Latest Puzzle

[Scrolling Days]

Originally Posted by Pete_M

Thanks for all the compliments. They ARE appreciated. Especially from ones peers.

Wood Dog,

I didn't keep track of the amount of time as I worked on it off and on for over a week. If I was guessing I'd say 5 or 6 hours. Should keep track of the next one, altho it'll be in the 8x10 category, just to get an idea.

PETE

LOL, I get asked the same all the time, Pete, and I still don't know how heck about how long it takes me to cut an average puzzle. It's really hard to quantify, because like you, I work on them in spurts, and I spend a lot of time "working on them" when I'm not actually cutting (planning out what types of cuts to use, planning figurals, etc).

[KtownScroller]

Looks like a lot of curvy cutting Pete. The puzzle turned out real well!

[sawdustus]

Very nice puzzle. Intricate yet doable. Thanks for sharing. You might want to make a few more with 20 to 60 pieces for the kids to play with in the churches rec room.

george

[Pete_M]

Sawdustus,

Yep! Thought of that very thing. Right now I'm just working on things for the church bazaar the 1st weekend in Oct. If I get the time I also want to make some "children's" puzzles. What I'm making now will be sold and the money used for our Mission work around the country and world. Later on I can make up some puzzles for the nursery, altho they seem to have more than enuf "toys" in there already. Don't recall having all these toys when I was a youngster. Course, all we had back then was a hammer and rocks we were supposed to make into dirt so you all would have something to grow crops in!

Scrolling Days,

Keeping track of the time on the next puzzle. Got 35 minutes in and 22 pieces cut. Takes more time to de-burr the back than it does to cut the piece.

Pete

[Scrolling Days]

Originally Posted by Pete_M

Scrolling Days,

Keeping track of the time on the next puzzle. Got 35 minutes in and 22 pieces cut. Takes more time to de-burr the back than it does to cut the piece.

Pete

What kind of wood (and from where) are you using, Pete? When I cut from oak or cherry with 2-0 FD SP blades I seldom get fuzzies.

[Carter-Johnson]

I do most of my cutting in 20-minute sessions. Each such time produces 20 to 40 pieces. Thus, a 300-piece puzzle takes a little under five hours total. That time frame has held pretty consistent for 15 years, though the puzzles have become more complex. Interestingly, the pieces, as I get older, have become slightly bigger.

Great phun..... Carter

[woodgeek]

Very nice puzzle Pete and a great subject too.
I am new to picture puzzle cutting and I need all the inspiration and advice I can get and fortunately on this forum there is plenty of both.

[Pete_M]

Scrolling Days,

I'm using 1/4" Baltic Birch that I get from Micro Mark. I then paste the photo on with Elmers White Glue. I put a sheet of wax paper over it and roll it out with one of those 4" rollers they use to put Formica down with. So far it's worked out pretty good even with the card stock the Quick Print places use to enlarge your photo's with.

There aren't all that many fuzzies with a new blade but I notice I get more and more as the blade wears. Is there a way to reduce or eliminate those fuzzies from BB?

Woodgeek,

Well, welcome to the wonderful world of puzzle making. The one in this thread is my 2nd flat puzzle, and the only other one I've done is that 3D Tree puzzle in the Summer SW&C. Well, I guess we can't forget those 5 postage stamp puzzles Carter put me onto. Got about 40 more stamps to cut out and like Carter does I've been giving them out as gifts to friends. I'm getting quite a reputation for them.

Uo tp now I've only done fretwork on the scroll saw, but would like to try my hand at Intarsia. Maybe this Winter.

Carter,

I hear you. Right now my biggest problem is to keep from making the pieces to big. I get in my Zen mode and let the blade carry me where it wants to go! Sometimes I have to cut a piece in half when they get to big.

Pete

[woodgeek]

"Takes more time to de-burr the back than it does to cut the piece."

My method of deburring is this Pete. I cut each piece and lay it out on a plywood board just a little larger than the completed puzzle assembling it as I go. When I am done cutting I place another piece of plywood or thin cardboard over that and carefully flip the assembled puzzle over. I then slide it off onto another board or surface covered with a clean cloth. I then sand the back with the puzzle still assembled with a power hand sander. It takes longer to describe it that it does to do it except for the sanding which takes just a little longer. I have done this so far with a puzzle up to size 11 x 11 1/2 but I suspect it will work for larger puzzles as long as you have extra wood or stiff cardboard. Special care must be taken not to lay the puzzle picture side down on a hard surface and move or sand it as it will show.
I have not done that many puzzles yet but so far this method has worked for me with good results.

[Pete_M]

Woodgeek,

You've certainly got more courage than I do. Gives me the shivers just thinking of using a power sander on a puzzle. The two I've got have way to much speed and aggrssiveness for me to want to do that. Plus I put a coupla coats of Tung Oil on the back before I start, hopefully to keep any swelling or shrinkage to a minimum.

I find that all my fuzzies are on the edge of the piece so I use an Exacto knife, and one of those sanding sticks women use for their fingernails that's been trimmed down to suit. I cut a piece, de-burr it and put it on a piece of plywood big enuf to hold the whole puzzle. If I don't I'd probably never get it together. This way the puzzle is all done when I cut the last piece.

Like you I'll turn it over but only because the guys on here want to see both the front and the back side. Otherwise I'd just take it apart and stack the pieces in bunches of 5 to get the count and then put them into the wooden boxes I make up for it, along with a label.

Pete