Creative Woodworks & crafts 2000-06, страница 38

SUPPLIES

Wood: cherry— one piece 3/16" x 2" x 2' Tools: scroll saw; drill; carving knife Temporary-bond spray adhesive Varnish of choice Brown boot lace (round)

INSTRUCTIONS

A word from the designer

The intertwining hearts symbolize two people, one love. The hand-carved look of the pendant is reminiscent of hearts carved into a tree. Carve it for the special person in your life, or use it as a gift.

Even though the design is open, it is not particularly fragile because the narrow bands are carefully interconnected. It is still best to use a hardwood such as cherry or walnut rather than a softer wood such as basswood or butternut. The carving will be slightly more difficult, but with a sharp knife you should have no problem making clean cuts. Just remember to take it easy. Do not force your cuts.

There are tight areas to negotiate in this pattern. Because of that, I use a knife with a narrow blade as shown in Fig. 2. With a thin knife blade, it is especially important to develop good technique. Always cut straight ahead, without twisting or prying with the knife. You can easily snap off the tip or split the wood if you try to "horse" the wood away.

Carve the pendant

Step 1. Trace the pattern onto the wood or attach it with spray adhesive.

Step 2. Drill blade entry holes in the waste areas as well as in the loop for the boot lace as shown in Fig. 1.

(This project can, of course, be done without the preliminary scroll saw work. It would still be helpful to drill openings for the knife tip, however.) Step 3. Open up the design by carving and/or sawing away the waste wood (see Fig. 2). If you carve the openings rather than saw them, do so with controlled V cuts that you gradually expand to the full size of the openings. Be especially careful on cross grain cuts, where the wood is most fragile. Step 4. Very carefully, with the top of the knife, make V cuts to separate the hearts from the outer frame. Make them deep enough so that you can later remove the surface wood all over the pattern and the cuts will still show (see Fig. 3).

Step 5. Now carve the intertwining hearts. The pattern is shaded where wood is to be removed. Notice that the bottom of the right heart overlaps that of the left heart, while the top of the left heart overlaps the top of the right heart (see Fig. 4).

Step 6. Carve all of the visible surfaces of the heart— top and sides—to give a "hand-hewn" look to the carving. If you carve in the proper direction with a sharp knife, the cuts will come out clean and will require no cleanup sanding. Emphasize the facets that the flat blade of the knife makes on a rounded form. Step 7. Finish the carving with the varnish of your choice, and attach the boot lace to it as shown in Fig. 5. £

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Creative Woodworks & Crafts