Basket of Pets

[Bob H]

http://www.vianet.ca/~rhelman/basket.jpg

Made mostly from various shades of Western Red Cedar with Basswood (white) and ebony.
The woven effect of the basket: each lateral piece was cut as a whole, low points marked out then sanded down creating a "wavy" pattern.

This measures approx. 16 X 16 inches (40 cm).

Which brings me to a question.
What are your preferences Imperial or metric?
Canada went metric in the early 80's but old fellers like me, still feel more comfortable with imperial. I like to think of myself as ambidextrose ( bilingual?) and could use either.

[scooter]

Gday Bob, keep up your contributions mate, they're excellent.

Metric and imperial, what a clever linguist ;)

Either way is fine, for this black duck anyway.

Would be interested on technical threads also from yourself, what saw you use, what blades, any mods to saw, useful tips, etc etc. These could be posted to intarsia forum , or possibly better to the scrollsaw forum for a wider audience.

Cheers mate........Sean

[Tikki]

EXCELLENT intarsia Bob ..... you must have so many pieces you've made, do you have a gallery, sell them at craft fairs, give them as gifts ... or keep every piece you make like I do?
Really appreciate your participation on this forum. :)
Regards
Tikki

[Bob H]

Sean....

Saw: is a DeWalt 788. Are you familiar with it? Only modifications I have made to it is a counterweight spring to aid in lifting and holding up, the arm for blade changes and/or ease of blade insertion for inside cuts. There are professionally designed Arm Lifters available also, at a cost. But mine was free. I also incorporated a Blade Storage/Holding rack, mounted on the top where my blades are handy. And although it is not a modification, I use a foot switch. And built my own stand for the saw.

Blades: Flying Dutchman, single tooth, reverse. Most common sizes I use for Intarsia are 5, 7 & 9. I do have #3's for finer work.( and even finer sizes for some other scroll work such as portraits.)

The other tools I use, If you missed it, I posted a picture of the various implements I use for intarsia. It can be found in replies in my original post (ice-snow).

Tips: I have been adding a few where I think an explanation of a certain part of a piece is helpful but other than that I would be much happier just answering direct questions. Much easier for me than an attempt at writing an "Advice to Intarsia Artisans" column, or as you suggest, to all Scrollers, even though I do other scroll saw work. It may not reach as large an audience but I think it could be more beneficial to provide a specific solution/answer than my trying to guess the level of experience of the readers.

More than happy to share at any time.

Seeya Buddy ( that's the Canajun equivalent of Cheers Mate) :)

Bob.




Tikki:

You are right about the number of pieces I have made. I've lost track. As for what I do with them...... I don't have a gallery ('cept my walls), I have sold some pieces at an art show, and had a few sell from a local art/craft gallery. But I don't actively seek out places to sell.

If by gallery, you meant on the Internet...No, not yet but I have been working in fits and starts at creating a web site for myself but it is low priority.

Many of my sales have been through my daughter in law. Her co-workers and their friends have bought quite a few. Also some of the other scrolling "woodstuff" I do. She was responsible for the sale of the Great Blue Heron, and the Roses & Buds you had seen before. She and my son live a 6 1/2 hour drive away so I provide the Postal Service with some of their profits.

And yes to gifts. Everybody in the immediate family plus a number of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends got bits of my work, whether they wanted them or not. ;>)) . I have also donated a couple of pieces to the local Animal Shelter. One is a Raccoon up a tree and the other a Basset Hound.

The actual doing the work gives me pleasure, sometimes I hate to part with a piece even for money but I sell enough to feed my sawdust habit.

This is a small city of 13,500 well off the beaten path. It was a one industry town (pop 25000) until the mid nineties. Uranium mines. They all closed and the city has been trying to reinvent its self ever since and attract businesses and people with money.

So unless I get more ambitious vis a vis making money, I'll just wait for the opportunities. Until then I guess my walls will stay full.

Questions for you.

1. Am I in danger of monopolizing the forum? And I don't want to appear a as if I am on an ego trip.

2. What do you suggest I post to encourage people to take up the sport? The easier ones or the more complex? And any particular subjects?

Thanx,

Bob

[AlexS]

What are your preferences Imperial or metric?
Canada went metric in the early 80's but old fellers like me, still feel more comfortable with imperial. I like to think of myself as ambidextrose ( bilingual?) and could use either.

Think metric...it's a dozen times easier. :D

Very nice work Bob, and I certainly don't think you're monopolising the forum.

[echnidna]

Very nice work.
Just keep posting
If someone thinks you are monopolizing they will soon say so.
If they do - don't get offended, we Aussies are used to slinging off at each other.

[scooter]

Thanks Bob, keep the good oil coming.


Cheers.........Sean

[oges]

Another outstanding effort