Scroll saw box part 7

Hi all,
Hopefully this will be the final post regarding this scroll saw and pyrography project, but we'll have to see how it goes.
At the end of my last post I showed you my failed attempt at doing the rose inlay. We all have failures from time to time, but I'll show it again here just so that you can make a comparison with my second effort.

 

 The gaps around the inlay are just not acceptable so I did it again.

I've blown this one up slightly so that you can see that the inlay is a much tighter fit. This was done by getting the cutting angle correct. The blade entry hole is still visible, but this will be disguised by the pyrography work later on. More information about cutting angles can be found in part 6 if you haven't already seen it.

Anyway, its nice to get the inlay done so that the pyrography work can commence. The first thing to do is transfer the rose image that we started with, to the inlay on the lid. It can be done by straight forward copying, but the quickest and easiest way is to use graphite paper or trace it.

First you will need to print off two more copies of the rose design.

Here it is again to save you going back through the posts.
I cut around the outline of the rose with scissors and did the same with my graphite paper. It is actually called Trace Down and is available from amazon.

I place the graphite paper on top of the rose inlay than put the copy of the rose on top of that and stick them in position with masking tape. Then it is just a mater of drawing over the lines of the rose and this leaves a pencil drawing on top of the inlay.

If you look closely you will also see that I have added a stalk, which I did free hand with a pencil.

Okay, now it's time to get the pyrography iron out. I use a Peter Child's pyrography iron with a spoon tip, and set it on number five, which is a medium heat. I then burn in the pencil lines followed by some outlining around the rose. I leave some of the outline without burning because I thing this helps with the final look. The last thing I do is the shading and my tips for being successful with this part of the project are: turn the temperature down and have a little patience, plus, remember to put your pyrography iron down where you want your darkest mark to be.

So that's the pyrography work done. I have done the rose on the inside of the lid, in fact, I did that first so that I could practice my shading.

The next thing to do is fit the lid. We cut the wires that hold the lid on in a previous post, so it is time to find them and stick them in the appropriate holes. However, I don't push the wires right in,  I leave about 6mm sticking out and put a blob of glue on it.

Now I can push the wire fully in and the glue will be in the post end of the wire only. We don't want glue to go on the end of the wire that goes into the lid, because if glue goes there we won't be able to open the lid. I wipe off any extra glue and repeat on the other side. I use a glue called E6000, which was recommended by fellow crafter and it seems to work okay, To be honest, I think just about any glue you have at your disposal will do the job.

We are almost there now. I give the whole box three coats of Ronseal, quick drying gloss varnish, which gives the box a lovely finish. The last job is to put a bit of felt in the bottom of the box and a piece on the base. The alternative to felt is flocking, and that is what I used. Here is a picture of my flocking kit, which can be purchased from Turners Retreat for about twenty quid.

By the way, they also have a good range of pyrography blanks it you don't want to be bothered making things with a scroll saw.

Flocking involves putting a layer of glue on the area you want to flock. Then a pump action applicator (the yellow thing) is used to blow flocking material over the glue. Full instructions come with the kit.
Here is the inside of my box.

And here is the finished box.

I hope you've enjoyed following me through this project and I look forward to doing another one. Just a reminder  if you want to see more of my pyrography and scroll saw work or you want find out about my books including free offers, please click here to go to my website.