Creative Woodworks & Crafts-050-1998-winter, страница 9

LLING

An interview with renowned woodworking author Patrick Spielman

by Lazorice Brazel I

Looking for a good woodworking book? Just browse the shelves of your local library or bookstore, and you're likely to find many books by Patrick Spielman. Often called the "dean of woodworking authors," Patrick Spielman has written over 60 books covering all kinds of woodworking techniques.

About 25 of Spielman's books focus solely on scroll sawing. His Scroll Saw Pattern Book, published in 1986, was one of the first pattern books published exclusively for the scroll saw. The tremendous success of that book took the woodworking industry by storm.

We talked to Patrick Spielman about his design techniques and the future of scroll sawing.

How did you get started as a woodworker? As a youngster, I would make things out of the wooden fruit crates that my parents brought groceries home in. Before I was even a teenager, my parents bought me a jigsaw, which was one of my first tools. As a teenager, I worked part-time in a cabinet shop, and I excelled in woodworking at school. Then I went to college and studied to be an industrial education and wood technology teacher.

When did your writing career begin? When 1 was in college, my professors liked the things I was developing in design classes, so I published magazine articles together with them. One of the magazines also owned a book publishing company and they asked me to write a book. My first attempt in this field was called Making Projects of Wood, Metal, and Plastic. That was in 1964. My second book was on making bows and arrows.

Your wife has co-authored many of your books. When did she get involved?

I met my wife, Patricia, in college, and we were married right after we both graduated. She has helped me with every book since the very first one. She is a natural artist—she can draw anything. She has excellent design sense and perception.

Are your children involved as well? Yes, they are. My two daughters are graphic artists, so sometimes they get involved in designing. My son is the publisher of my newsletter and the business manager of some of our publishing enterprises.

Let's talk about your scroll saw books. How have they evolved over the years?

In 1986, I wrote the Scroll Saw Handbook, which covers both the machinery of the scroll saw and the techniques needed to master scroll sawing. I wanted to create an accompanying book of projects, so Patricia helped me create the Scroll Saw Pattern Book. Both books came out at about the same time, but sales of the pattern book skyrocketed immediately, and it still sells well today. From there, we created more pattern books to fill the apparent need: the Christmas Scroll Saw Pattern Book, the Holiday Scroll Saw Pattern Book, and the Scroll Saw Country Pattern Book are just a few of the titles we've publis hed the years.

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To what do you attribute the success of your books? We traditionally pack a lot of material into each book, which makes them a good value. Some of our books have literally hundreds of patterns in them, for just around $12-$14. In many cases, you can pay that much for just one or two patterns from another source.

We also put a lot of effort into every book. It's important to us to maintain our excellent reputation.

How do you design patterns?

My wife always brings her sketch pad along when we go on trips. We'll brainstorm, and from that we'll usually get a few preliminary designs. We'll also research an idea using encyclopedias or magazines if necessary, then we'll convert the illustration into something that can be cut with a scroll saw.

What's the next step in the design process? Sometimes Patricia will make a sketch that I can take directly into my workshop and cut with my scroll saw. At other times, we'll have to go through three or four drafts before it is workable. It really is a fun thing to do, and coming up with a great design gives us a lot of satisfaction.

Yes. I enjoy working with other people and sharing ideas. For example, I co-wrote the Southwest Scroll Saw Pattern

Do you work with other designers as well? ' working with otne mple, I co-wrote the Book with Dan Kihl, who is probably one of the best Southwest-style artists around.

What techniques are popular with scroll sawing today? We ran a survey in our newsletter and found tnat fretwork was the most popular technique, followed by ornaments, intarsia, and segmentation. Fretwork is cutting openings through the material. What you end up with is a positive and negative space, kind of like a stencil in reverse.