Creative Woodworks & crafts 2003-11, страница 36

A Mew Line of Good-Looking Bask

Meeting Monroe Dutcher Earlier this year, Ken Brant of Scroller, Lid. received a call from Carla Dutcher. Carla explained that her dad, who was battling cancer, had developed some new basket designs. Ken had a sample pattern sent to him, along with a black-and-white photo of the finished piece. The basket looked good, even in black-and-white, so Ken set up a meeting with Monroe at his home to see what could be arranged.

The following week, Ken made the three-hour drive to Monroe's home in Weidman, Michigan. Monroe greeted Ken warmly and said, "T hope T don't scarc you with my baldness. Chemo has not done wonders for my 'do' or my complexion!" This immediately put Ken at ease and also reminded him of his own grandfather, an intelligent, fun-loving, strong-willed man. Ken was happy to discover that Monroe's baskets looked great and were also exceptionally strong. Perhaps just as exciting, there were sixteen distinctive designs, and he had only expected to find three or four!

About the baskets All sixteen basket designs have been compiled into two pattern sets, which arc currently available from Scroller, Ltd. What's most unique about them are the vertical supports that slide through the horizontal layers, giving each baskel a realistic woven look. Many scroll-sawn baskets have been designed to appear as if they incorporate vertical supports, but Monroe's supports arc real and make a big difference. Pictured here is a 170-pound man standing on one of the smaller baskets in the collection! iu developing these designs, great care had to be given to the horizontal layers; otherwise, the vertical supports would not slide through them properly, nor would they end up being fully parallel.

As you can see from the photos, the baskets are very functional, ranging in size from 3-3/4"W x 7"Lx 3-l/2"H (Candy Basket) to a whopping 16"W x 26"L x 11 "H (Large Picnic Basket). Of special interest is the fact thai each basket is cut from a single piece of wood, resulting in very little waste; the bottom is cut from ihc middle of the stock, and the rings arc cut out around that. All the baskets are tapered to varying degrees; this tapering allows all the rings to come from a single piece of material .

For more information about these baskets, please contact Scrollcr, Ltd., P.O. Box 827, Fenton, MI 48430; or call 1-800-486-6053. ||

36 * Creative Woodworks 8. Crafts Movember 2DD3