to its name and came off easily.  It was actually sturdier than I thought it would be.  The backer was painted black and glued to the portrait. 

I enjoyed the challenge but I think it will be a little white before I do another portrait.  I may not do a building again.  The straight lines caused me a little grief.

2017 Christmas Ornament

I found next year's ornament early on and so I have already started cutting it out.  This year the wood is pine.  I have had problems in the past with blow out and chipping on the back side.  I had some 1/8" hardboard so I decided to put a backers on the stacks in hopes to minimize the chip out.  It worked, but I had these ornaments of thin board.  I could just throw them away, but I decided to practice on them.  I wanted to try something else in my air brush other than shellac.  I found some pearl gold air brush paint at a local craft store.  I used 1/2 a bottle on the nine ornaments.  Looking back, I do not think my settings were correct.  The paint was a lot thinner than than shellac.  I should have dialed back the amount of paint going through the nozzle.  They turned out ok.  The paint was not as consistent as I would have hoped, but that is my fault.

This weekend was not as optimal as would have hoped.  I had a lot of finishing to do and several projects are presents.  This was the last finishing day I had before they needed to be shipped out.  While I was setting up in the morning I heard a loud weird noise.  Looked around and did not see anything out of the ordinary and continued to set up.  The neighbor across from us was setting up for a yard sale and came over.  He asked if I knew there was a downed power line in our yard.  Upon inspection there was a downed line in our backyard.  The live end was in the neighbor's yard, but my yard was still off limits.  We went and did a couple of things as a family.  When we came back, the wire was cut back but not repaired.  Good news was the power was still on.  So I started my finishing.  Half way through my first coat the power was cut.  They estimated it would be turned back on at 8:30 in the evening.  I used what air I had in my compressor to clean my air brush and clean up.  Now I have to figure out how I am going to finish these presents in time.

Planter boxes

Over the weekend I decided to make planter boxes despite the fact that I had a lot of other projects that I needed to complete.  My family needed some time and this was the weekend to do it.  The local fair ground was having a farm day so we just made it a themed Saturday.  I took the kids to Lowes to pick up some dirt.  Then we went to the farm event and had a great time.  We even picked up some plants.
I was hopping that the kids would be more interested in building the planters but they got bored real quick.  The planters were simple.  Four 2x4's screwed together to make a square.  The squares were stacked on top of each other and screwed together for depth.  Our herb garden was only two 2x4's tall and then we made three that were 4 tall.  The planters were open on the bottom so they just sat on the ground.  The dirt went in and then we planted the plants and seeds.
I know that this is not a good time to plant, but the kids enjoyed it and if it doesn't work out we can do it again in four months.

The only issue I had with the entire project was the screws.  I got deck screws with the star head.  a box of 2 1/2" and 2".  Both promoted they came with a free bit.  What I did not realize is that the screws had different size bits.  I could not use the same bit for both screws.  This was slightly aggravating.

New Ornaments

Our family picks up an ornament from the various places we visit each year.  It is kind of our travel log.  My son has attended a Project Surf Camp for a couple of years.  This year he came home and requested and told us that we needed a project surf camp ornament for our tree.  He actually drew one out, but it was lost.  I talked with him about making the sticker we received an ornament.  He was ok with the idea and this is what came out.

I tried using a spiral blade on the top lettering.  It is the first time I have ever used one and didn't really like it.  I did not feel like i had good control over the blade.  It stretched when I put tension on it and the end bent all over the place making it difficult to insert into the pilot holes.  I don't know if I will be using them again.  Other than the upper lettering I am happy with how it turned out.  It was a lot of holes and I was in constant fear that I was going to cut through and ruin the piece.

The ornament of Yoda is because I found a picture online and thought it would be a fun cut out. Sorry I cannot sell it the image is copyrighted.  But you can make the snowflakes from their webpage.

Fork Lift

This was a request from my kids, like most of them are.  They wanted a fork lift to replace the one that I though was too fragile to throw around.  I think there is a trend for the toys that I am making.  The forklift proved to be a challenge that I could not figure out.  I did not want a string to lift the forks up.  I thought about a wedge design or steps.  Nothing seemed to work how I wanted it to.  So I went back to the string.  I sort of disguised it as a propane tank.  I really did not like a handle and crank on the side.

I learned that I need to be careful how close I drill to the end of the board.  I originally had an 1/8" between the front of the chassis and edge of the wheel well.  That ripped apart when I drilled it.  Fixing was easy, just cut out the broken material.  This is reflected in the plans that are for sale.


This is also one of the projects where I am glad I have a 3d modeling system.  I was struggling on how to attach the mast to the chassis.  My original plan was to dowel it through the mast sides.  When reviewing the model, I noticed that the dowels were sticking into the wheels.  This is why the mast bottom was added and finishing became a little more complicated.  The joints of the mast need to be taped before the finish is applied

Skid Loader

The skid loader was one that I needed to make tough.  For some reason the first one that I made kept breaking even when I tried to reinforce the weak portions.  It was always the arms that broke so I tried to make sure I had the grain in the strongest orientation.  I probably over doweled the parts also.

My favorite part about the skid loader is that it is well built.  I am not boasting in myself, I am truly happy how well this came together.  I also like how the shovel is made with the large cutouts to maximize the carrying capacity.  It is also simple enough to be completed in a weekend.

Review of a Scroll Saw Tip

I read a tip to use more of a scroll saw blade.  I probably missed the part where he specified the thickness.  Basically when cutting material only a small part of the blade is being used.  The top portion of the blade is not used.  One way to improve the blade usage is to buy crown tooth configuration.  Once the blade is dull it can be flipped over to use the top of the blade.  The tip was to add a 3/4" thick board to lift the part up and use the fresh top portion of the blade.  I am cheap and figured why not try it to double the life of my blades.
I finished the top a little while ago and finally got around to attach the magnets to the top.  There are a couple of issues that I found where this tip does not work well for me.  The tip works great for 3/8" thick and less material.  I generally work in 1/2" and above.  I do a fair amount of stack cutting also.  The little knob that holds the top of the blade gets really close to the part when raised 3/4".  It will not damage the part but it does not feel good when your finger runs through it.  A 3/8" and thinner piece would not have this is not a problem.  The part in the picture is 3/4" thick.

My basic design was to have a 1/2" piece of plywood with a 1/4" piece of plastic attached.  I know the picture looks like the top is warped but it is not.  I had seen others put a piece of thin board on their tops to reduce friction, others wax their tops.  I had a piece of scrap plastic so I used that on top.  Underneath I used rare earth magnets.  I was not sure how many I needed so I started with two and that was all that was needed.  They hold the top down just fine.
Although the tip does not work for my purposes it was a good tip.  However, I learned why people put thin board to reduce the friction on the plate.  The plastic I had is used on production tables because of its low friction.  It made a huge difference in cutting tight corners and small areas.  The past few times I have been using the top risking minor pain to my right index finger because I like the plastic top so much.  Now I just need to figure out how to put a removable 1/4" plastic top on the saw for my fingers.