All 4 Blue Ribbons

Here are my 4 in a row blue ribbons from the NC State Fair left to right as follows:

2016 The Mermaid (Sue Mey)
2017 The Bully (Mike Williams)
2018 Lion Roaring (Charles Dearing)
2019 AS Darkness Falls (Mike Williams)

Links to each pattern is the Artists name.

Now each one by itself as best as I can get it.

Mermaid with a crown

Cut out of 1/8" Baltic Ply Mounted to 3/4" Pine

The Bully

Cut 1/4" Oak Ply

Purpleheart Frame

Lion Roaring

1/4" Cherry

Yellow Heart Frame

As Darkness Falls

Cut  1/2" Basswood live edge

Thanks for looking
Jim

4th blue in a row!

Well I found out I won First Place for the fourth time in four years! The number of goofs that I had to repair and or change the cut was above average for me. As a previous post explained my bottom clamp on the saw was breaking and thus why the goofs. The tension on the blade was not as tight as it should have been and finally just before the end it broke and would not hold the blade at all on the bottom. Then I worked out a solution to clamp the blade while waiting on the new bottom clamp.

I always say mistakes happen patterns are a guide. If something goes wrong examine the mistake and see how you can change the cut so that it is no longer is an issue and still looks like it belongs.

Thanks for looking
Jim

Its all over but the crying

I dropped my entry off at the NC State Fair over the weekend. Judging was today Tuesday the 15th. So by now I have most likely won a ribbon. It is the same people every year that enter. I was able to gaze at the list of entries in the book when I dropped it off and I saw all the usual names for the competition this year. Eventually I will not  get the blue ribbon. Maybe this year as the flaws are plenty. I seemed to have to hide more mistakes this year then in years past. Well I will know this week probably if someone I know goes before I do to the fair.

I need a new phone as the camera in my current phone has a broken lens so I try not to take pictures but this one was taken with the phone. Ignore the strange artifacts in the pic

This is a shot of where I dropped the entry off. You can see a ferris wheel in the background. But this year they have this massive ferris wheel that makes this one look tiny.

Thanks for looking!
Jim

Glued up and ready

Well it is all glued up and ready for drop off in a week. This is the part I dislike. I see every single flaw in this cutting. I can't help it. I don't point them out but I see everything and think. Man this is terrible how this came out.

But here it is.Things I did not like! The wood! This is not good wood for scrolling that is for sure. Will I use it again? Right now I am saying no. But we will see. The saw dust, man glitter, was just a pain. It stuck to the project in all the nooks and crannies. I am pretty sure it still has some stuck in there. I have never seen saw dust like this before.

Front

Back

Thanks for looking
Jim