Free Scroll Patterns

A Cut Above

Spending eight hours on a single, intricate cut with a scroll saw might not be everyone's ideal way to wind down after a hard day's work, but for local scroller Carl Hird-Rutter, it's downright therapeutic.

"It's very relaxing," he said, describing one particular cut (for a cutout of a vase of roses) that he completed in two four-hour sessions. "People often say you need patience to do this because some of the projects will take weeks to do. You don't need patience; you just have to enjoy what you're doing. If you're enjoying it, time just flies."

And then, of course, there's the end result.

"You feel like you've really accomplished something when you've made your little project," he said.

Hird-Rutter, a City of Chilliwack water meter reader, has been scrolling for 15 years and designed and built hundreds of projects.

This month, a Pennsylvania-based trade magazine, Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts is featuring two of his designs: a small wooden whale that comes apart to reveal a tiny Jonah in its belly and a pocket-size tangram puzzle.

It's not the first time Hird-Rutter's work has been featured in the magazine. With 13 published designs to his credit, he's a regular.

He started out with intricate artsy designs, but lately his tastes have shifted towards small wooden toys and puzzles (the theme of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts' June issue).

His magnus opus to date is the SpyPod, a wooden toy that features a magnifying glass, telescope, decoder ring and rubber-band-shooting pistol--all tucked into an iPod-sized exterior.

The design alone took the hobbyist a month.

"Every time I tried to make it small enough, things fell apart," he said.

His eureka moment came to him during a drive to Save-On-Foods one day. "All of a sudden it hit me on how everything was going to work, so I had to pull over on the side of the road and scribble everything down, and then I went home that night and made it."

With the money Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts paid him for the design, he bought a new, top-of-the-line Excalibur saw.

Although he estimates he has spent about $2,000 altogether on equipment for his hobby, he says beginners can buy everything they need to get started for as little as $200.

And he scrounges most of his wood for free from cabinet shops that have little use for the small pieces his uses.

Hird-Rutter got his first $125 saw from Roy Brown, a neighbour who started him on the scrolling 15 years ago.

Best Bet Scroll Saw Patterns – Woodworking Plans for Outdoor ...

Scroll saw patterns take the guess work out of where to saw. It allows the saw operator to focus on guiding the wood instead of the larger, overall pattern. There are many free sources and excellent books for designing your own patterns or using someone elses in your woodworking project. The how-to part of using a skill saw is a lesson all its own, but when and where to put the patterns is your first order of the day.

What Scroll Saw Pattern to Use

Looking around the room you may be surprised at how many wood objects may have been created using a scroll saw. Is there a decorative wood frame with cut out hearts surround the picture of a loved one? Or perhaps the chair you are sitting in has fine carving throughout its back and legs. A scroll saw cut pattern may even appear on the edge of your desktop or in the mouldings surrounding your entryway. There are so many applications for scroll saw patterns. Here are a few that could be great first time projects to get you comfortable with your saw and using wood working patterns in general.

- Carved top to a wooden jewellery box - A welcome sign for your home

Tips for Getting the Most from Your Scroll Saw

Scroll saw fans are constantly learning from one another. There are online blogs and message boards for posting questions and giving your best tips. In addition, the technology behind the saw keeps improving. For example, one manufacturer has a scroll saw where the blade instead of the table surface angles and adjusts. There are other models where foot pedals are included so that both hands are free to guide the wood. This makes curvy scrollsaw patterns much easier to follow.

Using the right blade for the type of wood and level of detail in the pattern is also important in getting a profession finished image and having greater control in the process. Making cuts that are straight up and down will allow any blade to move freely and again add control to the process. If you find that your cuts are jumping it may be that you are trying to push the wood around the pattern too quickly or that you are using too thin or small a blade. The best way to guide the wood through is to let the saw do the driving forward, while you simply adjust from left to right as the pattern dictates.

When using a template or different woodworking patterns, make sure that the cut is taking the pencil mark off with it. After you have traced the pattern, it should look exactly as you want the finished cut out to appear. If you align your blade to the pencil mark and it is cut away as you go, you are sure to get the look you intended.

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