Scroll Saw Village

I wrote a while back about Carter Johnson. He is the resident puzzle-making master in the forums. He has made almost 600 full-size puzzles (400 of which still reside in his basement), 700 Christmas card puzzles and nearly 2000 stamp puzzles made from 1 cent stamps! This guy knows his stuff! It’s no wonder why people are always asking his advice on puzzle-cutting. Due to popular demand, Carter has put together a great demonstration video showing how he cuts his puzzles. He graciously allowed me to post his video here. Check it out. You’ll be amazed at how easy he makes it look. And while you are at it, check out his puzzle gallery for more inspiration!

Well, Steve over at Scrollsaw Workshop did it again. He knocks out so many great patterns, its hard to keep up with. So I usually only write about the truly unique items and this one takes the cake. This time it’s an Automata pattern. A what? Automata is a mechanical toy that mimics some sort of event or action. Steve’s pattern features a hand crank that makes a man play the piano.

Automata is something I’ve always wanted to try my hand at. Steve says this pattern is pretty easy build and can made with materials that are readily available. He has included a 2 part video explaining the parts of the machine and how he assembled them. Naturally the pattern is available for free and downloadable at his website.

Play it again Sam.

Awhile back, I wrote about Shop of Arpop and the patterns he has to offer. Here’s another one of his pattern sets. He offers a train alphabet. This would be great for a little boy’s room. Each letter and number is presented in a JPG format so you can easily scale them to the size you need. Check it out.

One note about Shop of Arpop. It looks like he moved his free scroll saw patterns to a ProBoards forum. To access these, you need to become a member. Signup is free, but it looks as if he must activate your account before you are allowed to look through his patterns and participate in the discussions. My approval was pretty quick. His new page is located here. At the time of this writing, the train alphabet is located here. But he may move those over to the forum in the future.

Guten Tag! I hope you paid attention in German class, because we’re going on a little trip! One of my favorite scroll saw artists is Volker Arnold. I’ve seen several of his patterns in Scroll Saw Woodworks & Crafts. They are amazing designs and I can’t wait to try my hand at one. I’m especially excited to try his lichterbogens (lighted shadowboxes).

One of the many things he is known for, is his Christmas ornaments. They are really beautiful with a quaint, old world charm. You can find several of his ornaments in some back issues of Scroll Saw Woodworks & Crafts. But if you don’t have those issues, he offers a free scroll saw pattern on his website. Currently it is a Christmas ornament. I’ve been watching his site for awhile now, and it looks like he changes the free pattern quite a bit. So keep coming back for new free patterns.

Now I’ll warn you, his website is all in German. Which makes sense, since he lives in Germany. But don’t worry. We’ll get through this. You’ll see three panes on the main page. There is a menu along the left screen, a header and menu across the top, and finally the main window. If you scroll down the main window, you’ll see a British/American flag near the bottom right. If you click that, you’ll have the English version of his website. The whole website isn’t translated, however. But using what is translated in conjunction with the Babel Fish web translator, you’ll be able to navigate his website with ease.

So enjoy what Germany has to offer. Sit back, have some of their famous beer and take some time and look through his patterns. They are quite remarkable. Auf Wiedersehen, mein Freund.

Looking for a quick and easy gift? These clipboards will certainly satisfy. Toni Burghout of Chrestensen Burghout Designs put together a great tutorial on how to make these one-of-a-kind clipboards. Turn an inexpensive clipboard into something cherished. While you’re there, check out their patterns. They have a great selection from word art to fantastic creatures. I especially like their dragon patterns.

Its really nice to see an artist take a medium in a direction you normally don’t see. Dave Danchuk of Amazed Creations creates truly unique ‘paintings.’ Dave is a segmentation artist from Coquitlam, BC. He first lays out his drawings on MDF. Then he uses his Dewalt scroll saw to cut out each individual piece, paints them, then glues them all together again to form a pretty crazy picture. Each ‘painting’ is full of color and energy. It’s not hard to see why his work is sought after.

His website showcases his work and talks a little about himself as an artist. He also sells merchandise based on his ‘paintings.’ One really neat thing he does with his website is offers progression pictures where he shows you each step as he creates a unique piece of art. Take a look through his gallery and his progression pictures. Perhaps it will inspire you to get a little crazy, too.

Oh No! Tell me it ain’t true. Your scroll saw broke down! This is the worst time it could happen. Its almost Christmas and you’ve got 4 granddaughters to make puzzles for, 6 grandsons who want wooden cars, a church craft fair just around the corner. You certainly can’t wait to have your saw fixed! What to do? I guess you have to do it the hard way. Pull out your foot powered scroll saw and get to work. What? You don’t have one?

Well, the fine folks over at Vintage Projects have provided free plans for a foot powered scroll saw to get you on your way. It is very cool. Think of how much attention you’ll get at your next craft show when you pull this out.

Now that you have these plans, you don’t have an excuse the next time your scroll saw breaks down.

Looking for a bit of a challenge? Mike Williams over at Mike’s Scroll Saw Patterns has one for you with his free bobcat pattern. It certainly will impress your friends and family, but isn’t for the faint of heart. Mike also has a number of other patterns available for sale too. Maybe someday I’ll try one of his easier patterns, like his “Enter The Tiger” at only 388 cuts. They’re really beautiful designs. Check them out.

I really enjoy coming across people’s personal scroll saw galleries who also throw in a few free patterns. Tom over at Tom’s Wood Portraits & Scroll Art has done just that. Along with a gallery of his works, he has made available 7 patterns for anybody who want them. They are all presented in JPG format for easy scaling. Take a look. And while you are there, check out his work. I especially like his wildlife portraits.

OK. So you’ve cut a beautiful portrait that you’re quite proud of. What’s the next step? Frame it, of course! You can go to Wal-Mart and buy a $3 frame. The problem with that is it looks like a $3 frame. You can go to a frame shop and buy a $30 frame. It looks nice, but you’re $30 poorer. What to do? Well, you can make your own frame!

The fine folks over at Woodworking Online has a video podcast episode about making your own picture frames. In this seminar demonstration, Cris Fitch of Woodsmith magazine shows his step-by-step techniques for building simple, but elegant picture frames. In this hour long video, he makes a one piece molded frame and how he uses contrasting woods to make beautiful frames. He also goes over the basics of matting and mounting your works of art.

Now that you are inspired to make your own frames, you’ll want to know where to get plans for the miter sled he uses in the video. Its simple to build and you can find the plans here.