Tag: wood burning | Page 8

Aug 18 2016

Cutting a Wooden Spoon

Pyrography, Scroll Saw, Woodcarving, Woodworking / By irish

For this section of our summer, free, online cross-crafting seminar we will be cutting out a wooden spoon blank on the scroll saw. Please refer to Cross-Crafting Seminar Free Patterns for a copy of the spoon patterns that we will be using.

Cross-Crafting Seminar Introduction
Cross-Crafting Seminar Supply List
Cross-Crafting Seminar Free Patterns
Cross-Crafting Seminar, Scroll Saw Basics
Cross-Crafting Seminar, Setting Up Your Scroll Saw
Cross-Crafting Seminar, Scroll Sawing the Wood Spirit Face
Cross-Crafting Seminar, Wood Burning the Wood Spirit Face
Cross-Crafting Seminar, Colored Pencils for the Wood Spirit Face
Cross-Crafting Seminar, Cutting a Wooden Spoon

Supplies:

Scroll Saw with a 15 tooth, regular cutting blade
1 – 3″ x 12″ x 3/8″ piece of basswood for each spoon
220-grit sandpaper, tack cloth
graphite tracing paper
safety glasses

Step 1: Choosing how to rough-cut your spoon blank

There are many ways to remove the waste wood from any wood carving blank. For our seminar I am using my Ryobi Scroll Saw and a 15 tooth per inch, regular cutting blade.

The most simple option is to use your bench knife in either a push or paring stroke to slowly cut away long slivers of wood from the blank. A coping saw or hand-held, u-shaped framed saw and a vise or clamps can also be used. If you plan to make a series of wooden spoons you might want to purchase a small 5″ curved-blade draw knife or 3″ straight-blade draw knife will make the rough-put work quick and easy, especially on thicker blanks.

Step 2: Preparations

Lightly sand your basswood board, both front and back side, using 220-grit sandpaper, remove any sanding dust with a dry, clean cloth. A smooth surface on the wood allows your blank to move easily through the scroll saw cuts. Trace your pattern to the basswood using graphite paper.

Note: If you will be making more than one spoon, trace the pattern to the inside surface of an empty cereal box. Cut the spoon pattern out with scissor and use the cardboard cut-out as a template, tracing along the edges of the cardboard. Save the cardboard template, it can be used over and over again.

Release the Drop Foot and slide your basswood blank under the foot. Reset the Drop Foot knob.

Step 3: Cutting the basic outline

Begin by cutting along the basic outline of your spoon pattern.

Work one side of the spoon at a time, fully releasing and freeing that side of waste wood.

Step 4: Cut the second side of your spoon

Continue your scroll saw cutting to completely remove the waste wood on the second side of your spoon blank.

Step 5: Cutting the fork tines

The fork tines are cut in two strokes, each worked from the end of the fork into the opening between the tines. Stop the first cut when you reach the center point of the opening.

Back the saw blade out of the wood and cut the second side of the opening. This two-cut step will free the waste wood between the tines.

Step 6: The completed scroll saw cut spoon blank

This wooden fork blank took about 15 minutes to cut out on the scroll saw – quick, easy, and super fast!

Step 7: Drilling the holes for a slotted spoon

Using a 1/4″ or 3/8″ drill bit drill the holes into your slotted spoon before you do the scroll saw steps. I prefer to drill from the back of the spoon towards the spoon’s front face. Because I will be carving the front face of the spoon into a bowl shape, if I chip-out any of the holes during the drilling process, those chip-outs will be carved away later in the work.

Basswood chips easily because it is a soft wood. To avoid excessive chip-outs use a new, sharp drill bit and an even medium speed with your drill. Clamp your spoon blank to a piece of scrap wood. This clamps and secures the back grain fibers and reduces chipping. You can also use masking tape on the bottom of your spoon to help hold the grain fibers in place.

Step 8: Sand the drilled holes before you do the scroll saw cutting

Remove any loose or chipped-out wood from your drilled holes, on both sides of the wood blank, before you move onto the scroll saw with sand paper. Those chip-outs can cause your blank to drag, or hang-up on the scroll saw cutting table.

Step 9: Cutting a slotted spoon blank

The slotted spoon is now ready for scroll sawing.

Step 10: Finished wooden spoon blanks

Now that the three wooden spoon blanks have cut out we are ready to move into the wood carving steps of our project. See ya’ there!

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Aug 9 2016

Colored Pencils in Pyrography

Colored Pencils, Pyrography Basics, Scroll Saw, Woodcarving, Woodworking / By irish

Since this seminar is all about how to incorporate multiple hobbies into one project, during this posting we will be using colored pencils to create skin coloring for our scroll saw cut, wood burned Wood Spirit face.

You might like to visit another one of our colored pencil – pyrography project, Coloring your Wood Burning Projects.

Supplies:

There are several excellent brands of colored pencils that we can use in pyrography. I strongly suggest that you invest in an artist quality or artist grade set. Student grade or school grade colored pencils, as those that come with the new Adult Coloring Books are often chalk-based and do not apply to wood in a smooth, easy to blend layer. Artist quality pencils are wax-based or watercolor-based, apply easily and evenly across your wood, paper, and even fabric.

The following are a few of my favorites, available at Amazon.com and I do mix and match manufacture brands in any project!

Prismacolors are my favorite for watercolor paper, vellum, and chip board colored pencil work. These have a soft wax core, blend easily, and will leave a nice, rich coloring with light strokes.

Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils, Soft Core, 48 Pack

Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils

I use my Derwents for adding coloring to wood burnings on wood. Derwents have a harder core than Prismacolor and are perfect for getting into the tight wood grain and deeply scored pyrography detailing that some of our wood burnings have.

Derwent Colorsoft Pencils, 4mm Core, Metal Tin, 24 Count

Derwent Drawing Pencils, Inktense, Watercolor, 24 Per Pack

Lyra is a must-have for anyone who does a lot of skin tone work. This pack has twelve extra-large pencils in the most common skin colors. No mix, no mess, just chose the shade for your shadows, highlights, and general skin tones.

Click on any image for a large photograph.

Lyra Color Giants Skin Tone Colored Pencils

Step 1 Since my wood spirit will become the end caps to a small, outdoor bird feeder I have chosen basic, strong colors for my project’s skin tones. As we work through these steps you will be able see how working one color of pencil over another creates new color hues in your project.

You do not need a large set of pencils. A set between 12 to 24 is enough colors to create a wide range of hues by working one color over another.

Note: Colored pencils apply best when laid down in light-pressure, thin layers, not heavy-pressure one-step coloring. Thin layers allow the wood burning shading to clearly show through the hues and can be developed with additional layers to create deep, rich color tones.

Keep your pencil points sharp so that the point can easily reach into the fine crevices of the burned strokes and wood grain.

New colors can be created by working thin layers of one color over another color. For best results apply the darker toned color first then lay the paler color tone on top.

Step 2 We may refer to skin colors as white, yellow, red, brown, or black, but all skin colors are simply shades of orange. All humans have orange colored skin! Some of us may have pale white-orange skin, and others a red-orange tone, and some such a deep coloring of orange that it appears almost black … but everyone of us is orange!

To learn how to get that perfect skin color every time. please read Adding Skin Colors to Wood Burnings. It is an in-depth look at the mixing color hues to get just the right shade of orange for your portrait.

The base shadow color for my wood spirit is black cherry – a rich, deep red-purple. Work several light layers of black cherry over the areas of shading in the face that you created with your wood burning steps.

Since all skin tones are shades of orange, we are using a purple-toned colored pencil for a our base shading step. Purple is the compliment to orange and when the orange pencil is worked over this purple shading the finished coloring will be a rich shade of brown.

Let your pencil lines show, let them go in random directions, and keep the pressure on the pencil tip light. The random lines add to the wild look of the wood spirit.

Step 3 Since I want my wood spirit wild and woolly I am adding more shading over my base of black cherry using a deep ultramarien blue colored pencil. Work several light layers of ultramarine blue in the same general areas as the pyrography shading on the face, but do not cover up all of your black cherry work.

Skin is transparent, while it does have pigment you can see through the skin to the vein and bones in the body. Blood veins often have a bluish cast under the skin, so in our wood spirit we can use the ultramarine blue to pick up that effect.

Just as we allowed the wood burning shading of the face to move into the hair strand area, take some of this colored pencil shading into those same areas.

Step 4 A couple of light layers of forest green shading blends the shadow areas of the face. Note in the photo that no area of the shading now has one individual strong coloring, but instead has a speckled, blended effect. Green works just as tones of blue in portrait coloring, implying the under-structure of bone and veins.

Step 5 Now that you have the shadows well established in the face it is time to overlay the general skin tone. I used a medium rust-brown pencil for this general overlay. Apply several light layers of coloring to the face. Allow some areas of the original wood uncolored to create your highlights – the center of the forehead, the outer corners of the upper eye lids, the center of the eye wrinkles below the eyes, the center line of the nose, the center of the cheeks, and the center of the mouth.

As with all of the other colors, work these layers of skin tone directly over your previous colors, and expand your coloring area towards the areas that you will leave as highlights.

Two light coats of this general skin tone is also applied to the mustache and beard area of the face to give it just a touch of color toning.

Step 6 Several light coats of orange is applied to the entire face – over the shaded areas and the highlights. This orange is what gives the skin its warmth, makes it feel alive.

Step 7 I decided that I wanted my wood spirit to have a darker base coloring to his skin tone. So I have added a few layers of a darker brown skin colored pencil.

Step 8 My highlights in the face as of Step 7 are in bright orange. To add those bright reflective spots on the high areas of the face I use Titanium white. Again, use freely moving strokes and let your pencil lines show.

In this photo you can note that my pencil is two-toned. When a colored pencil becomes to short to place in the pencil sharpener or too short to hold comfortably, simply super glue the blunt end to the end of another pencil!

Step 9 I want my wood spirit to have grey-white hair, so I will be using the coloring of the birch wood as my base color for all of his hair and beard.

To create individual strands of hair I used the Titanium white pencil, and worked long, curving lines of white from his face towards the outer edge of the hair area.

This white is worked in those hair strands that are closest to you, on top of other strands. Click on the image for a close-up.

Step 10 Using a medium grey or french grey colored pencil I have added more hair lines into the mid-ground and background hair strands. Again, let your pencil lines show.

Step 11 My last step is to intensify the white throughout the wood spirit’s face and hair. As this is the last layer of colored pencil work I can add extra pressure to the pencil to create thicker line work.

Once the coloring is completed I give my wood burned colored pencil projects a light coating or Reworkable Spray Fixative. This is a matte toned finish that protects the work you have already accomplished but that also allows you to add more colored pencil work over your piece.

This protects the work I have done while I decide what final finish I may want for the project. Since this scroll saw wood spirit and its matched gang-cut piece will become the end pieces for my small bird feeder, it will eventually be finished with polyurethane after it is attached to the feeder.

Thanks for reading ….. tomorrow we will be working on scroll saw cutting our wooden spoon and the wood carving steps for that project. See ya’ there!

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Aug 9 2016

Wood Burning the Wood Spirit Face

Pyrography, Scroll Saw, Woodcarving, Woodworking / By irish

During this Cross-Crafting Seminar we have looked, in-depth, at how you can use a scroll saw to add new dimensions your wood carving and wood burning projects. In today’s post we will be wood burning the Wood Spirit face that we scroll saw cut in the last session.

If you are new to pyrography, please visit our links page Pyrography, found in the header nav bar. This will give you lots of links to the tutorials, teaching sessions, and techniques posted here at LSIrish.com about wood burning.

As we work through these next two session to this seminar you will see that I am using pyrography to set my shadows and hair lines in the wood spirit face. We will then use colored pencils to add the coloration.

Note: If you are new to pyrography, in our right hand nav bar you will see a free PDF on which pen tips to use, and what burn strokes each create. Please download it now.

Introduction and Supplies:

Wood burning tool – for this project I used my Optima
Spear-point, or flat shader pen tip
Ball- or looped-tip pen
Heavy-gauge wire triangle hair tip
#6 to #8 soft graphite pencil
green painter’s tape
white artist eraser
large scrap of brown paper bag
leather strop and honing compound

My recommended wood burning tool favorites include the Walnut Hallow Versa-Tool for first time pyrographers. If you are ready to up-grade to a high-end, variable-temperature tool then I suggest either the Colwood or the Optima.

Below each pyrography tool listed is a link to an in-depth seminar that will not only give you a free, step-by-step project you can start today, but also allow you to see each of the three pyrography tools in use to help you decide which unit is the best for you.

These three in-depth tutorials are hosted on a wood carving forum. Unfortunately I am banned/blocked from posting to this forum now because of technical difficulties on this forum. So, if you have questions or comments about these three projects please email me here, through my blog. Do not post to these threads as I can not read, see, or answer your questions there!

Walnut Hallow Versa-Tool

Walnut Hollow Versa-Tool Toucan Project – Looking for that first wood burning tool, then take a few moments and read through this tutorial for an in-depth review of the Walnut Hollow Versa-Tool used to wood burn a Toucan Family.

Colwood

Colwood Winter Birdhouse Wood Burning Tutorial – This in-depth, step-by-step project focuses on a winter bird house wood burning scene. The project takes you from the initial tracing of the design to the final coloring steps.

Optima

Irish Optima Pyrography Seminar – This in-depth pyrography project shows over 250 detailed, close-up photos, step-by-step instructions, and in-depth explanations of texturing, shadings, and fine line work used to create the Advertising Barn landscape.

Note: Click on any image for a full-sized photograph. Now, my apologizes! I know that some of these photos are dark. I accidentally got such a sharp polish on my wood during the crumpled paper stage in Step 1 that the wood had too high a reflective quality for the photography lights … AH!

Step 1 Transferring a Pyrography Pattern

Before your trace your pattern, take a few moments to lightly sand your wood using a crumpled brown paper bag. Paper is an extremely fine-grit sanding media and will remove any remaining fine wood fiber, polishing the wood surface.

There are several ways to trace your wood burning pattern to your burn surface, and those are explored in the link above. For this project I chose to rub the back of my pattern with a soft, #6 to #8 graphite pencil. Tape the pattern to the scroll saw cut wood with the pattern showing and the graphite surface against the wood. Use an ink pen to trace over all of the lines.

The graphite from the pencil rubbing will leave a medium-toned grey line on your wood. It can easily be burned over as you work your pyrography and then removed using a white artists eraser when the pyrography is completed. Carbon paper, graphite paper, and newspaper tracing can leave permanent – non-removable – lines on your work … a pencil rubbing is the cleanest media for tracing.

Step 2 Basic Woodburning Strokes and Textures

Using a flat, or spear-shaped shader, set your wood burning unit to a medium temperature. For my Optima that is a setting between 4 and 5. Lay the shader with the flat bottom of the shader on the wood, along the cheek at the side of the nose. Using a smooth, even pull shade along the nose edge.

The inner corner of the eyes at the nose bridge is the deepest shadow point in the face. The second deepest is the bottom corner of the cheek at the edge of the nostrils.

Note: Every wood burner unit manufacture has their own name for their own pen tips. As example a looped tip can also be called a standard writing tip by a second manufacture or if it is from a third manufacture it can go by just an SKU number. So the names for each tip can change according to what unit you are using. Please check the photos for what shaped pen tip I am using and then use the closest tip you have for your unit.

Step 3 The dark shading continues, using the flat or spear-shaped shader along the bottom edge of the nose. An extra dark c-shaded stroke is used to create the black of the nostrils.

At the bottom of the cheeks, next to the nose is a wrinkle area that is triangular. This area is deeply shaded towards the black-brown tonal value.

The eye lids and eye wrinkles are shaded along the bottom edge of the pattern line, with the darkest shading near the nose and allowing the stroke to pale as you pull it towards the outer edge of the face.

With a light touch, shade the sides of nose. Allow a very thin line of white – un-burned – area at the outer nose pattern line.

Step 4 Turn your wood burning unit down to a cool-medium tone. For my Optima that is a setting just below 4. Using the flat or spear-shaped shader shade along the outer cheeks, sides of the face and the forehead area of your wood spirit. Allow some of this shading to move into the hair areas of the face.

Darken the inside of the mouth and the small space below the nose that separates the sides of the mustache with a medium- or hot- temperature and the flat shader.

Step 5 Begin shading the top or inner areas and sides of the hair strands using the flat or spear-shaped shader and a medium temperature setting. The heaviest shaded hair sections are top of the mustache and the beard that is trapped inside of the sides of the mustache. Use long, flowing lines to imply individual hair strands.

Scan to this stage of the work: Click for a larger image.

Step 6 I have changed to my ball-tip writing pen and set my temperature to a high setting. For my Optima that is between 6 and 7. With the ball-tip, outline all of your pattern lines for both the face and the hair strands.

Step 7 Take a moment and with a white artist’s eraser remove any remaining tracing lines that are visible. Use a dry, clean cloth to remove the eraser particles.

Colored erasers, like the bubble gum pink school erasers, can leave streaks of dye color on your wood surface that can only be removed by sanding that area back to the un-burned, raw wood. White erasers have no dye and will not mar your burning.

Scan to this stage of the work: Click for a larger image.

Step 8 On the high temperature setting, using a heavy-gauged wire hair tip begin adding the individual strands of hair. Each strands is worked from its closest point near the face out towards the outer edges of the hair strand.

Since we will be adding colored pencils to this project not every strand of hair needs detailing. For my wood spirit I chose those hair strands that were in the background of the design for his head hair, and at the top of the mustache and beard.

But hair is just plain fun to work, so add as much detailing as you like!

If you do not have a heavy-gauge wire hair tip you can use the side or edge of your shading tip to burn wonderful hair lines.

Step 9 The finished wood spirit can be left in just its pyrography stage or you can follow me in the next posting where we will use colored pencils to add his skin tones.

Wood Burning the Wood Spirit Face Read More »

Aug 8 2016

Scroll Sawing the Wood Spirit Face

Pyrography, Scroll Saw, Woodcarving, Woodworking / By irish

Scroll Sawing the Wood Spirit Face

Our next step in our Cross-Crafting Seminar, which takes a look at using scroll sawing, wood carving, pyrography, and colored pencil work in one project, is to do a test cut. Let’s use a classic Wood Spirit face for this practice session. This face comes from my book, Wood Spirits and Greenmen, and the pattern is linked below.

Click on the pattern image to open a new window with the full-sized pattern. Save a copy of the pattern to your desktop, where it will be easy to find later.

Supplies

Ryobi 16″ Variable Speed Scroll Saw
Ryobi 15 TPI Regular Tooth Saw Blade for general scroll saw work
Temporary Adhesive Spray
2 – 12″ x 12″ x 1/8″ sheets of birch plywood
220-grit sandpaper
Sheet of heavy brown paper bag
Green painter’s tape
2 printed copies of the Wood Spirit pattern

Note: I buy my birch plywood and basswood off of Ebay.com because I can see the actual pieces of wood that I am purchasing. Birch plywood is often available at your local hardware store or large box craft store.

Preparing for Cutting

Step 1 For this step-by-step I am going to cut two plywood wood spirit faces at the same time. This is called gang cutting.

Lightly sand both sheets of birch plywood on both sides using 220-grit sandpaper. Work the paper in the direction of the grain lines of the birch wood to avoid creating small, cross-grain scratches. Wipe the plywood with a clean, dry tact cloth. Crumble a large sheet of heavy brown paper bag into a loose ball. Use the crumbled paper to sand over the surface of both sheets of plywood. Brown paper bags are wonderful, extremely fine sanding papers.

Step 2 Print two copies of the pattern. One will be used to cut the Wood Spirit face shape from the wood. The second will be used to trace the Wood Spirit detail lines to the cut-out, scroll sawed shape.

Step 3 Stack the two sheets of plywood with the best sides facing each other, these will be on the inside of the stack with the rougher sides facing outward. Use several strips of green painter’s tape along the edge of the stack to secure the two pieces together.

Step 4 Read the directions on the side of your temporary adhesive spray, and follow those directions to spray the back – reverse – on your cutting pattern. Place the pattern, face up with the spray adhesive against the wood. Lightly rub the paper pattern from the center out towards the corners to flatten the paper and insure that it is completely adhered to the wood. Let the paper dry for a few minutes before you beginning your scroll saw work.

Step 5 If this is your first scroll saw session, please read all of the instructions and safety procedures that came with your model of scroll saw. Insert a 15 TPI regular/general cutting blade in the saw. Remember, the teeth of the saw blade point down.

Note: When I am cutting out a general shape, as with the Wood Spirit, I am not as concerned about exactly following the pattern line as cutting a smooth line! You will see that in some areas I may have cut inside or outside the pattern line. Since no one but me and you will ever see the original pattern whatever I cut will become the final items. So relax, have fun, and know that it is so OK to wander off the line. This is meant as a practice piece, a piece on which you can learn, experiment, and make mistakes.

Step 6 Loosen the Drop Foot Knob on the left of the scroll saw arm. Allow the Drop Foot to lower onto the plywood. Tighten the Drop Foot knob. This foot keeps the wood held tightly against the work table, stopping the wood from vibrating as the blade moves through the cuts.

Do not add any pressure to the Drop Foot. By just setting it on the board you are cutting it will have the correct pressure when you tighten the knob.

Step 7 Begin your first cut at the top of the board, cutting towards the head, following one of the hair strands. Start the saw before your blade touches the wood, then glide the wood into the working saw blade. Move slowly, allow the blade to do the work for you. Stop the cut when saw blade’s motion when you reach the inside angle or v-shape point of the hair strand.

Step 8 Turn off the saw, lift the Drop Foot by releasing the Drop Foot knob, and back the blade out of the cut and out of the board.

Step 9 Make the second cut, starting at the top of the board, cutting towards the head, on the second side of the same hair strand. Stop the cut when you meet the end of the first cut.

Scroll Sawing the Wood Spirit Face Read More »

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Aug 4 2016

Cross-Crafting Seminar

Uncategorized, Woodcarving / By irish

Let’s do something just a little different this year for our summer, free, online wood carving seminar. Usually I pick one craft on which to focus – wood carving, wood burning, or chip carving. This year I want show you how easy it is to cross-craft, to incorporate several of your favorite hobbies into creating your art. So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair to my seminar table, and let’s look at the basics to scroll sawing, wood carving, wood burning, and colored pencil work as we put these all together into one craft project.

Cross-Crafting Seminar Introduction
Cross-Crafting Seminar Supply List
Cross-Crafting Seminar Free Patterns

This year’s project came about because I have a new toy – a Ryobi 16″ Variable Speed Scroll Saw. My Ryobi has a 16″ long throat, and can handle wood up to 2″ thick. The saw blades can be either pinned or non-pinned, something that we will look at during this class session. It is variable speed and has a tilt table that can be moved 45 degrees, plus it is equipped with a dust blower to keep your cutting area free and easy to see. And this little sweet power tool has an iron base that keeps the scroll saw steady on my work table.

My Ryobi cost me around $100. plus I purchased an assorted pack of 36 Ryobi blades at about $5.00. So for under $125. with s/h I now have the ability to quickly, easily, and efficiently create my own basswood, birch, and poplar cut-outs for my wood carving and pyrography projects.

Long background story – which you can skip if you want …

Over my 30 years as a wood crafter, wood carver, and pyrographer I have owned three other scroll saws and I hated everyone of them! I don’t do that much scroll sawing to make it worth the investment of several hundred dollars ($500 – $800) for one of the ‘high end’ machines. I don’t know how often I have commented that I must be the world’s worst scroll sawer because every project just drove me bonkers, crazy, irritable, and someone you just didn’t want to be near when I was working. I thought my problems with scroll sawing was me and unfortunately in my line of work there are times that I must do some scroll sawing.

My experience, to this point, with scroll sawing was fighting broken blades, fussing with tension springs that don’t stay put, and with the entire machine wobbling or walking across that table unless it is bolted down. Changing blades with an Allen wrench deep inside the metal case of the blade is just a nightmare for me. I had one scroll saw, long ago, that literally made me sea sick (car sick) because of the triple vibrations between the blade, moving arm, and wobbling base. Because all of my previous saws were light-weight they did need to be bolted to my work table in the workshop, which meant that just to make a couple of quick cuts was a trip out of the studio to go down to the shop to work.

So a new, large project has hit my work table which will require a fair bit of scroll saw work. After much fussing, much cussing, and a lot of consternation I decides that I really had to purchase a new scroll saw which wouldn’t drive me to exasperation – this is scroll saw number 4! I had just purchased a Ryobi 40v battery-operated chain saw and have been delighted with its performance, so I decided to look at Ryobi’s scroll saw.

For under $125 my Ryobi arrived about three days after I ordered. I am glad I ordered several packs of extra blades because the scroll saw comes with just one blade installed. I set up on the back porch … while the Ryobi is a heavy-weight it is not so heavy that I can’t move it to the work area, do my cutting, and then store it in its box. Instead of a petite portable, the Ryobi is a Lovable Lug-able!

So … two hours later … I had read the instructions, looked the scroll saw over closely, and cut out 12 wood spoon rough-outs from 1″ thick basswood stock, two hand comb rough-outs from 3/8″ basswood stock, and the three spoons that we will be using in this seminar as our sample projects which are also 3/8″ stock. Not once did I break a blade! Not once did the Ryobi vibrate! Not once did I get hung-up inside the cut because the machine didn’t have the power to pull through the curve! I did change the blade once and it was a less than two minute job because of the screw knob system the Ryobi uses! I reset the tension without any fuss and was back in business immediately!
When I came back into the studio, searching for more basswood blanks or birch plywood that I could cut-out on my new Ryobi, my beloved hubby asked with great concern, “Are you having problems with that new saw?” I stopped and wondered why he would ask that question. He answered, “I didn’t hear any cussing coming in from the porch, so I thought you hadn’t gotten it started yet!” That’s when I realized I am NOT the world’s worst scroll sawer, I had just always used the world’s worst scroll saws. With my Ryobi I can now proclaim myself, with great pride and satisfaction, a scroll sawer who enjoys the craft.

In thirty years as a craft’s teacher I have only recommended four specific products – the Walnut Hollow Versa-Tool, the Colwood Detailer Burner, the Optima Burner, and the Chipping Away Large Chip Carving Knife. Today, I am adding the Ryobi 16″ variable speed scroll saw to my list of must have tools.

I am going to take a little break here and go get our supply list ready to post. See you in just a bit!

We will start this projects with the three wooden spoons, shown left in the photo. We will work through the steps of cutting the basswood blanks using the scroll saw, then with a basic set of wood carving tools shape the spoon’s bowl and handle area. Our third section will focus on getting the spoon bowl absolutely smooth and finally we will do a simple wood burning of a henna flower design. So … back soon!

Cross-Crafting Seminar Read More »

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