# Christmas Ornaments - This is what I've been making since August



## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Well, after my post about better lighting on my scroll saw I promised to post pictures of what I've been making. The first photo shows less than half of the small ornaments that I've been making. These start out as a 1" X 1" X about 4" block of wood. I cut from 2 sides to produce the compound cut you see here. When complete, you remove the waste pieces to reveal a beautiful ornament. More wood is wasted than is kept as an ornament when making these. I have made almost 70 of this size in various styles, but have already sent many of them to relatives as presents. Each of these ornaments takes about an hour to cut, but a few take longer because of the very fine detail and the need for high accuracy in them. I use a #1R Flying Dutchman to cut them on my DeWalt 788 saw.

The second photo shows a sample of the four sizes of 3D reindeer that I've been making. I've been making these and giving them away every Christmas Season for the past five years and this is year six. Every woman cashier, sales girl, waitress, nurse, etc. who helps me during the Christmas Shopping Season gets one if they want it. Every little girl who seems old enough (8+ yrs) also gets one. I usually hold out my right hand palm down with a reindeer in my palm, wish them a Merry Christmas, and drop the reindeer into their hand. I enjoy putting the smile on their faces. 98% of the time it brings forth a wide bright smile and shows them that I appreciate what they did for me. Making and giving them away makes me happy and more into the Christmas Spirit too, so I keep doing it. Last year I made and gave away 91 of the largest size, which is only about 3" tall. This year I've been making the other three sizes as well, but usually only giving the largest size away because they are easier and faster to make. It usually takes me about 8 minutes to cut one this size. I then use marking pens to make small black eye dots and a big red nose on them. 

Back when I first started making reindeer I would use a Dremel to round the corners and make them look more correct, but this took me a lot of additional time. Then I realized that most who received them were just as happy with them right off the scroll saw, so that's as far as I go with them now, except to occasionally remove loose fringe left from the saw cutting. 

The smallest reindeer that I make is only 1" tall, and I'm making hanging type earrings from them by drilling a tiny hole just under their antlers and attaching them via a ring large enough to clear the antlers to the ear piece. 

I've made 337 of the largest reindeer so far this year and have given about 230 of them away so far, so I'll likely make more before Christmas. I've only made a few of the middle sizes, but have made 53 of the smallest ones. So far, only 2 sets of earrings have been put together. I'm waiting for additional gold and silver earring hardware to put more of them together. They will also be given away, but as Christmas Presents. My 17 yo grandaughter and my daughter-in-law (her mom) received the first two sets of earrings
on Thanksgiving and seemed very excited about them.

In the third picture you can see some of the larger ornaments that I've been making. These were stack cut flat and then the two pieces put together with glue. Since August I've made about 60 (I lost count) and many of these are also on their way to relatives. They are 6-8" tall and 2-4" wide (ruler scale didn't make it into the photo)

The forth photo gives a better idea how tiny my smallest reindeer are. I make all of the larger size reindeer from pine, but I had to switch to poplar to make these. The pine wouldn't reliably hold together and some reindeer fell apart before I even finished cutting them. The legs of these tiny 1" tall reindeer are so small that their 2 front legs are about the size of the small end of the standard flat tooth picks. I also cut these with the #1R Flying Dutchman blades, but more slowly and carefully.

I was able to make all of these much easier after I installed the two LED lamps on my scroll saw that I showed in my previous post. They actually made doing all of this a pleasure. A repost of my DeWalt saw with these LED lights attached is the last photo. posted here.
Anyone looking for more information about these lights should look up my previous post about "Improved Scroll Saw Lighting"

Charley


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## Moz (Nov 13, 2015)

Those are exquisite looking!!!
I am enthralled with the ones that look like scrollwork leaves on the bottom. They are almost magical looking... I'd decorate my ceilings with those and have them up year round. They are too beautiful for just the holidays.

Very, VERY good job!
~M


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Excellent craftsmanship and a very nice description of the process.

No doubt these will will hold a special meaning for the recipients - nice work Charley.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

It blows me away, Charley to see what you and some others do with the scroll saw. I would have no way of even attacking such a project. 

These are a perfect example of the excellent craftsmanship that a proficient person can do on a scrollsaw. 
Great job, and a great gesture to all at Christmas, I know the pleasure you get from making and giving to others. Keep it up . and keep making people happy.

Herb


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Moz,

Do you mean the Colonial Lamp Light shape? That's one of my favorites of the larger ornaments that I make, and one that many of my relatives like too. The plans for it came from a Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts magazine Christmas edition way back in the late 90's. (the plans are in my computer now, but I'll try to find the original issue # for you). Most of the rest of my ornaments of this size came from the same magazine. 

These are a bit tricky to cut and can take up to about an hour and a half, so I stack cut them most of the time. Both halves of the pattern are nearly identical, except for the center slot, which needs to be the same width as the plywood that you are cutting them from. The slot comes down from the top to the center of one piece and up from the bottom to the center of the other piece. After they are cut out you just slide the two pieces together with a little glue. The Colonial Lamp Ornaments were made from 3/16 thick mahogany plywood and are clear coated with clear gloss lacquer.
I really like the wood grain, so I clear coat most of the ornaments made from the furniture grades and better quality woods. Some get sparkle dust while they are wet and some are just left with the gloss clear coating.

The white large ornaments were cut from Baltic Birch plywood and then painted white.
While the paint was still wet I sprinkled sparkle dust on them, but it doesn't show in the photograph. I've used other colors of paint including chrome and gold for these too, but don't have any to show right now, only the white ones.

I have a pretty extended family, and even distant cousins come asking for my work. So much so that I have never sold any of my wood working, but I give the reindeer away (I've saturated my relatives with them). 

Charley


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

the craftsmanship and attention to detail is way above impressive....


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## Moz (Nov 13, 2015)

Charlie, "Colonial Lamp Shade" works for me... The ones along the top row after the white one, and the first on on the second row. They visually strike a chord in me, I adore them!
Yes, please, I would very much appreciate the design for those, thank you!

I am an only child of two only children. Family is alien enough. Extended family is simply beyond me. It's like imagining being related to everyone on my block...weird...
I can well imagine the reaction those beautiful earrings get. I don't think I've ever seen such a thing before. Talk about fashionable!

You really have impressed many of us with these photos. Even Grumpy...I mean Stick. :laugh2:
Thank you for sharing!!!
~M


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Herb,

I teach and demonstrate scroll sawing and other woodworking, but mostly scroll sawing. I also design and build exhibits for the Science Museums in NC, but mostly for Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC and their satellite museums (see Discovery Place » Charlotte's Fun, Family-Friendly Science Museum. For the exhibits, I do everything except the graphic arts. The Cabinet making, electrical, mechanical, wiring, programming, etc. are all done, either in my home shop or at their shop. Everything but the signs and the pictures that go on them is done by me, and I'm 73, so I volunteer my services to them.

Anyone can scroll saw if they can see, have a good scroll saw, good lighting, the right blades, and a steady hand. My eyesight is beginning to fail, so I now wear 3X glasses for reading and to scroll saw, and when I'm making the 1" high reindeer I add a head band magnifier too. Maybe the young'uns can do it without magnification, but I can't.

I belong to an internet virtual woodworking club (Search Results - North Carolina Woodworker). We don't have meetings or monthly dues, we get together on the website - go there and look around. We have over 6000 members now, mostly in the Carolinas and the neighboring States. It would be great if this idea for a woodworking club began in other locations too.

Several groups of us get together at restaurants in different towns and cities once a month to have lunch together, meet each other face to face, talk woodworking, and sometimes someone will bring something to do a show and tell. Each member pays for his own meal at these sessions. There is an annual picnic in May every year that's hobo style (everyone brings something) and the website pays for the meat and rolls. 

A 15 minute meeting is part of this annual picnic where we install the club officers for the coming year. We sell advertising space on the website and have annual fund raisings to pay for the website and the Outreach programs. We are a registered non profit tax exempt group and consider ourselves to be one of the friendliest woodworking groups on the internet. Of course, I think Router Forums is right up there too, but Router Forums isn't really a club. All this has made for a great woodworking club for us over the last 10 years.

We also have a trailer full of tools and do Outreach Training for Wounded Warriors, Police, Fire Co's, scouts, church groups, or any group of about 10 people who would like us to help them get started in woodworking. We even go to community fairs if we are asked to. We bring the trailer full of tools to them and the training is done by our member expert volunteers and it's frequently it's one expert to one student. Each student can pick from a list of simple starter projects that we have the supplies for, and then we help them learn how to use the tools and build it. We don't do it for them. Some of these Outreach Students have even gone on to become new members of NCWoodworker and begin working in the field of woodworking. The best comment that I ever heard from a Wounded Warrior at one of these training sessions was "I don't want this day to end. I'm enjoying this so much." and this Is why I volunteer to help them.

The community fairs are usually not training, but are demonstrations by us to get people to know who we are and what we do. We never charge for what we do, not even for the materials used and I am one of the Certified Volunteer Outreach Trainers for these programs. 

I think I've said too much. Oh well.

Thanks for the positive comments. I really appreciate it.

Charley


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

@CharleyL...

*WOW!!! KUDOS!!!...*


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## old coasty (Aug 15, 2014)

[bFANTASTIC ![/b]

Please send us a link


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

No words to describe your work, Charley. All the superlatives pale in comparison to your work. Thanks for sharing.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Your a good man and have a good group, Charley ,thanks for the dissertation and keep going as long as you can. What you and your group do is contagious. We need a lot more like you on earth, and you are training them.

Herb


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## gjackson52 (Jul 4, 2015)

WOW...very nice work !!


Gary


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I have a pretty extended family, and even distant cousins come asking for my work. So much so that I have never sold any of my wood working, but I give the reindeer away (I've saturated my relatives with them).

Charley

It's not hard to see why Charley. My wife is a Christmas fanatic and would love any one of those items. Kudos for your service work too.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Very impressive work , wow have you been busy ! Thanks for sharing


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

The little ornaments were designed by Diana Thompson and published some years ago by her through Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts. She recently put out a new version of this book. It's called Compound Christmas Ornaments for the Scroll Saw. Some of the ornaments from the first book are in this one, but there are a whole new bunch of them included in this new version. I just received my copy last Friday, so I doubt I'll be making many of them this year, but I'm already planning to do them next year, probably a few at a time from August on. 

The reindeer plan is available free on the internet from Woodworking for engineers. I have cleaned it up, modified it slightly to suit me, and re-sized it so that the 3" reindeer fits a piece of 1 X 2 stock. A copy is attached of the sheet of reindeer that I print out on my laser printer. Hopefully it will print in the right size for you. 

Each reindeer is printed out as two images attached together, a face view and a side view, with a fold line between them. I cut them out and crease them along the fold line, then apply common stationery store rubber cement to a piece of 1 X 2 stock (usually pine) that's about a 1/4" longer than the reindeer image. Don't separate the face and side view. The fold keeps the two images in line with each other. Then I stick the paper reindeer image to the face and the edge of the piece of wood and move the image around it to get the reindeer's feet right at the edge of the block of wood. This is necessary to make him stand up correctly when you have completed cutting him out. Holding the block and pressing here and there all over the image until it sticks and lays smooth and in the right position is necessary. Any air bubbles under the image will cause it to lift off during the cutting process. Let the reindeer and block sit for at least 5 minutes for the glue to dry.

I use a #1R reverse tooth Flying Dutchman blade for cutting these. The Flying Dutchman blades last 2-3 times as long for me than the same size Olsen blades do. I rarely break a Flying Dutchman blade, but you can use whatever blade you choose.
Just be sure it's a small enough blade to take the tight turns around the antlers and neck needed for making these reindeer.

I also have made a clamp to hold the pieces of the reindeer together while I'm cutting them, and I use a similar clamp for cutting the little ornaments. You can see a picture of this clamp on the table of my DeWalt saw. It's just two 3/4 X 1" pieces of cabinet birch plywood about 6" long, two pieces of #10-24 all thread 6 or more inches long, and nuts and wing nuts to fit the all thread. Clamp the two pieces of wood together and perfectly aligned with each other. Mark and drill over size holes through both of the wood strips near the ends with the exposed grain of the plywood positioned facing up and down. Keep the holes in each end at a perfect 90 deg angle to the wood so the pieces can slide easily along the all thread. 

Now separate the pieces of wood and put one piece of all thread through each hole just far enough to put a nut on each side of the board. Now tighten these nuts against the board using wrenches. Now slide the second piece of wood onto the long ends of the all thread rods and add washers and wing nuts. You may need to open the all thread rod holes slightly in this board so you can easily slide the board back and forth
on the rods. 

You are now ready to clamp the reindeer block between these pieces of wood. To start , I like to cut the face view of the reindeer first, so place the block between the clamps with the face side up and center the block of wood roughly between the all thread rods. Slide the wood strips together and tighten the wing nuts evenly, about as tight as you can get them with your fingers. Thread the blade through the clamp between the antler end of the reindeer block and the all thread rod of the clamp. Lock it into the saw and put tension on it. It will need to be tight. On my Dewalt saw my idea of tight Is to hold down the upper blade arm while tightening the blade screw. Then pull the blade tension lever to 3 1/2. No the blade is ready to cut. If the blade isn't this tight you will not get a proper shaped reindeer.

I like to start at the upper right antler tip and cut all the way down the right side of the reindeer and out of the block at his foot. Then tighten the wing nuts on the blade clamp because they will be loose. They are loose because you have removed wood from the block. Now cut up between the legs and back down and out of the block again. Tightening the wing nuts will not be necessary this time because you have not removed wood from the full length of the block. Now cut up the left side of the reindeer to the top end of his antler and out of the block. Now tighten the wing nuts again. Now cut down the inside of the right antler and back up to the top of the right antler and back out of the block. You are finished cutting the face view of the reindeer. It's best to keep the piece from between the legs and the piece from between the antlers in place for the rest of the cutting.

Now loosen the wing nuts and open the clamp wide. Holding all of the reindeer pieces together and in proper alignment, turn the entire reindeer so his side view is facing up.
Make certain that every piece is in the right place and tighten the clamp wing nuts, again as tight as you can get them with your fingers.

Again, I like to cut clockwise around the reindeer, starting from the top of his right (rear) antler. Again, cut all the way down to his foot and out of the block. Again, tighten the wing nuts. Now cut up between his legs and back out of the block. Again, it's best to keep all of the pieces in place as best as you can. Again, when cutting between the legs you won't need to tighten the wing nuts. 

Now cut up along his front leg and around his head, but continue back and forth cutting out each antler, all the way to the point on the last antler where you started.
You have finished cutting him out. 

If you have done all of the cutting correctly and kept the clamp tight so no pieces got out of position you can loosen the wing nuts and remove the clamp. You now have kind of a reindeer egg with a lot of loose shell pieces surrounding the reindeer. The reindeer is in the center of the block, but some of the pieces kind of look like a reindeer so don't throw anything away until you have found the real reindeer. The pieces between his antlers and between his legs usually need to be pushed out carefully. I took a 6" long piece of dowel rod, sharpened the ends, and use this to push these pieces out. A pencil will work, but it may leave marks of the reindeer.

I use a jet of compressed air to blow the reindeer off, then look for and remove any fuzzies on their legs, etc. carefully using a very small knife. I then put a tiny black dot
for each eye and a large red dot on his nose (Rudolf) with marking pens.

He is now finished as far as I go with them and he is ready to give away. Most women have a little girl inside who loves to receive little things like these. Little girls old enough to be able to use them safely also love to receive them. Most men (unless they are woodworkers) don't appreciate them at all, so I don't usually bother even trying to give them one. 

OK, the reindeer plan for this size reindeer is attached. Cut one reindeer (both face and side images as one, fold the views along the center line between the views, glue him to the block of wood, and have fun. It would be great if I could get more woodworkers cutting these out and giving them away too.

Charley


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

to say thanks doesn't cover..
but, thanks Charley..


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## thomas1389 (Jan 4, 2012)

You're a good man, CharleyL!!


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Those are fabulous! Very nicely done.

Started in August? We made some Walnut and Maple snowflake ornaments for Christmas but we started a week ago - better late than never, right?? :wink:


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## Wildwood (Aug 14, 2010)

That's truly inspirational Charley, and I've just done some guest viewing on NCW. Thanks for your pics and very informative post. (I heartily endorse what you say about Flying Dutchman blades - since importing a trial batch many years ago, I use no others)


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Old Coasty - Bob

Here is a link to Diana Thompson's latest book on these ornaments. It's also available now from many other book sources.

Compound Christmas Ornaments for the Scroll Saw : Easy-To-Make & Fun-To-Give Projects for the Holidays by Diana Thompson (Paperback - Revised Ed.): Booksamillion.com: Books

For the reindeer, I've attached a post to this thread that describes how to cut them and attached a printable photo sheet of the plans for making them. "Compound Cut" and "3D Cut" refer to the same method of cutting where all cuts are made both vertically and horizontally through a block of wood. When the scrap is removed. the 3 dimensional item that was cut out appears from the middle. It's a totally unique method of using a scroll saw, and one that I'm hooked on. I can't stop making them.

Charley


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## ksidwy (Jul 13, 2013)

outstanding CharleyL!! Congrats!
Sid.


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## hatman39 (Dec 17, 2012)

*No pictures*

Hi Charlie, I was reading your article, could hardly wait until I would get to the end so I could see your work, than I could see no pictures, if you could please repost your pictures, I would enjoy looking at them, maybe If I had a pattern I could cut some before Christmas.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Hatman39 Ron,

Everyone else can see the pictures, so you must be having a problem with your computer. My pictures of the Ornaments are posted at the end of post #1. Post #16 has a picture of my reindeer cutting plan for a whole sheet of the 3" reindeer (9 reindeer) posted at the end of it. The link to Diana Thompson's latest book "Compound Christmas Ornaments for the Scroll Saw" is in the middle of post #23. Photos take a little longer to open. You can't quickly scan through the posts to see the larger photos.
Wait at the end of post #1 for 20-30 seconds to see if they will open.

Can you receive attached photos from other sources? Check your computer set up.
If you can receive attached photos in your e-mails, send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll reply to that e-mail address with the photos that I've posted in this thread. I can't and I won't post copyrighted photos or information from Diana's books. You will need to buy Diana's two Ornament books if you want the plans for her ornaments. (The first of her Ornament books is out of print - The second book is available from booksellers now - see the link in post 23).

Charley


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

No doubt Charely, your the guy, the other guys talk about 

Beautiful work, regardless of season....


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## old coasty (Aug 15, 2014)

CharleyL said:


> Old Coasty - Bob
> 
> Here is a link to Diana Thompson's latest book on these ornaments. It's also available now from many other book sources.
> 
> ...


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## firstmuller (Aug 28, 2014)

Very nice work. I just wish my scroll saw did work this nice. O wait, maybe it is the operator that need to in proof.
Allen


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## firstmuller (Aug 28, 2014)

How many years have you be scroll sawing?
Allen


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## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

Beautiful work on all.


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

Charley, I think you may have inspired me to start scrolling, again. Beautiful work!


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

firstmuller said:


> How many years have you be scroll sawing?
> Allen


Allen,

I've been scrolling for about 25 years, but I have only started getting more serious about it in the last 6 years or so. 

I got an idea about doing compound cutting (3D shapes). I cut a few of them, and I was hooked. I don't think I've done much else since. Most flat work doesn't interest me any more, except for making the 2 or more piece ornaments that slide together to make 3D ornaments. When I was just starting to do the compound cutting I watched a video of a Snodgrass demonstration of making a 3D reindeer and something clicked inside me. I just had to start making these, but I wanted to make them smaller and on my scroll saw. 

Making these reindeer and ornaments requires a pattern with two images, a face view and a side view. Both images have to be kept attached together to maintain good alignment between them, so all of the plans show two images with a fold line between them. After cutting the plan images out as pairs it's best to pre-fold (crease) them so they will easily fit around one corner of the wood with one of the images on each adjacent side of the wood. Then apply glue (I use common stationery store rubber cement) to two adjacent sides of the wood block and then apply the two connected paper images, pushing out the extra glue to get a good tight joint between the paper and the wood. The reindeer's feet need to be touching the end of the wood so sliding the images of the reindeer so their feet touch the end is necessary so they will stand on all four legs when cut out.
The ornaments don't require this.

I tried my own reindeer pattern, tried reducing the size of some larger reindeer patterns to scroll saw size, and tried every other 3D reindeer pattern that I could find. I just wasn't happy with any of them until I found the 3D reindeer on Mathias Wandel's website Woodworking for engineers and I liked what I saw. I've taken his design, cleaned it up a little to suit myself, and re-sized it. I've been making the 3" size out of pine and giving them away every Christmas Season ever since. 

This year I decided to make them smaller and came up with 3 smaller versions of my original, with the little guy being only about 1" in height. Most of the reindeer that I've made have been from pine, but these little ones fell apart when made from pine, sometimes while cutting them out, so I switched to poplar because it looks similar, is still relatively soft for easy cutting, and quite plentiful at a reasonable price. I'm now making earring sets out of these littlest ones, and pins from the two medium sized ones.

After the Christmas Season last year (made 91 last year) I set a goal for myself to have 150 of the 3" reindeer ready to give away by Thanksgiving. I was behind in quantity by month until August, when I had some health problems (heart surgery) and when I came home they told me not to do anything, just sit still for a week. After 2 hours of watching daytime TV the first day home I was going crazy with boredom, so I decided to sit in front of the scroll saw and just make reindeer. In that week I made nothing but reindeer every day, and by the first week of September I had made my goal of 150. 

I have been demonstrating at several shows since then, including a two day woodworking show, Klingspore's Extravaganza in Hickory, NC back in October and doing Outreach training for the www. NCWoodworker.net virtual club that I belong to, teaching and demonstrating woodworking. 

Reindeer always seem to be one of my demonstration projects, so with the the ones made at these shows, and the ones that I'm still making, as of today I've made 349 reindeer total of all four sizes so far this year. 

I'm now down to about 8 minutes to cut one of the 3" reindeer (I can almost close my eyes while cutting them). The smaller ones, although the same pattern, take longer because it's necessary to cut slower and be more careful to follow the lines of the pattern more accurately. The legs on the 1" size reindeer are thinner than the small end of toothpicks and not much thicker than the #1R blades that I'm using to cut them, so it doesn't take much error to ruin them. 

A good clamp of the type that I described earlier is absolutely necessary to hold the pieces of 3D work together as they are being cut. I've made different sized clamps for different sized work because it's absolutely necessary to hold the cut pieces together all through the cutting process to get good results. Voids and cavities from pieces that fall out will suddenly change the speed of cut when you cut into them while cutting the second pass, and you will make errors when this happens. 

The ornaments pose different problems, since it's best to cut the inside pieces first and the clamps won't hold these pieces in place. I use small pieces of blue painters tape to hold these while cutting the rest of the ornament. I make all of the cuts from one side before turning the work in the clamp to cut the second side. 

The more you use a scroll saw, the better you will get at it. A better quality, well tuned scroll saw will be a pleasure to use if the lighting is good (see my post on LED lighting) and if the blade grips allow for quick and easy blade changing. I like reverse tooth blades and tend to use smaller blades than others. I also run my blades tight to keep them cutting straight all the way through the 1- 1 1/2" thick stock that's used for the ornaments. On my DeWalt saw, this means a tightness setting of 3 1/2 - 4 1/2.

My previous scroll saw, and one that I still have, is a Delta 40-650 Q3. They didn't make very many of this model because DeWalt came out with the 788 and then merged with Delta only about a year or so later. The blade grips and tension on the Q3 aren't as easy to use as the DeWalt so I guess the merged company decided to stop production of the Q3 and continue making the 788. I still use both, and teach on both, but prefer the DeWalt because of the easy blade changing. They are both great scroll saws.

Attached is a photo of one of the first projects that I made on the Q3 that I've kept around. He's called "The Keeper Of Time" or something like that and the plans for him came from a late 90's copy of Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine. I think I keep him because he became sort of a "Quest" before I finished him. He is made from two pieces of 3/8 thick red oak "Pallet Wood". There is a horizontal seam through the center (can you see it?).

The second photo is a cross made from a Wildwood Design plan. After cutting it out on my scroll saw I looked at it and decided that it really needed more of something. Then I decided to power carve the vines and leaves using my Paragrave Carver, a dentist drill type of power carver that uses 1/8" shank bits. The leaves were coated with green Rub N Buff. The cross was cut from one piece of 3/4 thick mahogany and the first one was made in 1998. Cross #19 and 20
are about half finished in my shop right now. Only one of the first ones was given to someone outside my family, to a preacher friend who meant a lot to me.

Charley


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

oh WOW Charley...
gorgeous...


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Thanks for posting that Charley, I am going to try and get by the klutz stage on the scroll saw that I am at right now. It will be a challenge for me, I don't know if I have the patients to do scroll sawing. So far it has been a disaster. I have the Dewalt and it is nice saw. I have to learn what blades and what speeds to use for the thickness of Material. And maybe I have to go to a softer wood than that old hard maple I have been using just wants to jump up and down. There are some points you brought up that Will help ,I think.

Herb


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

Herb Stoops said:


> Thanks for posting that Charley, I am going to try and get by the klutz stage on the scroll saw that I am at right now. It will be a challenge for me, I don't know if I have the patients to do scroll sawing. So far it has been a disaster. I have the Dewalt and it is nice saw. I have to learn what blades and what speeds to use for the thickness of Material. And maybe I have to go to a softer wood than that old hard maple I have been using just wants to jump up and down. There are some points you brought up that Will help ,I think.
> 
> Herb


The balance of speed and type of blade makes all of the difference. Just need a good blade (read a second vote for Flying Dutchman), in the right size and tooth pattern, get the speed right and the jumping will go away.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Herb,

Work with smaller blades and slower speed. Hard woods burn easily, if the blade is dull or you cut too fast, especially cherry and hard maple. If you can get the speed right for no burning on a given kind of wood and then the wood starts burning your blade is getting dull. Learn with softer, cheaper, and thinner wood and save the hard woods until later. It's much more forgiving. You can make some very nice projects from soft wood. It doesn't all have to be furniture grade hardwoods. I make a lot of small projects from my scrap wood. Look at what I made the dragon from - pallet slats. Yes, it was red oak, a hard wood, but it was FREE. I just glued two pieces that closely matched together to get the width that I needed and the dragon plan just fit lengthwise. The dragon was the first large project that I cut on my Q3 saw. It turned out great, but the number of blade removals and replacements to cut all of those scales was rough. I have almost 50 hours of time in him. Pick some easier plans until you get good at following lines and avoiding burning on soft wood before trying the harder woods. You are supposed to have fun and make fun projects when using a scroll saw. Come back to that hard maple project later.

Charley


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

CharleyL said:


> Herb,
> 
> Work with smaller blades and slower speed. Hard woods burn easily, if the blade is dull or you cut too fast, especially cherry and hard maple. If you can get the speed right for no burning on a given kind of wood and then the wood starts burning your blade is getting dull. Learn with softer, cheaper, and thinner wood and save the hard woods until later. It's much more forgiving. You can make some very nice projects from soft wood. It doesn't all have to be furniture grade hardwoods. I make a lot of small projects from my scrap wood. Look at what I made the dragon from - pallet slats. Yes, it was red oak, a hard wood, but it was FREE. I just glued two pieces that closely matched together to get the width that I needed and the dragon plan just fit lengthwise. The dragon was the first large project that I cut on my Q3 saw. It turned out great, but the number of blade removals and replacements to cut all of those scales was rough. I have almost 50 hours of time in him. Pick some easier plans until you get good at following lines and avoiding burning on soft wood before trying the harder woods. You are supposed to have fun and make fun projects when using a scroll saw. Come back to that hard maple project later.
> 
> Charley


Good advice Charley, I am going to give it another try. Thanks for the help, I will let you now how it goes. I have been wanting to do scroll saw work off and on, but get discouraged fast when the jumping starts and the blades break. 

Thanks too ,Bill for the info, I will reread that for sure.

THat Dragon is fantastic,Charley, way beyond my skill level. That was my first thought when I saw it was all the scales and all that drilling and blades changes, wow. Can't see the horizontal joint.

This is why I am on this forum, is all the help that you guys give.

Herb


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Thanks Stick. I really appreciate the compliments from you and the others.

I'm willing to help others improve their abilities with their scroll saws. We can do a scroll question / answer type of post if anyone wants to try it. I'll do my best to help, but I'll need to know what you have for a scroll saw and what you are having trouble with. 

Charley


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Charley that dragon with the watch is over the top !


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

Herb Stoops said:


> Good advice Charley, I am going to give it another try. Thanks for the help, I will let you now how it goes. I have been wanting to do scroll saw work off and on, but get discouraged fast when the jumping starts and the blades break.
> 
> Thanks too ,Bill for the info, I will reread that for sure.
> 
> ...


Herb, I know that you have seen this before, and may even have it already, but this chart(s) will help immensely.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

schnewj said:


> Herb, I know that you have seen this before, and may even have it already, but this chart(s) will help immensely.


Thanks Bill, when I checked, I do have those. I will print them out and compare with the blades I have and see what I have got. I have a lot of blades of different sizes.


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

Lovely work Charley. And thanks for sharing your experience in your detailed descriptions of the process.


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## firstmuller (Aug 28, 2014)

Thanks for all the info Charley. I started with a used China machine (still have it) with pin blades only and no blade release with the blade tension on the back bottom and did a 3D pattern for Christmas ointments and liked it but what a pain the saw was. I modified it and move the tension knob to the top and that was a little easier but have bought a new Excalibur 21" in and what a nice machine to use. I have some sample Flying Dutchman blades and they seem to work nice. I just have to get out in my small heated insulated shop to work with it more. Hope to get time in the shop over Christmas to some more. I have bought the 2 lights you had in your earlier article and they sure help me see better. thanks again for all the info from all.
Allen


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Has anyone tried making Reindeer yet? Anyone need help getting started?

I've been cutting the one inch size out of hard maple and making earrings from them. I gave up using poplar...it wasn't strong enough for these little ones. I had 8 pairs ready and about to take a picture yesterday. Then the family arrived, and now there are none left for the photo shoot. I'm planning to make more today, and NOBODY is getting in my shop until I can at least get some pictures of them to post. I'm gluing pins on the backs of the intermediate sized reindeer, and a few of them were ready for the photo shoot, but they are gone now too. I've cut 391 reindeer (and counting) so far this year.
Another gross of Flying Dutchman #1R blades have been ordered, and they are on the way, but I'm running low.

Before trying to make reindeer this size I strongly advise making the 3 1/2" size from the plans that I posted. Get really good at these big ones before trying to do the little ones. 

I've got a busy afternoon and evening ahead of me, because I need 6 pairs of earrings ready to take to the hospital gym tomorrow, to give to the nurses. (I work out 3 X per week there...Tomorrow will be my last day before Christmas to deliver them).

Charley


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