031308 bonus download scroll saw

8/10/2019 031308 Bonus Download Scroll Saw

1/15

WEEKENDPROJECT

FRETWORK

PICTUREFRAMEWith a scroll saw anda few extra hours, youcan turn a plain frameinto this elegant one.

ccasionally, I enjoy sitting down

and cutting fretwork patterns with

my scroll saw. The change in pace is

a nice break from my typical wood-

working routine.

But like any time I spend in the

shop, I want to end up with some-

thing I can be proud of. Something

that belongs on a mantle, a night

stand, or in a grandchilds bedroom.

This fretwork frame is just the kind

of project I enjoy. It doesnt take much

time. Plus, it turns a plain frame into

an attractive, heirloom project.

PANELS. The best way to begin is to

cut two identical panels: one for the

fretwork and another to back the

photo, see the drawing below. I

designed them to hold 3x5 photos.

But after taking a few measurements,

I realized that 3x5 photos arent exact

ly 3" by 5". So if you have a particu

lar picture you want to put in this

frame, cut the panels to match your

photo. (My panels were 31/2" x 43/4".)

Once the panels are cut to size, it's

time to cut the fretwork pattern in

one of the panels. So set the other

O

a.FIRST:

Cut frameblanksto size

!/2"

!/2"

Ripfence

b.SECOND:

Round overedges ofeach blank

!/8" round-over bit

Router

fence

c. THIRD: Cut grooveto hold panel

!/8"

Centergroove

on blank

!/8"

NOTE: For more

on cutting fretwork,see page 26

NOTE: Framessized to hold3 x 5 photo

PANELS

( x 3 - 4 )! /8" ! /2" #/4"

FRAME PIECES

( x )! /2" ! /2"

4!/4" 4!/4"

5!/2"

5!/2"

#4 X Fhwoodscrew

!/2"

#/4" !!/16"xbrass hinge

!/8"Deep

groove

24 Woodsmith No. 103


2/15No. 103 Woodsmith 25

panel aside, and photocopy one of the

patterns shown below. For more on

cutting fretwork patterns, see the arti-

cle on page 26.

FRAMES. When the fretwork is com-

plete, the panels are ready for the

frame pieces. I started with extra-

long 1/2" x 1/2" blanks, see detail a on

the previous page. Just be sure to

make a few extra. Youll need them

when setting up the cuts.

I wanted the frames to be simple,

so the attention would be on the

photo and the fretwork. So for deco-

ration, all I did was round over the

edges of the blanks, see detail b.

Next, to hold the panels, a centered

groove is cut in each piece, see detail

c. This groove should be just wide

enough to hold the panels. With my1/8" thick panels, a single pass on the

table saw with a combination blade

was all that was needed.

ASSEMBLY. Now the frame pieces are

ready to be mitered to finished length

and then assembled around the pan-

els. With the frame for the fretwork,

this is simply a matter of gluing and

clamping the frame around the panel.

But the frame for the photo has to

be assembled a little differently. Here,

I glued up one corner at a time until

three of the pieces were together.

Then the bottom piece is simply

screwed in place, see Fig. 1.

At this point, the panel that backs

the photo fits too snug in the grooves

to include the photo and an acetate

cover. So I sanded the panel just

enough to reduce its thickness until

everything fit into the grooves.

FINISH. Finally, I finished the frames

with an oil fin ish. Then I stacked

them together and joined them with

a pair of brass hinges, see Fig. 2.

Use clamps to hold framewhile drilling

pilot holes

Full-size Patterns

a.

#4 x Fhwoodscrew

!/2"

Acetate

Photo1

!/2"

Stack frames andattach hinges

#2 xBrass

screw

#/8"

2


3/15

78 SCROLL SAWN

Night LightNight LightLight up the night with four interchangeable patterns featuring enchanting scenes that are sure toplease your child. All it takes to build it is a scroll saw, a small light bulb, and a weekend in the shop.

Some projects get their charm fromthe wood thats missing. This NightLight is one of those projects. Its

just a box with the sides, top, and bottommade from solid wood. What makes itinteresting is the interchangeable frontpanel that screens the light shining froma small bulb inside.

I designed this Night Light with fourof these scroll-sawn hardwood panels.Then, depending on your mood or theseason, you can slide one in front of thelight, and store the others in a compart-ment in the back of the box.

PANEL DESIGNS. If youre artistic (orhave clip art on your computer), it would

light bulb fixture, along with a full-sizedrawing of each of the four patterns (anda piece of felt cloth for the bottom) isavailable from Woodsmith Project

Supplies.(See Sources on page 126.)

THIN STOCK. Except for the sides, eachpiece in this project is made from woodthats 1/2" thick or less. Finished stockthis thin can be found, but it may cost abit more. A good alternative is to resawthe stock from thicker boards. (For moreon this, go to the Technique on page 65.)

SCROLL SAWING. And to learn thesecret to making the most of your scrollsaw projects, I suggest you check outthe Technique article on page 86.

be easy to come up with hundreds of dif-ferent ideas for your own panels. Iveincluded four examples for the panels inmy Night Light. Each has a magicalquality that will look nice in a childs bed-room or sitting on a hallway table orstand. (You can find the patterns in theDesigners Notebook on page 82.)

WOOD. I used cherry for all the partsof the Night Light. The color and warmthof cherry enhance the glow cast by thelight. And because cherry is close-grained, it cuts well on a scroll saw.

SUPPLIES. The light fixture is aChristmas-tree-size (4-watt) bulb thatclips tightly into the base of the box. This


4/15

NIGHT LIGHT 79

A

A

A

B

B

C

C

E

LID BLOCK

INTERCHANGEABLEPANEL

SIDE

LIGHT BOARD

LID

LIGHT FIXTURE

BACKPANEL

DIVIDERPANEL

SIDE

BASE

D

EXPLODED VIEW

OVERALL DIMENSIONS:

6W x 51/4D x9H

CUTTING DIAGRAM

#/4 !/2x Two Boards @ 1.2 Bd. Ft. Each5 - 36 ( )

#/4 !/2x (1.2 Bd. Ft.)5 - 36

A A A

D

E

C CB B

WOOD

A Panels (6) 1/4 x 43/4 - 8B Sides (2) 3/4 x 43/4 - 8C Base/Lid (2) 1/2 x 51/4 - 6D Lid Block (1) 1/2 x 2 - 4E Light Board (1) 1/8 x 2 - 4

HARDWARE SUPPLIES

(4) No. 6 x 1" Fh woodscrews(1) Felt cloth (6" x 6")(1) Night light socket switch w/ cord(1) 4-watt frosted bulb

MATERIALS LIST


5/15

80 SCROLL SAWN

SECOND:POSITION FENCE

SLIGHTLY MORE THAN" FROM BLADE!/4

PANEL BLANK(#/4

#/4"

4 " 26")-THICK STOCK -

x

MAKE TWOPASSES,FLIPPING

WORKPIECEEND FOR END

BETWEENPASSES

SET RIP BLADETO CUT 2 "HIGH

FIRST:

!/2

1

PANEL(CUT SIX PIECES

" THICK)!/4

8

4#/4

A

2

B

#/4

8

4#/4

!/4!/4 !/4

FIRST: CUT TWOOUTSIDE GROOVES

SECOND: CUTDIVIDER GROOVE

THIRD: CUT STORAGECHAMBER

BACKEDGE

SIDE

NOTE:USE TEST PIECETO CHECK CUTS

ALL GROOVESARE " DEEP#/8

12

8

BSIDE

3

B

B

SIDE

TRIM FRONTAND BACK EDGES

OF SIDE PIECESTO THICK!/2"

!/2

4

B

ROUTER TABLEFENCE

ROUND OVEROUTSIDE EDGE #/8"

ROUNDOVERBIT

!/4

6

B RIPFENCE

!/2

SLIDE SIDEPIECE AGAINST

FENCE TOTRIM EDGES

SET BLADEHIGH#/8"

5

B

ROUND OVERINSIDE EDGE

!/2

7

RESAWN PANELS

Start building the Night Light by cuttingthe six panel blanks four for the inter-changeable panels (A), plus one dividerpanel (A), and one back panel (A). TheNight Light box is built around these.

PANEL BLANK.To make these six 1/4"-

thick panels, first cut a piece of 3/4"-thickstock to final width (43/4") and roughlength (26") (Fig. 1).

RESAW PANELS.Then resaw this intotwo panels that are each slightly thickerthan 1/4". I used the table saw and madetwo passes with a sharp blade (Fig. 1).(For more on this procedure, see theTechnique article on page 65.) You couldalso use a band saw or thickness planerto reduce the stock to 1/4".

Now, sand or plane the saw marksfrom all the panels so theyre all 1/4" thick.Then cross-cut both blanks to produce six

8"-long panels (Fig. 2).Note:You could use plywood, but the

plies will show on the finished panels.PATTERNS. Now use the patterns in

the Designers Notebook on page 82 tolay out the designs and cut them out.

SIDES

After resawing and cutting the six panelsto size, the next step is to make thegrooved sides of the box.

SIDE BLANK.The two sides (B) startout as one blank of 3/4"-thick stock. Cutthe blank to finished width (43/4") andrough length (161/2") (Fig. 3).

PANEL GROOVES. Next, cut three 1/4"-wide grooves for the panels to slide into.

I used the table saw with a rip blade toform all the grooves. But before cuttingthe grooves in the blank, cut a test piecethe same size as the blank to check thewidth and position of each groove.

The first grooves to cut are the twooutside ones (Fig. 3). To do this, I setthe fence 1/4" from the inside edge of theblade, and raise it 3/8" above the table.

Now you can make one pass to cut akerf in the test piece to form the outsideedge of the groove. Then turn the pieceend for end and cut a kerf near the otheredge. When youre satisfied with the kerfdepth and its distance from the edge, cutkerfs on both edges of the actual work-piece, following the same procedure.

Next you can reposition the fence andmake a second pass on the test piece, sothat the 1/4" panels fit snugly in thegrooves in the test piece. Then make thecuts on the actual workpiece to completethe two outside grooves.

Youll form the groove for the dividerpanel in the same way. This grooveshould be located 2" from the back edgeof the box sides (Fig. 3).

STORAGE CHAMBER. Next, I cut a 1"-wide storage chamber by making a seriesof passes through the rip blade (Fig. 3).

To make the sides appear thinner thanthey actually are, trim the front and backedges down to 1/2" thick (Fig. 4). To dothis, set the table saw blade 1/2" from thefence and 3/8" high (Fig. 5).

BULLNOSE PROFILE.After trimming the

outside edges of the sides, rout a bull-nose profile on them with a 3/8" roundoverbit in a router table. To do this, first raisethe bit 1/4" high and round over the out-side edges (grooved face up) (Fig. 6).Then raise the roundover bit 1/2" high, flipthe workpiece over, and round over theinside edges (grooves down) (Fig. 7).

PRE-ASSEMBLY. Now cut the side pieceinto two 8"-long sections (Fig. 3). Thenglue the back and divider panels in placebetween the two sides.

BASE & LIDBegin making the base and lid of theNight Light by cutting an over-size blankto final width (51/4") and rough length


6/15

NIGHT LIGHT 81

B

C

BASE

SIDE

#6 x 1" FhWOODSCREW

NOTE:

INSETON ALL SIDES!/4"

!/2 &/8

&/8

!/2

11

C

D

CHAMFEREDGES

STORAGECHAMBER

LIGHTCHAMBER

LIDBLOCK

( " THICK)!/2

LID

12

LIGHT BOARD( "-THICK STOCK)!/8

BASE

SIDE

E

NOTE: PAINT

LIGHT CHAMBERWHITE FORBRIGHTER GLOW

13

C

C

NOTE:BASE AND LIDSTART OUT ASONE LONGBLANK

BASE

LID

FINGERHOLE

5!/4

6

!/2

!/2

8 BOTTOM SIDEOF BASE

BASE

!/4" !/4"x GROOVEFOR ELECTRIC CORD

9

C

NOTE:ROUT ACROSS

END GRAIN FIRST

ROUTER TABLEFENCE

#/8" ROUNDOVERBIT

!/4

10C(BASE ONLY)

BORETWO1"-DIA.END HOLESFOR FINGER SLOT

WASTE

1#/4

22

a.

C

FRONT BACK

PILOTHOLES

!/4" INSET!/4

&/8 &/8

COUNTERSUNKSHANK HOLE

a.

C

D

CHAMFEREDGES

LIDBLOCK

2

4 1

#/4

LIDa.

1"-DIA. THROUGHHOLE

CUTTO FITCUT

TO FIT

LIGHTBOARD

2

4

E

CL

CL

a.

(121/2"). Then youll want to resaw andsand the blank to a final thickness of 1/2".

At this point, you can cut the blankinto two pieces (each 6" long) to form abase (C) and a lid (C) (Fig. 8).

ELECTRICAL FIXTURE.A finger slot inthe base allows access to the electrical fix-ture. To make this, bore two holes in the

base, then cut out the waste betweenthem with a jig saw (Fig. 8a).

Next, form a 1/4"-deep groove for theelectrical cord in the bottom of the baseusing the router table (Fig. 9).

After cutting this groove, soften allthe edges of the top and bottom with a 3/8"roundover bit. To do this, raise the bit 1/4"above the table (Fig. 10).

ASSEMBLING THE BOX

When the base and lid are complete,finish assembling the box. Do this by

first drilling countersunk shank holes onthe bottom side of the base (Fig. 11a).

Then center the base on the sideassembly and temporarily clamp themtogether. The sides should be insetequally all around the base (Fig. 11). (Inmy case, this was 1/4".)

Now drill pilot holes through theshank holes into the bottom ends of eachside piece (Fig. 11a). Then glue andscrew the base in place.

LID BLOCK.The lid fits snugly onto thetop by means of a lid block thats glued tothe underside of the lid (Fig. 12).

To make the lid block (D), start bycutting a 3/4" piece of stock to fit the

opening of the light chamber (with aninterchangeable panel in place).

With the lid block cut to size, you canrout a narrow chamfer along all fouredges of one side of the block. (The cham-fered edges let you remove and replacethe lid more easily.)

Now, lay out the position of the lidblock on the bottom of the lid (Fig. 12a)and glue the block in place.

LIGHT BOARD.The light has a springretainer thats designed to seat into a 1/8"-thick board with a 1" hole (Fig. 13).

To make the light board (E), firstmeasure the opening at the bottom of

the light chamber. Then cut a piece of1/8" stock to fit this opening (Fig. 13a).Bore a 1" hole through the center of thispiece, then glue the light board in placein the bottom of the base.

FINISH. Finally, to complete the project,I applied a tung oil finish to the box.

Note: I found the box reflected morelight through the panels after I painted theinside surfaces of the light chamber (notincluding the interchangeable panel) witha white enamel paint (Fig. 13).

Now you can glue a piece of felt on thebottom of the box. This will hold the elec-trical cord in place.


7/15

82 SCROLL SAWN

Perfect for a childs bedroom, these Night Light patterns provide a soothing glow when its neededmost. A hidden compartment inside the light holds the three extra panels when theyre not being used.

The magic of the Night Light is inthe scroll-sawn panels. Here aresome suggestions for making fourinterchangeable panels. The pat-terns shown here are half size, soenlarge them 200%. (Or you canreceive all four of the full-size pat-terns from Woodsmith ProjectSupplies. See Sources, page 126.)

Note:The lighter areas of thedrawings are those that should becut away. (I used a No. 5 skip toothblade to cut each of the patterns.)First, finish sand each of the panelblanks. Then glue a pattern to theblank using spray adhesive or alight coat of rubber cement. Before you begin to saw, drillstarting holes for the pierce (orinside) cuts, and for the other holes. On the Falling Stars panel, drillthe holes for the background starsfirst (using 1/16" and 1/8" drill bits).

Note:The points on the moonand the falling stars will be sharpestif you form them with two inter-secting cuts, rather than by tryingto pivot around them. For the Jack OLantern, drill outthe stars (1/16" and 3/32" bits) andthe moon (3/4" bit) first. Then cutout the details of the pumpkin. Pivotaround the blade only when cut-ting out the eyes and the mouth.Next, cut around the fence parts.And finally, cut around the cat. Cat Fishin requires the moststarting holes. Drill them first, thencut out the smaller areas. Cut around the cat last so youllhave plenty of support when yourescrolling between the leaves. For Snowy Pine, drill holes forthe snowflakes (1/16" bit) and thetree ornaments (3/32"). Then drillstarting holes for the snow on thebranches. Next cut the tree outline,and finally the snow on the ground.Finish the panels by dipping themin a shallow pan of tung oil. Thenpoke out the excess finish from thedrill holes with a wire brad.

PATTERNS

FALLING STARS

ENLARGE 200%

CAT FISHIN

ENLARGE 200%

SNOWY PINE

ENLARGE 200%

JACK OLANTERN

ENLARGE 200%


8/15

SCROLL SAWPROJECT

SCROLL-SAWNBOOKENDSThe scroll-sawn panels and brass plates makethese bookends both attractive and functional.

y good friend is an avid reader

and a book collector, so this

year, I decided to make him a pair of

bookends. Not your plain, purely func-

tional variety I wanted something

a bit more elegant. And for a change

of pace, I also wanted to do a little

work at the scroll saw.

My solution was to capture a scroll-sawn panel in a picture frame. This

frame sits on a base with a rounded

brass tongue on the bottom that sticks

out and slides under the books.

When it came to designing the

scroll saw patterns, I had a couple

ideas but needed some help putting

them on paper. (Im not much of an

artist.) So I asked Mike Mittermeier,

one of our Senior Illustrators, if he

would take a shot at turning my ideas

into workable scroll saw patterns.

My first idea was a pineapple (atraditional symbol of hospitality). The

other was less specific. I wanted a

classic fretwork design. Mike did a

great job with both patterns and

even came up with one of his own

the stag, see photos. (Mikes an

avid outdoorsman.)

But if you have some artistic tal-

ent, dont limit yourself to these ideas;

come up with some of your own. And

experiment with dif-

ferent woods too.

We even backed up one of the scroll

saw panels with a thin (30-gauge)

sheet of brass. (Take a look at the

article on page 24 for more on work-

ing with brass.)

BASEAs I mentioned earlier, each bookend

is really just a picture frame that sitson top of a base, see Base Exploded

View. I started with the base, which

is two pieces of solid wood, plus a

rounded brass plate.

MOLDING. The first piece to work on

is the base molding (A), see Base

Exploded View. Its only 1/4" thick so

youll have to plane down some stock

first. (If you dont have a thickness

planer, you can resaw what you need

on the table saw, see page 15.)

With 1/4"-thick stock in hand, you

can cut the molding to rough size. Icut mine to finished length (6") but left

it extra wide at this point (31/2"). This

not only made the piece safer to work

with, it also allowed me to cut two

molding pieces from each blank.

(Though theres only one of each

bookend shown in the photos at left,

I actually made them in pairs.)

Next, I rounded over the edges of

the oversized blank with a 1/8" round-

over bit, see Fig. 1. Since two pieces

are being cut from this blank, all four

MATERIALS(For one bookend)

A Base Molding (1) !/4 x 1!/4 - 6

B Base Bottom (1) #/4 x 1&/8 - 7!/4

C Frame Ends (2) #/4 x 1 - 5!/2

D Frame Sides (2) #/4 x 1 - 7!/4

E Scroll Saw Panel (1) !/4 x 4!/2 - 6!/4

F Quarter Round (1) !/4 x !/4 - 28 ln. in.

(1) 16-Gauge Brass (4" x 5") (3) #8 x !/2" Fh Brass Woodscrews


Pick a design (page 23),choose a favorite wood, and

build your own unique bookend.And for a distinctive look, set a

thin piece of brass behindthe scroll saw panel.

}

M


9/15

No. 126 Woodsmith 21

edges need to be routed, not just

three. And I started with the ends first

so theres less chance of chipout.

Finally, I added an auxiliary top to my

router table. Its just a piece of 1/4"

hardboard with a smaller bit opening

to give the base pieces extra support.

BOTTOM. After the molding pieces

were ripped to width (11/4"), the next

piece to make is the base bottom

(B), see Base Exploded View. This

piece will end up a little bigger than

the molding (17/8" x 71/4"). But it also

starts out oversized, and two pieces

will be cut from a single blank.

The first thing to do to the bot-

tom blank is rout a cove with a1/2"

cove bit, see Fig. 2. Again, I routed

the profile on all four edges of the

blank and supported the workpiece

with a square push block. Then thetwo bottom pieces can be ripped to

finished width (17/8").

RECESS FOR BRASS PLATE. To keep the

bookend (and books) from falling

over, a brass plate is set into the bot-

tom piece. So the next thing to do is

rout the recess that holds the plate,

see Fig. 3. The recess is about 1/16"

deep, but the important thing is that

it match the thickness of the brass.

To establish the size of the recess,

I used an auxiliary fence with a cou-

ple stop blocks clamped on either sideof a straight bit, see Fig. 3. With a 1/2"-

dia. straight bit, youll need to make

a few passes between the blocks. And

after routing, the round corners will

need to be squared up with a chisel.

Gluing the molding to the bottom

piece is pretty simple. The molding is

centered side-to-side, see Base

Exploded View. And the pieces should

be flush along the back edge, see

detail b in Exploded View.

BRASS PLATE. The brass plate is cut to

size next, and the process isnt muchdifferent from the woodworking

youve already done. (For more on

working with brass, see page 24.)

With the plate cut to size, I round-

ed the end with a hardboard template,

a sabre saw, and a flush trim bit.

Finally, to soften the edge and make

it easier to slide under the books, I

routed a stopped chamfer around the

curve. Then the plate can be screwed

to the base, see detail a above.

b.

3

1

b.

a.

a.

2

a.

a.


10/15

Bookend FrameNow that the base is built, all thats left

is to build a small picture frame and

a scroll saw panel to go inside it, see

Frame Exploded View at right and

Panel Exploded View on page 23.

FRAME BLANKS. The frame holds the

scroll saw panel in the front with built-

in roundover molding. Making the

frame pieces is an easy three-step

process: a roundover is routed, chan-

nels are cut to create the rabbets, and

then the pieces are cut to width.

However, like the pieces for the base,

its better to start with oversized

blanks. So for each frame, I cut one

blank from 3/4"-thick stock (3" x 15").

ROUT ROUNDOVER. After the blanks

were cut to size, I routed a1/4" round-

over along the edges, see Fig. 4. This

roundover has a shoulder, so the edgeof the bit will need to be raised 1/8"

above the table, see Fig. 4a.

RABBET. Behind the roundover, there

will be a rabbet the scroll saw panel

fits into. But to create the rabbet, two1/4"-deep channels need to be cut with

a 3/4"-wide dado set, see Figs. 5 and 5a.

Then the pieces can be ripped to

width (1"), see Fig. 6. Just position

the rip fence so you end up with a 5/8"-

wide rabbet, see Fig. 6a.

MITER PIECES. Now you can begin

mitering these pieces to create theframe. I started with theframe ends

(C), see Frame Exploded View. They

should end up 1/2" shorter than the

base. Then theframe sides (D)can

be mitered to length.

A word of caution, though. These

frame pieces (especially the ends) are

short. So be careful to keep your

hands well away from the saw blade.

ASSEMBLY. With the pieces mitered,

the frame can be assembled. Gluing

four mitered pieces together at the

same time can be a little tricky. So I

typically glue up two corners first and

then glue the two halves together.

When gluing the frame to the base,

the inside edges should be flush. To

do this, I laid the base back-side down

on the edge of my workbench withthe brass plate hanging off the edge.

Then I glued the frame to the base,

using hand pressure. (I didnt want

to put any clamping pressure on the

miter joints at the top or the round-

over profile at the bottom.)

SCROLL SAW PANELS. At this point,

youre ready to make thescroll saw

panels (E), see Panel Exploded View

on page 23. These are 1/4"-thick pan-

els cut to fit in the rabbets.

The first thing to do is choose a pat-

tern (see box) and enlarge it 200% on

a photocopier. Then you can tem-

porarily attach the photocopy to the

panel with a spray mount adhesive.

Note: If youre making two panels

with the same pattern, you can glue

them together with the spray adhe-sive. This way, youll only need to cut

the pattern one time.

Now before the pattern can be cut

out, youll need to drill holes for blade

access. (I drilled 1/16"-dia. holes in all

the openings.) Then the waste sec-

tions can be cut away on the scroll


4 5 6

a. a. a.

a.

{ The frameand scroll-

sawn panelare glued to

the top ofthe base.


11/15

No. 126 Woodsmith 23

saw. To avoid weakening the panels,

its best to start with the smaller sec-

tions and save the larger ones for last.

QUARTER ROUND. To hold the scroll

saw panel in the frame, I added small

pieces of quarter round (F). To

make these safely, I start with an over-

sized blank, routing a 1/4" roundover

on each edge, see Fig. 7.

Cutting the quarter round from the

blank is a two-step process. First, I

cut two kerfs on each edge with the

fence set 1/4" from the blade, see Fig.

8. Second, the quarter round can be

cut from the blank. However, you

dont want to trap the small quarter

round between the fence and the

blade. So this time, reposition the

fence so the quarter round falls to the

waste side of the blade, see Fig. 9.

Finally, the quarter round can be

mitered

to fit in the frame, see Panel

Exploded View. Then the pieces can

be glued into the frame behind the

scroll saw panel.

BRASS OPTION. Or for a different look,

you can place a piece of 30-gauge

brass between the

scroll saw panel and

the quarter round,

see the photo in margin at right and

the lower photo on page 20.W

7 8 9

a. a. a.

SCROLL SAW PATTERNS (Enlarge 200 )

Classic scrollPineapple Stag

{ For a unique cut a piece of

(30-gauge) brto fit behind th

scroll saw panFor more on

working with

brass, see pag

a.


12/1534 Woodsmith No. 173

WeekendProject

Sometimes, its nice to take a break from the typicalwoodworking routine and do something different.

And this scroll saw project does just that.The intricate cuts and change of pace can be

very relaxing. But, you also want to end up withsomething you can be proud of something a

little out of the ordinary that can be displayed.The shelf you see here fits the bill in every way.

Its simply a mirrored frame wrapped with a pair

of shelves and uprights.Of course, what really makes this project stand

out is the fretwork. It may look daunting at first,but youll find out that cutting fretwork doesnt

take much time, and its simple to create decorativemotifs. The procedure and patterns used formaking it are shown on page 37.

Materials, Supplies, & Cutting Diagram

A Frame Rails (2) 34x 1 - 183

4

B Frame Stiles (2) 34x 78- 612

C Top/Btm. Mirror Stops (2) 14x14 -17

12

D Side Mirror Stops (2) 14x14 - 6

E Shelves (2) 12x 512- 20

F Uprights (2) 34 x3

4- 17

G Small Fretwork Panel (8) 14x 418- 4

H Large Fretwork Panel (2) 14x 418- 8

(1) 638" x 173

8" Beveled Mirror

(2)Keyhole Hangers

(4) #8 x 112" Fh Woodscrews

(20) 18-ga. x34"Brads

Wall ShelfThis simple, yet attractive, project is a great opportunity

to spend some time building your skills at the scroll saw.

fretwork


13/15


14/15

Next, you can drill holes for thescrews that will attach the shelves

and make mortises for the keyhole

hangers (detail b). Youll find adetailed procedure for installingkeyhole hangers in WoodsmithNo.172, page 33. Then, you can start

making the shelves.

THE SHELVES.The box below shows

how I shaped the shelves. Each shelf

is notched to hold the uprights.Then, after cutting a gentle curve

into the front edge of the shelves, I

rounded over all the edges.THE FRETWORK.With the main pieces

of the wall shelf completed, you canmove on to the fretwork. For more

details on cutting the fretwork, seethe following page.

ASSEMBLY.Since the mirrored framedetermines where the other pieces

go, youll want to center it on theuprights first. Next, the shelves areglued to the frame. And, finally, the

uprights are attached to the shelfnotches with screws.

To attach the fretwork, you canjust run a bead of glue inside the

upright grooves and gently pressthe fretwork in place. But youllneed to tack it to the shelves with

small brads (detail c). For moreinformation on installing the brads,

see Shop Notebook on page 32.All thats left to do is apply the

brown mahogany stain and lacquerfinish, install the mirror, and hang

the shelf in your home. W

How-To:Shelf Details


SHELF

Aux.fence

Tall aux.miterfence

Dadoblade

E

String holdshardboardto desiredarc

Workpiece

Marking the Curve. Using a bow

made from a piece of hardboard and

string, trace a curve on each shelf.

Cutting the Shelf Notches. A tall auxiliary

fence attached to the miter gauge will support

the shelves while cutting the corner notches.

18-ga. x "brads

#/4

Keyhole hangerwith screws

Mirror frametongue fits into

groove in upright

Shelf corner isnotched to fit

around upright

Shelf front andside edges have

roundover!/8"

#8 x 1 "Fh

woodscrew

!/2

NOTE: Shelves are made from"-thick hardwood and uprights

are made from "-thick hardwood.

Fretwork is resawn from "-thickhardwood and planed to "

!/2#/4

#/4!/4

SMALLFRETWORK

PANELS

SHELFUPRIGHT

SHELF

LARGEFRETWORK

PANEL

4!/8

4!/8

4!/8

H

H

G

G

G

G

G

F

FE

E

44

20

5!/2

5

8

17

4!/4

4!/4

b.

With the frame complete, youcan focus on adding the uprights,

shelves, and the fretwork.

THE UPRIGHTS. Each upright hasa pair of grooves in the frontand inside edges, as you cansee in detail a above. The mir-

rored frame will fit in the insidegrooves, while the fretwork will

fill in the rest of the grooves.

a.

END VIEW

Aux.fence

E#/4

#/4

a.

E

Pre-drill pilothole for brads.

See pg. 33for more

information

H

G

E

c.

adding theSHELVES& FRETWORK

E

5

Clamp

String 5!/2

a.


15/15

How-To:

The fretwork adds the perfect touchto this wall shelf. But before you sitdown at your scroll saw, theres a

little preparation to be done.

PREPARING THE WORKPIECES. The first

step is to size the workpieces.Instead of planing thick stock

down to 14", I decided to resawthe stock to the proper thickness.After planing the resawn stock

smooth, I cut the pieces to finishedsize and mounted copies of the

patterns you see on the far right tothe blanks with spray adhesive.

PREPARING THE SCROLL SAW.Now thatthe workpieces are ready, make

sure your scroll saw is too. First,its important to have the rightblade. For fretwork, I generally

use a No. 5 reverse tooth bladeand tension it so it will only flex18" under finger pressure. Thensquare the table to the blade.

Now youre ready to cut thefretwork. But the place to start isactually at the drill press.

STARTER HOLES. Because the fret-work involves mostly inside cuts,

drilling starter holes will allow

you to feed the blade through theworkpiece to make those cuts.

With fretwork, what takes get-ting used to is rotating the panel

as you work. To make this easier, Idrill holes near sharp turns (Fig. 1).

Its easier to rotate the workpieceinside a hole than in a kerf.

MAKING THE CUTS. After the holesare drilled, you can begin cutting.Theres no set sequence, but I like

to make the smaller cuts first. Cut-ting out the large areas first can

weaken the workpiece and maycause it to break when cutting the

smaller areas.REMOVING WASTE. Its easier to

remove the waste in small pieces,

rather than all at once. For exam-ple, Ill cut sharp corners in two

or three steps (Fig. 3). For othercorners, the trick when rotating

the panel is to push the workpieceagainst the sides and back of the

blade (the edges that dont cut.)

Cut FretworkDrill starter holes at outsidecorner locationsof fretwork pattern

!/8"

Waste

NOTE:Attachpattern to blankwith spray adhesive

!/8"-dia.twist bit

6

3

Starter Holes. After mounting the pattern

on the workpiece, drill starter holes to feed

the scroll saw blade through.

Removing Waste. With intricate designs,

its much simpler to cut away the waste

in small pieces, rather than one large cut.

Making several cuts from different direc-

tions in the pattern will leave sharp, crisp

corners and edges.

LARGE FRETWORK PANEL

1

SMALL FRETWORK PANEL

1

FIRST: Begin cutfrom starter hole

2

2

SECOND: Repositionworkpiece to relocateblade at starter holeand start cut inother direction

Connect the Holes. By drilling holes at turn-

ing points, its easier to rotate the workpiece

and stay close to the layout lines.

SECOND: Backout of cut and

loop around fromthe other side

THIRD: Spinworkpiecearound to

continue cuttingout from the

corner

THIRD: Reversedirection to

continueremovingwaste

FRETWORK PATTERNS. Enlarge the

patterns 200% and attach them to the

workpieces with spray adhesive.

For full-size fretwopatterns, go to:Woodsmith.com

031308 bonus download scroll saw

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