WEEKENDPROJECT

FRETWORK

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

ccasionally, I enjoy sitting downand cutting fretwork patterns with

my scroll saw. The change in pace isa nice break from my typical wood-working routine.

But like any time I spend in theshop, I want to end up with some-thing I can be proud of. Somethingthat belongs on a mantle, a nightstand, or in a grandchild’s bedroom.

This fretwork frame is just the kindof project I enjoy. It doesn’t take much

time. Plus, it turns a plain frame intoan attractive, heirloom project.

PANELS. The best way to begin is tocut two identical panels: one for thefretwork and another to back thephoto, see the drawing below. Idesigned them to hold 3x5 photos.But after taking a few measurements,

I realized that 3x5 photos aren’t exact-ly 3" by 5". So if you have a particu-lar picture you want to put in thisframe, cut the panels to match yourphoto. (My panels were 31/2" x 43/4".)

Once the panels are cut to size, it'stime to cut the fretwork pattern inone 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

Routerfence

c. THIRD: Cut grooveto hold panel

!/8"

Centergroove

on blank

!/8"

NOTE: For moreon cutting fretwork,

see page 26

NOTE: Framessized to hold’3 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

No. 103 Woodsmith 25

panel aside, and photocopy one of thepatterns shown below. For more oncutting fretwork patterns, see the arti-cle on page 26.

FRAMES. When the fretwork is com-plete, the panels are ready for theframe pieces. I started with extra-long 1/2" x 1/2" blanks, see detail ‘a’ onthe previous page. Just be sure tomake a few extra. You’ll need themwhen setting up the cuts.

I wanted the frames to be simple,so the attention would be on thephoto 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 wideenough to hold the panels. With my1/8" thick panels, a single pass on thetable saw with a combination bladewas all that was needed.

ASSEMBLY. Now the frame pieces areready to be mitered to finished lengthand then assembled around the pan-els. With the frame for the fretwork,this is simply a matter of gluing andclamping 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 untilthree of the pieces were together.Then the bottom piece is simplyscrewed in place, see Fig. 1.

At this point, the panel that backsthe photo fits too snug in the groovesto include the photo and an acetatecover. So I sanded the panel justenough to reduce its thickness untileverything fit into the grooves.

FINISH. Finally, I finished the frameswith an oil finish. Then I stackedthem together and joined them witha pair of brass hinges, see Fig. 2. ❑

Use clamps to hold framewhile drillingpilot holes

Full-size Patterns

a.

#4 x Fhwoodscrew

!/2"

AcetatePhoto

1

!/2"Stack frames and

attach hinges

#2 xBrassscrew

#/8"

2

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 that’s missing. This NightLight is one of those projects. It’s

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 you’re 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 ProjectSupplies. (See Sources on page 126.)

THIN STOCK. Except for the sides, eachpiece in this project is made from woodthat’s 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. I’veincluded four examples for the panels inmy Night Light. Each has a magicalquality that will look nice in a child’s bed-room or sitting on a hallway table orstand. (You can find the patterns in theDesigner’s 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

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 VIEWOVERALL DIMENSIONS:6W x 51/4D x 9H

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 C B B

WOODA 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

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 BACK

EDGE

SIDE

NOTE:USE TEST PIECETO CHECK CUTS

ALL GROOVESARE " DEEP#/8

12

8

BSIDE

3

B

B

SIDE

TRIM FRONTAND BACK EDGESOF 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 they’re all 1/4" thick.Then cross-cut both blanks to produce six8"-long panels (Fig. 2).

Note: You could use plywood, but theplies will show on the finished panels.

PATTERNS. Now use the patterns inthe Designer’s 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 you’re 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.

You’ll 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 theoutside 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 & LID

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

NIGHT LIGHT 81

B

CBASE

SIDE

#6 x 1" FhWOODSCREW

NOTE:INSET

ON ALL SIDES!/4"

!/2 &/8

&/8

!/211

C

D

CHAMFEREDGES

STORAGECHAMBER

LIGHTCHAMBER

LIDBLOCK

( " THICK)!/2

LID

12

LIGHT BOARD( "-THICK STOCK)!/8

BASE

SIDE

E

NOTE: PAINTLIGHT CHAMBER

WHITE FORBRIGHTER GLOW

13

C

C

NOTE:BASE AND LIDSTART OUT ASONE LONGBLANK

BASE

LID

FINGERHOLE

5!/46

!/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 &/8COUNTERSUNKSHANK HOLE

a.C

D

CHAMFEREDGES

LIDBLOCK2

4 1

#/4

LIDa.

1"-DIA. THROUGHHOLE

CUTTO FITCUT

TO FIT

LIGHTBOARD

2

4

E

CL

CL

a.

(121/2"). Then you’ll 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 thebase, 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 byfirst 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 that’s 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 that’s 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. ■

82 SCROLL SAWN

Perfect for a child’s bedroom, these Night Light patterns provide a soothing glow when it’s neededmost. A hidden compartment inside the light holds the three extra panels when they’re 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 O’Lantern, 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 you’llhave plenty of support when you’rescrolling 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 STARSENLARGE 200%

CAT FISHIN’ENLARGE 200%

SNOWY PINEENLARGE 200%

JACK O’LANTERNENLARGE 200%

SCROLL SAWPROJECT

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

y good friend is an avid readerand a book collector, so this

year, I decided to make him a pair ofbookends. Not your plain, purely func-tional variety — I wanted somethinga bit more elegant. And for a changeof pace, I also wanted to do a littlework at the scroll saw.

My solution was to capture a scroll-sawn panel in a picture frame. Thisframe sits on a base with a roundedbrass tongue on the bottom that sticksout and slides under the books.

When it came to designing thescroll saw patterns, I had a coupleideas but needed some help puttingthem on paper. (I’m not much of anartist.) So I asked Mike Mittermeier,one of our Senior Illustrators, if hewould take a shot at turning my ideasinto workable scroll saw patterns.

My first idea was a pineapple (atraditional symbol of hospitality). Theother was less specific. I wanted aclassic fretwork design. Mike did agreat job with both patterns andeven came up with one of his own— the stag, see photos. (Mike’s anavid outdoorsman.)

But if you have some artistic tal-ent, don’t 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 scrollsaw panels with a thin (30-gauge)sheet of brass. (Take a look at thearticle on page 24 for more on work-ing with brass.)

BASEAs I mentioned earlier, each bookendis really just a picture frame that sitson top of a base, see Base ExplodedView. I started with the base, whichis two pieces of solid wood, plus arounded brass plate.

MOLDING. The first piece to work onis the base molding (A), see BaseExploded View. It’s only 1/4" thick soyou’ll have to plane down some stockfirst. (If you don’t have a thicknessplaner, you can resaw what you needon the table saw, see page 15.)

With 1/4"-thick stock in hand, youcan cut the molding to rough size. Icut mine to finished length (6") but leftit extra wide at this point (31/2"). Thisnot only made the piece safer to workwith, it also allowed me to cut twomolding pieces from each blank.(Though there’s only one of eachbookend shown in the photos at left,I actually made them in pairs.)

Next, I rounded over the edges ofthe oversized blank with a 1/8" round-over bit, see Fig. 1. Since two piecesare being cut from this blank, all four

MATERIALS(For one bookend)

A Base Molding (1) !/4 x 1!/4 - 6B Base Bottom (1) #/4 x 1&/8 - 7!/4C Frame Ends (2) #/4 x 1 - 5!/2D Frame Sides (2) #/4 x 1 - 7!/4E Scroll Saw Panel (1) !/4 x 4!/2 - 6!/4F Quarter Round (1) !/4 x !/4 - 28 ln. in.

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

20 Woodsmith No. 126

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 behind the scroll saw panel.

}

M

No. 126 Woodsmith 21

edges need to be routed, not justthree. And I started with the ends firstso there’s less chance of chipout.Finally, I added an auxiliary top to myrouter table. It’s just a piece of 1/4"hardboard with a smaller bit openingto give the base pieces extra support.

BOTTOM. After the molding pieceswere ripped to width (11/4"), the nextpiece to make is the base bottom(B), see Base Exploded View. Thispiece will end up a little bigger thanthe molding (17/8" x 71/4"). But it alsostarts out oversized, and two pieceswill be cut from a single blank.

The first thing to do to the bot-tom blank is rout a cove with a 1/2"cove bit, see Fig. 2. Again, I routedthe profile on all four edges of theblank and supported the workpiecewith a square push block. Then thetwo bottom pieces can be ripped tofinished width (17/8").

RECESS FOR BRASS PLATE. To keep thebookend (and books) from fallingover, a brass plate is set into the bot-tom piece. So the next thing to do isrout the recess that holds the plate,see Fig. 3. The recess is about 1/16"deep, but the important thing is thatit 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, you’ll need to makea few passes between the blocks. Andafter routing, the round corners willneed to be squared up with a chisel.

Gluing the molding to the bottompiece is pretty simple. The molding iscentered side-to-side, see BaseExploded View. And the pieces shouldbe flush along the back edge, seedetail ‘b’ in Exploded View.

BRASS PLATE. The brass plate is cut tosize next, and the process isn’t muchdifferent from the woodworkingyou’ve already done. (For more onworking 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 makeit easier to slide under the books, Irouted a stopped chamfer around thecurve. Then the plate can be screwedto the base, see detail ‘a’ above.

b.

3

1

b.

a.

a.

2

a.

a.

Bookend FrameNow that the base is built, all that’s leftis to build a small picture frame anda scroll saw panel to go inside it, seeFrame Exploded View at right andPanel Exploded View on page 23.

FRAME BLANKS. The frame holds thescroll saw panel in the front with built-in roundover molding. Making theframe pieces is an easy three-stepprocess: a roundover is routed, chan-nels are cut to create the rabbets, andthen the pieces are cut to width.However, like the pieces for the base,it’s better to start with oversizedblanks. So for each frame, I cut oneblank from 3/4"-thick stock (3" x 15").

ROUT ROUNDOVER. After the blankswere cut to size, I routed a 1/4" round-over along the edges, see Fig. 4. Thisroundover 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, therewill be a rabbet the scroll saw panelfits into. But to create the rabbet, two1/4"-deep channels need to be cut witha 3/4"-wide dado set, see Figs. 5 and 5a.Then the pieces can be ripped towidth (1"), see Fig. 6. Just positionthe rip fence so you end up with a 5/8"-wide rabbet, see Fig. 6a.

MITER PIECES. Now you can beginmitering these pieces to create theframe. I started with the frame ends(C), see Frame Exploded View. Theyshould end up 1/2" shorter than thebase. Then the frame sides (D) canbe mitered to length.

A word of caution, though. Theseframe pieces (especially the ends) are

short. So be careful to keep yourhands well away from the saw blade.

ASSEMBLY. With the pieces mitered,the frame can be assembled. Gluingfour mitered pieces together at thesame time can be a little tricky. So Itypically glue up two corners first andthen glue the two halves together.

When gluing the frame to the base,the inside edges should be flush. Todo this, I laid the base back-side downon the edge of my workbench withthe brass plate hanging off the edge.Then I glued the frame to the base,using hand pressure. (I didn’t wantto put any clamping pressure on themiter joints at the top or the round-over profile at the bottom.)

SCROLL SAW PANELS. At this point,

you’re ready to make the scroll sawpanels (E), see Panel Exploded Viewon 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% ona photocopier. Then you can tem-porarily attach the photocopy to thepanel with a spray mount adhesive.

Note: If you’re making two panelswith the same pattern, you can gluethem together with the spray adhe-sive. This way, you’ll only need to cutthe pattern one time.

Now before the pattern can be cutout, you’ll need to drill holes for bladeaccess. (I drilled 1/16"-dia. holes in allthe openings.) Then the waste sec-tions can be cut away on the scroll

22 Woodsmith No. 126

4 5 6

a. a. a.

a.

{ The frameand scroll-sawn panelare glued tothe top ofthe base.

No. 126 Woodsmith 23

saw. To avoid weakening the panels,it’s best to start with the smaller sec-tions and save the larger ones for last.

QUARTER ROUND. To hold the scrollsaw panel in the frame, I added smallpieces of quarter round (F). Tomake these safely, I start with an over-sized blank, routing a 1/4" roundoveron each edge, see Fig. 7.

Cutting the quarter round from theblank is a two-step process. First, Icut two kerfs on each edge with thefence set 1/4" from the blade, see Fig.8. Second, the quarter round can becut from the blank. However, youdon’t want to trap the small quarterround between the fence and theblade. So this time, reposition thefence so the quarter round falls to thewaste side of the blade, see Fig. 9.

Finally, the quarter round can be

miteredto fit in the frame, see PanelExploded View. Then the pieces canbe glued into the frame behind thescroll saw panel.

BRASS OPTION. Or for a different look,you can place a piece of 30-gauge

brass between thescroll saw panel andthe quarter round,see the photo in margin at right andthe lower photo on page 20. W

7 8 9

a. a. a.

SCROLL SAW PATTERNS (Enlarge 200%)

Classic scrollPineapple Stag

{ For a unique look,cut a piece of thin(30-gauge) brassto fit behind thescroll saw panel.For more onworking withbrass, see page 24.

a.

34 Woodsmith No. 173

Weekend Project

Sometimes, it’s nice to take a break from the typical woodworking 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 with something 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. It’s 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 you’ll find out that cutting fretwork doesn’t take much time, and it’s simple to create decorative motifs. The procedure and patterns used for making it are shown on page 37.

Materials, Supplies, & Cutting DiagramA Frame Rails (2) 3⁄4 x 1 - 183⁄4B Frame Stiles (2) 3⁄4 x 7⁄8 - 61⁄2C Top/Btm. Mirror Stops (2) 1⁄4 x 1⁄4 -171⁄2D Side Mirror Stops (2) 1⁄4 x 1⁄4 - 6

E Shelves (2) 1⁄2 x 51⁄2 - 20

F Uprights (2) 3⁄4 x 3⁄4 - 17

G Small Fretwork Panel (8) 1⁄4 x 41⁄8 - 4

H Large Fretwork Panel (2) 1⁄4 x 41⁄8 - 8

• (1) 63⁄8" x 173⁄8" Beveled Mirror

• (2) Keyhole Hangers

• (4) #8 x 11⁄2" Fh Woodscrews

• (20) 18-ga. x 3⁄4" Brads

Wall ShelfThis simple, yet attractive, project is a great opportunityto spend some time building your skills at the scroll saw.

fretwork

I began building this wall shelf by starting at the center — the mirrored frame — and working my way out. As the main drawing shows, it’s a beveled mirror surrounded by a simple rail-and-stile frame. And I’ve found it’s easier to add the shelf to the mirror (or frame) than it is to fit the frame into an already-built shelf.

It’s also a good idea to have the mirror on hand before starting. Then you can size the parts so they fit around the mirror with just a slight (1⁄16") gap.

THE FRAME. Building the frame is fairly easy. If you look closely at detail ‘a,’ you’ll notice notches, rabbets, and stub tenon and groove joinery. It may look compli-cated at first, but don’t worry. The box below shows the step-by-step method I used to make these cuts. But there are a couple of details I’d like to mention about the process.

SETTING UP. After cutting the frame pieces to size, you can set up your table saw to cut the rabbets that will hold the mirror (detail ‘b’). To cut these, I buried a dado blade in an auxiliary fence attached to the saw’s rip fence. This protects the rip fence from the blade when

you have the two so close together. And it also allows you to tweak the width of the cut by adjusting the fence, rather than the dado blade.

NOTCHES. The next step is to cre-ate notches in the stiles to fit the rabbets in the rails (see detail ‘a’). When that’s done, glue and clamp the frame together, then compare the diagonal measurements. When they match, the frame is square.

TONGUES. Once the glue dries, you can cut the tongues along the sides of the frame. These tongues will

fit into grooves in the uprights that you’ll cut later on. It’s eas-ier to cut these tongues after the frame is built than to cut tongues in the individual pieces and try to line them all up later.

One last point: The drawing above shows how the mirror is held in place with stops. To pre-vent damage to the mirror while you’re working with the other parts of the shelf, it’s a good idea to install the mirror after the rest of the shelf is assembled.

NOTE:Frame rails andstiles are thick.Mirror stops are thick

#/4!/4

""

NOTE: Cut tongueson sides of frame

after assembly

FRAME RAIL

TOP MIRROR STOP

Beveled Mirror

BOTTOMMIRRORSTOP

SIDEMIRRORSTOP

FRAMESTILE

DD

C

C

B

B

A

A

18#/4

17#/8

17!/2

6

1

&/8

6!/2

6#/8

A

B

!/4

!/4 !/4

!/4

!/8

!/8

#/4

!/4

a.

Mirror

18-ga. xbrad

#/4"

C

SIDESECTION

VIEW

!/4

!/2

Ab.

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Dadoblade

Aux.fence

BA

Aux.fence

Dadoblade

Aux.fenceB

Dadoblade

Aux.fence

Cut tongue onmirror frame stile

edges only

Mirrorframe

END VIEW

Aux.fence

!/4

!/2

BA

a.

!/4

!/4

B

ENDVIEW

Aux.fence

a. ENDVIEW

Frame

Aux.fence !/8

!/4

a.

First, Rabbets. Once the auxiliary fence is in place, cut the rabbets that will hold the mirror in the frame rails and stiles.

How-To: Frame Joinery

Second, Notches. Adjust the dado blade and fence to cut notches in the ends of the stiles to hold the rails.

Third, Tongues. Cutting the tongues after the frame is built ensures alignment and consistency in the finished cut.

building the FRAME

Next, you can drill holes for the screws that will attach the shelves and make mortises for the keyhole hangers (detail ‘b’). You’ll find a detailed procedure for installing keyhole hangers in Woodsmith No. 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 can move on to the fretwork. For more details on cutting the fretwork, see the following page.

ASSEMBLY. Since the mirrored frame determines where the other pieces go, you’ll want to center it on the uprights first. Next, the shelves are glued to the frame. And, finally, the uprights are attached to the shelf notches with screws.

To attach the fretwork, you can just run a bead of glue inside the upright grooves and gently press the fretwork in place. But you’ll need to tack it to the shelves with small brads (detail ‘c’). For more information on installing the brads, see Shop Notebook on page 32.

All that’s left to do is apply the brown mahogany stain and lacquer finish, install the mirror, and hang the shelf in your home. W

How-To: Shelf Details

36 Woodsmith No. 173

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 "-thick

hardwood 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, you can focus on adding the uprights, shelves, and the fretwork.

THE UPRIGHTS. Each upright has a pair of grooves in the front and inside edges, as you can see in detail ‘a’ above. The mir-rored frame will fit in the inside grooves, 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

E5

Clamp

String 5!/2

a.

How-To:

The fretwork adds the perfect touch to this wall shelf. But before you sit down at your scroll saw, there’s a little preparation to be done.

PREPARING THE WORKPIECES. The first step is to size the workpieces. Instead of planing thick stock down to 1⁄4", I decided to resaw the stock to the proper thickness. After planing the resawn stock smooth, I cut the pieces to finished size and mounted copies of the patterns you see on the far right to the blanks with spray adhesive.

PREPARING THE SCROLL SAW. Now that the workpieces are ready, make sure your scroll saw is too. First, it’s important to have the right blade. For fretwork, I generally use a No. 5 reverse tooth blade and tension it so it will only flex 1⁄8" under finger pressure. Then square the table to the blade.

Now you’re ready to cut the fretwork. But the place to start is actually 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 the workpiece to make those cuts.

With fretwork, what takes get-ting used to is rotating the panel as you work. To make this easier, I drill holes near sharp turns (Fig. 1). It’s easier to rotate the workpiece inside a hole than in a kerf.

MAKING THE CUTS. After the holes are drilled, you can begin cutting. There’s no set sequence, but I like to make the smaller cuts first. Cut-ting out the large areas first can weaken the workpiece and may cause it to break when cutting the smaller areas.

REMOVING WASTE. It’s easier to remove the waste in small pieces, rather than all at once. For exam-ple, I’ll cut sharp corners in two or three steps (Fig. 3). For other corners, the trick when rotating the panel is to push the workpiece against the sides and back of the blade (the edges that don’t cut.)

Cut FretworkDrill starterholes 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, it’s 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

www.Woodsmith.com Woodsmith 37

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, it’s easier to rotate the workpiece and stay close to the layout lines.

SECOND: Backout of cut andloop around fromthe other side

THIRD: Spinworkpiecearound to

continue cuttingout from the

corner

THIRD: Reversedirection to

continueremoving

waste

FRETWORK PATTERNS. Enlarge the patterns 200% and attach them to the workpieces with spray adhesive.

For full-size fretwork patterns, go to:Woodsmith.com