Questions for Judy Gale Roberts, Jerry Booher

[Intarsia.com]

Sarge,
That's a great question. Just take a close look at the project and Imagine in your minds eye what you are seeing. The Sky would go on and on forever "as far as the eye can see", SO--- that would be the thinest parts. Since we have to have material for the sky and usually the thinest we like to make things is 5/16" to 3/8" (that is the thinest because of warpage ect.) After you establish and sand that thickness you build up from there to the hills that would be way back and come to the balloon which would be the thickest part.

YOU GOT THAT SOULDER ??

Great question Sarge.
Carry On !!!!
jerry

[Intarsia.com]

Thanks for writing,
As we all know--- "You Can Do Anything You Put Your Mind To"
Yes you can jump right in. As a matter of fact, that's how judy started. With no wood working experience she just "winged" it with her father, and with no instructions at all. These days you have us to help you along the way.
Try to get a good scroll saw and your chances of being successful will be much better.
We have two books that will help you out. First one is our oldest and still most popular book, "Easy to Make Inlay Projects". Easy to make Inlay deals with the bandsaw and the hand layout method.
Then we have the "Intarsia Workbook" which is up to date on techniques. So I would have to say if you were going to get one book, perhaps the "Workbook" would be best.
If you just jumped into scrolling then I have a video on the subject as well.
Thanks for wrting and Best of luck to you.
jerry

[SSG Johnson]

Thanks for the info. Now I understand. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

Dust the workbook is great I got my scroll saw for christmas and have worked through the workbook and I can really tell a difference between when I first started and now. I would recommend the workbook to anyone as it is a wonderful book to learn from.

[lonepine]

Jerry: As far as cedar wood goes, theres the kind that they use for siding houses, not sure what kind that is,(although the builders throw a lot of it away as scrap) and the one they use for closets, and one other that is white cedar. Are any of these good for intarsia work? Thanks Bob.

[Intarsia.com]

Bob,
That is a good question and is one that comes up often. We use the Western Red Cedar (WRC) for our Intarsia. The WRC is the same as the cedar siding (as far as I know) as well as the material that is used for facia ect. As a matter of fact we used to go to the building sites that were using it and cart it off (after asking). Using it that was cheap needless to say but it always seemed that there just was never enough of it for this or that, but none the less we used it.
The cedar that you would use in a cedar chest or cedar closet is what we call here in the montains as local Cedar, and is most refered to as "Aeromatic Cedar". It is really beautiful and smells great but we have found that it turns colors pretty fast from a great redish to a yellowish tone quickly, so we don't use it any more.
There are some other cedars out there, and one is Eastern or Northern "White" Cedar, and is a very nice whiteish color that goes very well with the WRC.
Finding this material (any of the above) is a little tricky but we have found it best to look at the Mom and Pop Lumber yards in your area. The big chain yards carry some WRC but it is somewhat limited. It's always a good Idea when you are in the chain stores even for something else to take a "walk by" the cedar because you never know what will be there next. Perhaps you can even ask the staff in that department (that is if you can find anyone LOL!) to take you to the rest of the pile outside.
We also use "Cedar Fence Picketts", so you can also call around and ask your local fence companies if they have some or if they can help you with a supplier. REMEMBER THIS """ The Cedar we use (WRC) is usually "wet" and should be dried before you use it.
CEDAR of all types can be rather toxic so listen to your body when working with it.
Here it is again-- I was going to asnwer a question and wound up with a book.
Hope this helps you out.
jerry

[lonepine]

Jerry, what you said is exactly what I wanted to know about these woods. I will be on the lookout for these woods and plan to do some projects from your books. Thanks again . Bob

[Powakee]

Hi Judy and Jerry
I don't have a question but I do want to tell you how much I have enjoyed cutting up your pictures! I have 2 of your books and I really enjoy and treasure the drawings.

Thank you for sharing your talents.

John Watson

[Taffy Turner]

Hi Judy and Jerry,

I live in the UK and am just starting off with intarsia.

I am a huge fan of your work, and have two of your books.

I would very much like to order some of your plans and also some hardware items from your website, but I can't find any mention of overseas shipping. Do you only ship to USA and Canada, or do you offer a shipping service to other countries as well?

Thanks for your assistance.

Gary

[ChuckD]

Hi Judy and Jerry
I have your Wonder wheel and I use it quite often on WRC for fur, smoothing over round corners, etc. However I have to use a light colored wood such as pine for a piece on the intarsia and when I use the Wonder wheel for that it leaves a burn mark. Can I prevent this? I have the grinder speed turned down as far as it will go.
BTW Love your work and patterns.

[Intarsia.com]

Hello Chuck,
When using the wheel on white woods it does tend to burn somewhat. The burn is not very deep and can usually be sanded out by hand pretty easily.
Try "dressing" the wheel and that could help some. Also-- we have found that a slower speed does not really help much. Try a fresh dress on the wheel and Crank it up as fast as it will go (not to exceed 4,000 RPM's)
ALSO---- be sure that the rotation of the wheel is correct,, this is very important

Thanks fo rthe question.
jerry