Author Archives: bob@fivefrogswoodworking.com

Heating the shop

A while back, I mentioned in a post that I sometimes get frustrated by burn bans where I live. My shop is heated by a woodstove, and when air quality gets low, I cannot burn wood. My neighbor can, but … Continue reading

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Scroll Saws (Part 5 – Seyco ST-21)

In May and June of 2023, I posted a series of blog articles about scroll saws I currently have or have used in the past. I cut some similar puzzles on three of those saws and discussed the different cutting … Continue reading

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Puzzle Material – Second set of results

Over a year ago, I started a project to run comparison tests of various wooden materials available for puzzle creation. Three blog posts resulted: the first talked generalities about plywood types, the second talked about the specific types of plywood … Continue reading

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Rainbow Heart Kitty

In August, I started a puzzle for a customer. It was a print she ordered from a website and sent to me to cut into a puzzle. I started cutting but had some problems with the outer veneers of wood … Continue reading

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Something A Little Different

Not every puzzle order has to be innovative or spectacular in some new way. Sometimes, it might just be a number of small puzzles as a memento to commemorate an event or activity. I was corresponding with a client about … Continue reading

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Double-sided Pocket Watch (part 2)

Second Challenge – reducing or preventing tear-out roughness on the backside Once the alignment issue was resolved, next was to reduce the amount of tear out on the backside of the puzzle. At first, I attempted to do this by … Continue reading

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Double-sided Pocket Watch Puzzle (part 1)

I have wanted to create a double-sided puzzle for a number of years. The first one I ever encountered personally was from the 2012 Puzzle Parley. It was created by Fools Gold Puzzles and has a reverse image on it … Continue reading

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Mounting the image to the wood

I am going to walk through the steps I use to mount an image to the wood. This is my next project to cut. The customer emailed me with a digital file she wants cut into a puzzle. It is … Continue reading

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Dry Mount Press Issues and Maintenance

In this post, I will discuss some issues I have encountered with my dry mount press. I will also review the manufacturer recommended maintenance on these. My particular press is a Seal Masterpiece 210M. This unit was designed for mounting … Continue reading

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Scrap Pieces

In my “Bronco Buster” post, I mentioned some scrap pieces that might be useful for making follow on puzzles. The skinny scrap was used to make a puzzle for a customer that wanted something to remind her of the beach. … Continue reading

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