This little printer can make any size needed. Only problem is the larger I want to scroll saw out the more pieces I have to tape together before I can glue it on to the plywood.

 

 We make it a little harder for the kids to learn the names of the states and their capitals for we put those on the back side. and the small states where they are too small for that we supply a piece of paper with those names.

  The little black dots are where the capitals are located.

Cool idea!

If you take the puzzle image to a local print shop (UPS is often good; Officemax, Staples.  Petsmart....no) they can print the entire map on one sheet, and if you call around, you might find a good price point.  Also, you could extract portions of the whole picture into segments that contain whole state groups (ignoring partial states), which wouldn't need to be matched/glued.  For example, in the picture above, use the lower left print to make Alaska, HI, AZ; reposition to get CA, NV, OR, WA.  Etc.  Of course, you'll always have to do Texas alone.

Pete If I could afford going and have someone else do the work for me I would be broker than I am now. The 22.00 dollar printer, Canon MG 2522, takes care of all those trips to the printer in town... And yes I started out doing like you suggested but my guessing to the exact size to glue on to the wood to scroll saw out sometimes didn't fit and having it all here at the computer makes it easier to run out to the shop and check measurements again to be sure...

  So I have done it both ways and having all the stuff right here is so much better and makes it easier and quicker and besides my wife is always bringing a pattern for me to resize for her stained glass projects so having a printer shop in town would be too much -doe ray me and I think the fun would be gone before we could get started!

  I can find a picture on Pinterest that looks good for something later on to use and I will save it to Rapid Resizer on the computer. Then sometimes later on I start a project and think maybe a portion of the picture looks like it will fit in to what I am fixing to build so I can go to Rapid Resizer and start playing around with the picture and decide I only want to use a portion of the total picture but then I also need to enlarge that portion to go in an area of a larger pattern. 

 

The first picture is what I downloaded from Pinterest and the last picture is what I ended up scroll sawing out of one inch thick maple and carving the pieces. Very little of the original picture I used. By the time I got what I wanted to work on I would have made 20 trips or more to town. 

  I do appreciate your suggestion but the reason I posted this was to show having a cheap printer hooked in to the computer along with the program Rapid Resizer which was free to down load 22 years ago so guys don't have to use the exact picture and it is easy to change things around to suit  different projects!

 

 

Pretty darned nice intarsia work. Pretty faithful to the picture. That hay rake sure would've been a challenge. 

Gene the windmill has some of the same challenges plus a few other hard to replicate areas which is noticeable for there should have been areas where a person could see through the tower as to what is on the other side but I made it dark which no one has mentioned yet but I know it is not right.. While I am in the building of a picture I notice all the things that are somewhat impossible or too time consuming to make right but I realize a person sees the entire picture at once unless he is fixin to tackle the same picture and thats when his eyes goes to the things that will be too hard or maybe having never done some of those things he might think it would be impossible until he sees someone else has done it which gives people more courage to try.

  Wife did notice the pieces inside the tower were black and I had aready sprayed everything with clear so I just shrugged my shoulders and said maybe I will do a better job of checking each piece before I say I am finished next time.

 I only had one picture of the model A so I had Rapid Resizer flip a picture so I could place two cars in the picture and usually no one notices things are exact which couldn't be that way in real life. Plus the car windows should have been showing what was behind those cars! Again this was way too many very small pieces that doing all those windows like a person could see what was behind those cars was more than I wanted to do right then.

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 20224 yr by Smallpatch

A few branches of our county library has "maker spaces" with all sorts of machines.  One that I know of will print banners on 3' wide vinyl.   They only charge you for materials.  Of course, we have a very, very nice library system here.

On 6/19/2022 at 9:43 AM, Smallpatch said:

This little printer can make any size needed. Only problem is the larger I want to scroll saw out the more pieces I have to tape together before I can glue it on to the plywood.

 

The map puzzle is a great idea Jess.  I have a couple young nephews that might get this for Christmas.

I have a 30" vinyl cutter than I can substitute a pen for the knife and draw to any size scale, and if it gets too big I can tile it together the way you do with the printer pic.  Do you use 3/8" for the puzzle on a 1/4" base for this type project?

Cal both pieces are 1/4" Baltic Birch. By the time you glue the outside on to the backer board it makes it plenty stiff.

  I also think if you print both the states names and their capitals where the states are this way it will let the folks see the names as they find a place to install it. Then the states where they are too small just draw a line out along the sides. It seems like this is a better way but we started out putting the names on the back sides and both ways might be good also..

  I don't think the colors matters for we change each map differently but you could finish with the ocean and Canada colors that are not in any states.

  Have you made any of the 6 piece puzzles yet?. I usually make 20 or more of each puzzle which seems to go faster than only one at a time.

Thanks for the info Jess.

I hate to admit that I have not made any of the 6 piece puzzles yet.  I've not done much woodworking at all this year.  Big plans, little accomplishment yet...

I'm thinking I may be back in the shop by November?!?  At least part time...

Hey as long as you guys are enjoying yourselves, thats all that counts.

  I think we will be staying closer to home because of the money or less of it from now on!

Right now I am having to replace the water falls pump and decided to go with a larger gpm model and not much guessing room in my little concrete cave I built on the back side of one of the water falls....and wasn't thinking of all the moisture that would be filling up that area when I built it when we first moved here......and all my metal bracing materials done went and rusted  completely.

 

I never knew any of this except welding before I built the go-cart track and the mini golf thingy and I kept telling myself, hey, you got a brain like everyone else so use it to make a little money after I told the fire dept by-by. You can see the holding water pond to feed all this in the little clearing in the third picture.

    I was 44 when I got enough time in to get a so called retirement check after I turned 55 so I needed something to live on till then. The trouble was, my monthly checks was set on a 1980 cost of living. But I had something of a gold mine for my wife was a registered nurse so we knew we would not starve to death...

  The small area by the welding rod holder is where the larger pump is supposed to be sitting if all goes well.

Thats wife's stained glass hide a way with the pink door.  I put the 53 footer as far away as I could get it away from my hide out when not outside peddling.