Creative Woodworks & crafts 2005-06, страница 38

SUPPLIES

Wood: cherry (or wood of choice)—one piece 1/4" x 3-1/2" X 6-1/2" (for ship in bottle), one piece 1/4" x 3-1/4" x 5-1/2" (for bicyclists scene); map.'e (or wood of choice)—one piece 1/4" x 3-3/4" x 5-1/4" (for giraffe scene); wa.'nuf (or wood of choice) one piece 3/4" x 2-1 /4" x 7-1/2" (for ship in bottle base); mahogany (or wood of choice)—one piece I /4" x 2" x 4-1 /2' (for giraffe scene base), one piece 1 /4" x 2' x 6-1 /2'' (for bicyclists scene base) Tools: scroll saw with No. 5 blcdes; drill press with 1 /16"

and No. 60 drill bits CA (cyanoacrylale) glue Sandpaper, assorted grits Awl or small ncil Finish of choice

Introduction

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

If that advice were followed, nothing would ever be improved. I was looking through my files for an old pattern I designed bcck in the 70s. I couldn't find it, so I started redrcwing it. I made a few changes, and It turned out better than the original. What else was in the files that could use some "fixing?" I found plenty! One good example was a project I had in this magazine a lew years back. It was a tall sailing ship with two masts and seven sails, framed by the profile of an empty rum bottle. When finished, the project wcs 7" tall, 13" long, and hung on the wall. Looking at

it again, it dawned on me that you don't horig a ship in a bottle on the wall, you set it on a mantle shelf, or table. So I reduced the pattern 50% and made a base for it shaped like the hull ot a ship. Now It's c much better project!

Some other patterns never got pcsl the prototype cutting stage. I hey just didn't look as good in wocd as they did on paper. Sometimes simpler is better. I wo patterns, a mother and baby giraffe and a bicycling couple, had too many background details. Eliminating all the background, then reducing, framing, and adding bases to them worked wonders. They would have been moneymakers at the craft shows! Large, complex projecls make people stop and look, and we considered the sale of those as icing on the cake. It was always the cute, inexpensive, and easily carried projects that made up the bulk of our sales. The patterns for all three projects are included in this issue.

INSTRUCTIONS

When selecling Ihe wood for the subject portions of these projects, light to medium-colored, clear-grained woods work best. To illustrate, I stack sawed a piece of 1 /4" cherry and a piece of 1 /4" purple heart (see Fig. 1). Purple heart is a beautiful wood, but it just doesn't work here. The details arc camouflaged by the wood's figured grain end lost ir the shadows of the dark wood (see Fig. 2). The bases can be made from the same type of wood as the subject or something thct offers a complementary contrast so if doesrVI overshadow the subject.

38 • tVfiative Wordiwrks R l>aft fi Jurffi 2005