Jigsaws – Completed Ones!
I recall writing a post either early this year or perhaps late last year. The general idea behind what I intended at the time was that I would write progressive posts detailing the progress and time it took me to complete the 1000 Piece custom jigsaw ‘Masquerade’. That was the intention but it didn’t quite work out as planned 🙂
I did add a couple of ‘progress posts’ early in the year but then ‘life happened’ and completion of that jigsaw seemed to get put on the back burner….. It kept ‘talking to me’ each time I walked past the uncompleted jigsaw on the table! One day, several weeks ago now, it got the better of me and I spent a week-end and a couple of long nights finishing the jigsaw.
‘Masquerade’ is now completed and mounted on 6mm MDF. The finished size is 20″ x 28″. The image above shows the jigsaw mounted on a dark grey fabric, giving the illusion of a ‘frame’. I may decided to get the jigsaw framed in due course.
Mounting the Jigsaw on MDF
When I complete a jigsaw, I usually like to complete the jigsaw on either 3mm or 6mm MDF which is several inches larger all around than the completed jigsaw. I then have a second piece of MDF the same size that I will use as a ‘dust cover’ while the jigsaw is in progress.
I don’t know if there is a ‘proper’ way to mount the jigsaw on MDF or not :). The following works well for me.
Once the jigsaw is complete, I then sandwich the completed jigsaw between the two pieces of MDF and very carefully flip the jigsaw so that it is now lying upside down on one piece of MDF.
Measure the completed jigsaw carefully and take note of the measurements.
Go down to your local hardware store – for me, in Australia, it is Bunnings. Get a piece of MDF (for this size jigsaw, I bought 6mm MDF) larger than your completed jigsaw, take it to the ‘cutting section’ of the hardware store and ask them to cut it to the exact size of the completed jigsaw.
Now, at the risk of being finicky, bear in mind that there will most likely be a ‘disclaimer’ stating that there may be a variation of up to 5mm in the finished size. From experience, the variation can and does come into play largely as a result of the thickness of the blade, whether it is cut ‘inside the line’ or ‘outside the line’ etc. Off course, this is going to vary from store to store as well!
For the most part, a difference of a few mm’s all around is not going to make a huge difference. I have been know to make a few attempts to get a size that I was happy with:) For me, it isn’t a problem as I am doing jigsaw on a regular basis and use the MDF to sort/store pieces etc. for jigsaws in progress.
Now, where was I? Ah, I remember now…. For those of you who didn’t write the measurements down because you thought you would remember them, go back home and re-measure the completed jigsaw and write the measurements down this time:) Go back to the hardware store and get your MDF cut to the correct size.
While you are at the hardware store, if you do not have Aquadhere at home, buy a bottle of this while you are at the hardware store.
Now, take yourself, your MDF and your Aquadhere back home. Check that you are happy with the size of your MDF.
Now comes the interesting part.
Take a deep breath…..
Apply a fairly generous layer of Aquadhere to the reverse of the completed jigsaw.
Lay the cut MDF on the reverse glued side of the jigsaw and press down carefully all around.
Flip over so the jigsaw is facing right side up fairly promptly. Inevitably, there will be some, what I think of as ‘glue seepage’. It will stick the face of your just completed jigsaw to whatever surface it is face-down on! 🙁 Ask me how I know 🙂
Now, when you turn it right side up, you will find that you will be able to ‘fidget’ the edges of the jigsaw a bit to get them as close to possible with the edges of the MDF:)
Voila! your completed jigsaw is now mounted onto MDF! 🙂