5 Holiday Tree Trimmings

Jim Harrold Posted on Dec 1, 2008 5:04 PM

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This article is from Issue 26 of Woodcraft Magazine.

Use your scrollsaw to celebrate the season

Designer: Rick Longabaugh
Scrollsawer: Rick Hutcheson

Capture the spirit of Christmas with these five fun-to-make scrollsawn ornaments. They include two Nativity scenes, ball and ribbon, tree and elf, and village and Santa sleigh. Scrollsaw artist Rick Hutcheson used 1/8" Baltic birch plywood and 1/8"- to 3/16"-thick walnut, cherry, maple, and oak for the designs shown here. He also used a #2/0R (reverse-tooth) 28 TPI (teeth-per-inch) blade by Olson for splinter-free cutting on top and bottom surfaces, and drilled the blade start holes with #67 mini drill bits and a precision pin chuck mounted in his drill press. (Items are available at sloanwoodshop.com or by calling [888] 615-9663.)

Let’s scrollsaw an ornament

1 Make a photocopy of one (or more) of the ornament patterns on page 64 and spray-adhere it to your thin stock or plywood. We chose the village and Santa sleigh (opposite page) to demonstrate Rick’s cutting approach. Now, using a fine bit, drill the blade start holes as shown in Photo A.

2 scrollsaw out the small interior areas first, using the fine-tooth blade as shown in Photo B and as mentioned in the introduction.

3 Cut out the larger detailed interior pieces, and finish by cutting out the exterior pattern lines, freeing the finished ornament from the blank as shown in Photo C.

4 Peel the paper from the ornament, sand lightly with 220 grit, and glue the onlay part where shown on the pattern. Finish with spray laquer.