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Call of Duty
These hemlock part oval shaped boards were the scrap pieces from a log I cut in early 2018 to get some oval shaped plaques. I am not one to throw anything away 🙂 I set them aside, figuring at some point an idea will come along to make use of them. I figure if the Earth can invest +100 years to grow the tree, I can at least keep the pieces around for a little while longer to see what else might be possible.
Completed Maritime Call of Duty. -
Christmas Must Be Coming…
Usually around this time of year there are a flurry of orders for wood maps. So far this year is no exception. We keep some stock on hand but of course if it is painted black the customer asks for navy. That is just the nature of the beast. We got smart and got a little ahead of things by cutting out the items but not painting or assembling them…just yet. Frames will be added later too.
Cut but not finished -
Making an R for Baby Ruby
Our nephew and his wife had their first baby in July. They named her Ruby and she is so tiny and beautiful. I had asked my brother if we were to make something for her nursery, what color should we paint it. He sent along a picture of the nursery and we were all set to get to work. First we had to determine the size for the letter R and then pick a script for her name.
Designing the project -
Making an End Grain Wood Map of Nova Scotia
We’ve had some sugar maple wood slices in the paint room drying for several months now. We’ve made platters and trays and cookies too. Now its time to try something new. How about scroll cutting sugar maple end grain and see what happens? The short video below shows the snail’s pace that is needed.
Wood map of Nova Scotia No. 60 -
A Few More Map Orders… Everyone Different!
A few weeks ago we had an order come in for a white washed map of Prince Edward Island (PEI). While any province or country can be scrolled out of wood, the islands are most easily recognizable. Again we knew we could get 2 map projects out of one cutting session.
PEI map -
Another Very Large Map of Nova Scotia
If you remember when we made the custom map of Nova Scotia on a grey weathered backer board a few weeks ago, then you remember we had the negative ready to create a second map. So that’s what we did. Here is a close up of the details on the Cape Breton end of the map. The dime is there for size and scale.
Dime showing scale of scroll saw work -
Making an Eagle Whirligig
We see a LOT of eagles in our neck of the woods. There is a fish hatchery just down the road. That could have something to do with it. They patrol the edge of the lake looking for fish. Every once in a while we actually see them dive into the lake for fish. They often park themselves on the highest tree on the edge of the water. So beautiful. We decided to build a whirligig, and what better than an eagle for our first kick at the can.
American bald eagle fishing for breakfast -
Making a Large Nova Scotia Map
We had another order come in for a custom size map of Nova Scotia. The customer requested it be on a rustic backboard measuring 48 x 24 inches. That makes for a large, heavy, finished piece. Here is the template we printed out for this project.
It’s gonna be big -
Nova Scotia Crib Board
We finally got an afternoon in the workshop so we had to put our time to good use. On order was a wood map of Nova Scotia crib board. Normally we print our maps out on self-adhesive paper and thats what we thought we had done until we got to the workshop and discovered we had printed them on vinyl. Me nerves. We decided to use them anyways and just tape the image to the boards.
Getting set up -
Large Wooden Cape Breton Map
As I mentioned on Monday, we had a custom order for a large 24 x 32 inch wood map of Cape Breton. For those of you unfamiliar, it is an island joined to the mainland of Nova Scotia by a causeway. This is how all maps start out, especially the larger ones.
Clamping the boards
