Starting Over

[Marsha]

Hi Folks,
I'm new to this forum and I'd like to introduce myself.
My names Marsha & yub I'm the one who started the flak about copyrights.(more about that on General Scrolling please).

I thought I'd tell you a bit about me.

My favorite tool is my Dewalt 788 scroll saw, which I traded a Hitachi router for. I've been scrolling about 7 years now and started on a Delta saw. I moved up to the Dewalt about 3 years ago. I have always had a love affair with wood, sparked by my Mom, who did all the carpentry in our house while I was growing up.

My favorite type of scrolling is compound cutting, sometimes called 3 dimensional cutting. My favorite designer/scrolling idol is Diana Thompson, I love her chess set patterns. I admire all the scrollers who do intarsia, I tried it once but I'm not big on all the sanding/shaping required to bring intarsia to life.

My next favorite hobby is decorative painting, and usually when I make a project other then compound cut, I combine the two. I also like to paint on glass.

My hubby Fred and I have also done some woodworking projects together, we built a pennisula in the kitchen, a new TV Cabinet, and new cabinets in the bathroom.

I'd love to post some pics here of my work, but I can't cause I can't figure out how. Maybe someone could explain it to me, I've looked in the FAGS but that wasn't much help. I'd like to know how you post thumbnails, do you need to upload your photos to a hosting site or can you post photos from your hard drive? When I posted the pic of the doll furniture I used photobucket but that seems like alot of work for multiple pics.

I looking forward to communicating with all of you on this site.
Marsha

[minowevie]

HI Marsha. welcome to the forum. I am Evie, your partner in crime. I am so sorry we got off on the roung foot. I am so glad you stayed around , these folks are some of the best friends I have ever made, barr non. I too have made many things. being a gale. do most all the fixing around my house. fraiming, carpet, cabnetry, gardoning, sewing, roofing, driwalling, etc, etc. its a kick , and I just love it all. my Dad could do anything, and I wonted to be just like him. He couldn't spell eather. lol. I am so glad you are here. looks and sounds like you are a gem.
to the posting pictuers here let me give it a try. ok first you make your post. then scroll down some. and you will come to a attachment box , click that, then that should open another window, that has places where you can brows for you pictuers, on you pc. then select something from you documents or pictuers , open that. then select a picture. open that. and that will tack you back to the brows thing again. and start all over for another pictuer.then click on load. and wait. then submet it all , and wait. it will post it all. hope this made some sence. if not ask marcel , he is a master at the computer. your new friend. Evie

[Marsha]

Thanks Evie, for your reply.
After I have browsed and uploaded the pics, they appear on the bottom of the screen in the manage attachments field, how do I get them from there to my post. I got the pics that far the first time I tried, but I couldn't figure out how to get them into my post.
Thanks my Friend
Marsha

[minowevie]

Thanks Evie, for your reply.
After I have browsed and uploaded the pics, they appear on the bottom of the screen in the manage attachments field, how do I get them from there to my post. I got the pics that far the first time I tried, but I couldn't figure out how to get them into my post.
Thanks my Friend
Marsha

Hi Marsha. I think I did leave out the last thing. woops. then you go back up to the post. and click on submit reply. just like always. welcome again my new friend. Evie

[Marsha]

Thanks Evie
Can you preview the pics before you submit the post?
Marsha

[minowevie]

HI Marsha. I think you can??? beside the submit reply is a box for preview, post try that. hope that helps. fun huh. your friend Evie

[sheltiecarver]

Hi Marsha,
Gosh - just let me be sick for a few days and look at all the fur that flies while I'm gone!! I'm sorry that you got in the middle of such a fuss, but I'm glad you decided to stick with us - you'll find most of us to be very supportive and helpful, and we will also tease you. Just like family, only maybe just a bit better, since you get to choose us.
I love Dianna Thompson's compound patterns too - in fact, it was the inability to get them right that made me want to get a better saw. I'm using a terrific 20" RBI Hawk now - and after a year and a half, I'm still in love with it. Did you try her Halloween patterns from SSW? I made a bunch of those silly cats before I lost the pattern (NEVER going to ask about getting a replacement!!!) I love the light-hearted way she seems to have about her patterns, and scrolling in general.
So, again, welcome. I hope you come to call a lot of us your friends.
Sandy

[Marsha]

(NEVER going to ask about getting a replacement!!!)
You better not or you'll have Rick after you. LOL

Thanks Sandy for the welcome.
I have not made any of her halloween pieces. I have made several of her chess sets, and some of her candles. I ordered the mini clocks to make some of her clocks, just haven't got around to it yet. I'm going to try a few of her boxes as well, have you ever made any? One thing about living in Canada, it is very difficult to get decent wood in unusual species at a reasonable price, and I think her box patterns scream for unusual woods.
If I ever fiqure out how to post a pic without going through photobucket, I will post the chess set.

Thanks again
Marsha

[Gill]

Hi Marsha

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on making such an impact already.

If you look at the thumbnails in Photobucket, you'll see there are three boxes below each picture. Select and copy all the text in the box marked IMG, then paste it into your message. When you preview your message before posting it, you'll see the picture instead of all that computer gobbeldygook. Then just go ahead and post your message.


In this example I want to post the picture of the dog. This is what it looks like on the Photobucket page:





I select and copy the bit marked in red:




And paste it into my message. When I post the message, that computer text is magically converted to:





Simple, ain't it? Now, let's see your chess set .

Yours

Gill

[sheltiecarver]

Marsha,
You're right that we have a lot of species available here in the states - the only limitation is the $$$. Although Dianna's boxes certainly cry out for that special piece of wood, I have made several of Poplar (easy to get in our DIY stores, cuts easily, and sometimes quite lovely), and a few in Red Oak (also easy to find at a DIY store, but somewhat stubborn to cut), and even one of Birch plywood, stacked and glued to get it thick enough. That one came out interesting, but it was tough on blades (I'm guessing it was all that glue). I haven't yet made one from really pretty wood like she shows in her book, but I encourage you to try whatever you can get - I think you'll love the results. And if you plan to paint them, you could use any softwood or even MDF- the results should be really terrific.
And I found that people really like to get them as gifts or prizes - even if they don't appreciate the effort we put into them. I guess it takes a scroller to appreciate DT's patterns and the work/skill that goes into making them.
I hope you get the picture thing figured out - I don't have a D-camera yet, so I'm just ignoring that skill 'til I need it. I figure that then Gill and Evie can guide me through, as they are doing for you.
Sandy

[Gill]

When you talk about posting thumbnails, Marsha, do you mean the pictures at the top of each post beside our names? If you click on the User CP link at the top of the page, you'll be taken to your profile page. At the left hand side of that page is the Control Panel and the fifth link down is the Edit Avatar link Click on that link and you'll be able to edit your avatar.

The avatar must be in a certain format and measure no more than 80x80 pixels. Nor must it be larger than 19.5Kb. If the thumbnail you want to use doesn't meet those specifications, email a copy to me and I'll convert it for you.

Gill

[Marsha]

Thanks Gill for the welcome,
I know how to upload the pics through photobucket, I was hoping there was away to avoid photobucket and upload them directly from my computer.
Perhaps not though so I will post my chess set through photobucket.

Gill, I'm not talking about the avatar. In the beginner scroll forum there is a thread started by Trout on shops, some of the picture posts are in thumbnail view and when you click on the pic it enlarges for you, I would like to know how to do that.

Thanks Again
Marsha

And Sandy,

I never considered glueing layers of ply together, that certainly would give you a different look. I don't glue much wood together, because I don't have a planner and I'm always afraid there will be a gap from the pieces not being perfectly flat. Most of the lumber I can get at the local DIY store is so badly cupped you could drink coffee from it. We do have a lumber store here called Exotic Woods, and they do carry some "exotic" woods, this is where I buy the wood for my chess sets, but there's about a 3 week wait for them to resaw and dress the wood. I did buy a piece of butternut at one of the wood shows, it was so wet it's been drying for several months now, but it's checking so bad I'll never be able to use it. Have you ever tried to stain poplar, I have only painted it, it's always so green?
Thanks
Marsha

I'll go work on posting that chess set now, and hope it works
Marsha

[sheltiecarver]

Marsha,
I hope it works for you to post your chess set. I'd love to see it. Bummer about that butternut - it is a rather soft wood (but not a softwood!), so it doesn't take to anything very detailed, but it is beautiful.
The poplar I get is green to yellowish, with streaks of darker green, sort of maroon, or sometimes just plain brown. I do lots of puzzles in it, and I sand the surfaces really well and dip the pieces in Watco Danish Oil (Bob - it's OK to change this if it's a no-no to use the brand name). I drain them on paper towels, then sit them on hardware cloth to cure (for several weeks, if I have time) By that time they mellow to a yellowish tan with brown streaks - almost all the color like the maroon changes to various shades of brown - rather attractive, I says to meself, since that's what it's going to be! And it is one of the less expensive hardwoods readily available to me. (Still not cheap) I stain it for the puzzles by just dipping the pieces into a can of stain, or into a low foil pan with some stain poured in (turn it with big tweezers) It does not always come out the color on the stain can, but it does change the colors. I find that the stuff I sand the finest takes very little stain, but I think that applies to all woods - not just poplar. I think I sand so fine that I sort of burnish the surfaces.
I don't have a planer either, so I try to start with pretty flat stuff, and I use a lot of clamps and - I think they call them "cauls" - boards across the glued-up package to put some pressure on the center of the pile. Since I am not glueing up anything very large, I've had pretty good luck, so far. Of course, I also try to use a glue not far off in color, just in case of a gap.
Good luck with your pics.
Sandy

[Marsha]

Thanks Sandy,
I think I'll try staining the poplar next time I use it. I don't think it's that expensive here, although I can't quote you the bf price.
I posted my chess set over on the General Scroll Saw forum, go take a look, I think you'll appreciate it.
Marsha

[Marcel in Longueuil]

Welcome

Hi Marsha,

Welcome to the group.

Regarding your Butternut's checking: When drying pieces of wood that are wet, you can use a latex paint and paint both ends . This prevents moisture from escaping faster from the end grain than from the long grain, which causes checking, and helps even out the drying process. There are products manufactured specifically for this, such as Pentacryl, but any left-over latex paint will do.

Regarding your pictures, Gill has given you the best tutorial I've seen on how to link to Photobucket. You could also put them in the User Gallery

There are online resources in Canada for exotic woods, blades, and tools. I try to buy Canadian whenever I can due to the high brokerage fee for duty charged by carriers such as UPS & USPS/Canada Posts (Plus the duty fees). Although, with the CDN dollar being so strong, I may reconsider the impact of the exchange Vs the fees Vs the savings, it could become worthwhile to do so.

Regards,
A fellow Canuk,
Marcel