Creative Woodworks & crafts 2005-09, страница 22

Introduction

Across the street from my house is a railroad track that is used by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. They run an antique steam engine up and down the tracks a couple of times per month as a special tour of our scenic neck of Ihe woods. I have always been fascinated with the people and machinery of days gone by, and 1he things they accomplished with such limited technology and resources have always amazed me. i couid sit and wotch that old train pass by for hours on end, but I must say my favorite thing about "Old Smokey," my nickname for the train, is the way my son Gianni's eyes light up when he hears the whistle ir Ihe distance. The way he runs to the window dropping whulever he is doing to watch the train, the worder in his eyes, and the smile on his face, make my heart smile the wuy only a father's can. So I decided to design ond cut a piece especially for him. Engine 86 is the result.

Soon after I started designing this patlern, something in

me made me bend the rules a bit. You see, when you design patterns for other people to cut, there are certuiri "rules" that you have to follow. For example, all of your connections have to maintain a certain thickness, oil of your cutouts must be at least a certain width, etc. I have a penchant fcr pushing those rules right up to the very edge. 1 love a challenge, and the thought of cutting scmethirg that could explode into "designer firewood" with ony stroke of the saw blode fills me with excitement, so with this pattern I thought I would push just a bit further than I usually do. The result is a piece that captures an incredible amount of detail ard can be quite tricky to cut. My son's facc upon seeing the finished piece was reward enough for mo and made all the extra effort well worth it. My sense of satisfaction with this piece is way up there with some of the most difficult ones I ever cut.

Don't let this pattern intimidate you. Granted, it is highly detailed and there are c few places where the scrolling will make you hold your breath, but with some basic

ZZ • Creative Wrwrtonrks & OafLs September 2005