1st puzzle

[Block]

The picture is of my kids (Christmas card pic).

This might be a new idea: I cut the hearts out of the pattern so I could see the picture and position the pattern so the kids' faces stayed inside the hearts. Not sure, but maybe one could remove perhaps as many as 50% of the pieces from the pattern so they could adjust their cutting as needed "on the fly", or move the pattern beforehand as I did.

Cutting was difficult, as I figured it would be, but of course most mistakes do not matter on a puzzle, but you can see the heart in the LR corner has a lump.
There are a few burn marks in the wood - does that mean I pushing sideways against the blade?

I might cut the "frame" in 2-4 peices (with some "tabs" - hopefully they will fit tight) so it will fit inside the box.

BTW, I used a few coats of acryllic (UV resistent type) on the print. It was not even in thickness, so I sprayed more to fill the low spots...it started to look ruined - tons of bubbles. I had to leave, and when I came back it was OK, whew! I had already ruined an earlier print with acryillic issues....and on another the glue (too much 3M77) bled through. Learned a lot the hard/best way. Might try triple glaze next time instead of the acryllic spray.

http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu112/CNY_AP/Puzzle_1000Close_20120401_0011.jpg

http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu112/CNY_AP/PuzzleSmall_20120331_0003.jpg

[Powakee]

Learned a lot the hard/best way.

Good learning . . . .Thanks for sharing your insights and lessons. Your 'hard way' learning will help make the rest of us look like we know what we are doing when family and neighbors come over. . . . . I am sure I speak for me and (at least) one other . . . . . we really really appreciate it.

John

[Block]

Funny - a spell checker somewhere (incorrectly) changed some of my mispelled words - I fixed them. Not sure what I'll do next - another bowl or the lock.
I made what would have been a nice bowl, but used Aspen (since it's easy to cut and it was just a practice bowl). Aspen has little grain, so I stained it hoping to make it look better, but staining made it look worse - oops.

[avapilot]

good job on your first puzzle......I don,t know what blade you were using but i use the superior puzzle blades from mike,s woodshop........my saw is set to about medium speed.....and when I do hearts or circles (which I feel are difficult to cut).......i slow the saw down more and cut real slow.....

I coat my images with krylon triple thick glaze spray.....it sounds like your clear coat was thick and bubbles resulted.....try lighter a lighter thickness of spray....I wait 48 hours for the glaze spray to fully cure, before cutting..

and keep in mind....the more ya cut the better ya get...

bob

[Carter-Johnson]

Hey, Block....great puzzle, especially for a first one. It sounds like you might like to try doing a whole puzzle freehand without any pattern at all. If I can be of any help trying it that way, let me know: [email protected]

Carter

[Block]

Oops - meant to mention it was the FD puzzle blade...I used 2 of them (hoping it was getting dull but not sure if it was). I'm wondering if I would have better results with a thicker blade. I probably pushed sideways and therefore bent the blade, so the pieces are not "square", and do not easily fit. I lightly sanded all of them (that was "fun") but they are still pretty tght fitting.
BTW, I used a stone to smooth/grind down the right side, hoping it would cut straighter...was not easy going, so I put a new blade in w/o grinding the right side, and I did not notice much difference. Definately cuts one direction sharply more "willingly" than the other.