The Sawdust Chronicles

There's something special about the bond between a grandfather and his grandson. It's a connection that transcends generations, and it's often forged through shared experiences and interests.  I remember the time I spent with my grandfather (Poppy).  I did many activities from riding the NYC subways from one end to another, going to Coney Island for Nathan's hotdogs and fries, and also riding the carousel.  We went fishing, we painted, and we fixed and reupholstered furniture.  I recently became a "Poppy", this is the name handed down from my mother's side of the family for grandfathers.  I already have plans for the activities I will do with my grandson. Sure, I will be taking him to the Oceanfront, taking him out in the Mustang Convertible, and also learning to maintain it.  We'll do BBQ, garden, and so much more. Of course, since this is a blog on scroll sawing and general woodworking and making toys, that is the subject. In this blog post, we'l...

As technology continues to advance, it is easy to forget the simple pleasures that come with traditional crafts. For me, making handmade wooden children's toys brings me an immeasurable amount of joy. Here's why. First and foremost, the process of creating a wooden toy from scratch is incredibly rewarding. Beginning with a raw block of wood and transforming it into a finished product is a satisfying and fulfilling experience. The slow, methodical process of cutting, sanding, and shaping each individual piece allows me to truly appreciate the beauty and unique characteristics of the wood. Creating handmade toys for children brings a sense of purpose and meaning to my life. Knowing that I am crafting something that will bring joy and happiness to a child, and potentially be passed down through generations, is incredibly gratifying. There is something special about the connection between a child and a toy that was made with care and intention, rather than mass-produced in a factor...

  The title is a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson.  I would say that I do try and live my life blazing a trail for others.  Then again, at times.... a smooth, flat road is great to cruise on. Put in some gentle curves and some scenery makes it all worth it. With that said, I've been working on mastering the laser.  Needless to say, there is a mix of science, art, and plain dumb luck!  It took me three tries to finally get a workable piece completed.  Mainly I had issues with the laser not cutting through the basswood plywood.  Finally NINE passes for a cut-through.  What is irritating is the fact that I did test pieces and got my settings from those, yet when doing a full project what happened in the test, did not happen for the final run. I am going to move away from plywood for the laser and stick with natural wood.  The only issue is getting good pieces larger than 8 inches wide.  As of now, I have to scale projects down say compar...

 I really want to combine the use of the scroll saw with the laser.  I designed a very simple "animal car".  Eventually, this will become a gift for the son of a co-worker. His son is 2 1/2 years old. I first lasered the pattern onto 3/4" Ash.  I lasered both sides trying to get a two-sided design.  However, I was off between 1 and 3mm, thus the etch on the reverse side was noticeably off.  I will stick to one side right now until I get better control of measurements. The other thing I am thinking of is scaling it down slightly so there is more balance in the sizing comparable to the wheels.  I do have a larger set of wheels, but they are very plane and do not look as nice as these more shaped ones. Of course, being that this is a failed version, I might experiment a little.  This weekend, I will laser another (single-sided) version that is not only scaled down slightly... perhaps 25%, but I will speed up some of the burn settings so I do not go a...

So here's a simple project I am working on today that will eventually be laser-cut. I am making an alphabet puzzle, and then after that a number puzzle. The different colors are 'layers", I will assign laser speed and power to each layer color, which will then determine how much it cuts, or engraves. In this case, the black is a cut-out line, it also is behind the outer perimeter of the red, which is an engraved line. You will also notice that there is a little finger cutout for each letter too. The green will just be engraved also, I just have not figured out what effect I will assign to them yet. If you look at the jet, I am currently working on that. I place the jet and duplicate it, so I make a red layer on that. I then "weld" the black jet to the letter to get the cut outline, then place the red duplicate over for the engraved line. For the above photo, assigning it to the black layer, I made my kite outline and placed it into position before scaling it down...