Hooked

A while back, I wrote about Frank's Wood Shop and his video demonstration of a windmill project. Well, Frank came through once again with a very detailed set of videos, documenting the cutting and finishing of a bass portrait. So, grab some popcorn and enjoy the videos. After you're done, be sure to stop by his website and check out some of his work located in his gallery. Very cool stuff!

Note: I believe portrait being demonstrated was designed by Charles Dearing and is available in the Spring 2007 issue of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts. Give it a try!

Classic Lath Art Progression Pictures

I recently wrote about Rod Skramstad from Classic Lathart. He has updated his website to include a series of progress pictures that turned out quite nice. Although not necessarily a tutorial, it does give us some insight on how he goes about putting together one of his lath art paintings.

Rod has a series of 14 photographs showing different stages of a painting. Unfortunately, he doesn't include any descriptive text explaining what we're looking at. But if you read this tutorial from LathArt How To and Patterns, it should give you a good idea of what's going on. Definitely worth checking out if lath art is in your future.

Windmill Project Video

Frank from FranksWoodshop.com has put together a great video, demonstrating how he put together a windmill plaque. This 3 part video shows you each step of the way as he cuts and assembles his windmill plaque. The steps are covered in detail along with plenty of commentary. A very cool project. After you're done watching these great videos, be sure to check out his website. He has some really great stuff in his gallery. He also has another video in the video section, showing you around the scroll saw.

Cutting Miniature Puzzles

I've talked about our favorite puzzle master, Carter Johnson before (CarterJ Puzzles, Puzzle Tutorial, Puzzle-Cutting Tutorial). One thing about Carter, he's very generous about sharing his knowledge on puzzle cutting. Well, he has another video demonstrating how he cuts out his signature puzzle, the one cent stamp! I'm lucky enough to have one in my collection, and I assure you these miniature puzzles are amazing. Check out his cool video. I'm sure you'll walk away with a lot of great tips for making your own puzzles. If nothing else, he's certainly fun to watch!

Compound Cutting Chess Pieces

Monday I talked about the chess sets that were being created in the SSW&C forums. Chiz Wolfe from Wood'n What-Knots has a nice set of progression pictures on his website as he creates a chess set for his son. Each piece is compound cut with the scroll saw. He has 3 pages of pictures that take you through each step. He also includes a nice description with each set of pictures. The end result really turned out great, especially since it was his first time with compound cutting. Seeing his pictures makes compound cutting your own chess set a little less intimidating. So, give it a try! I'll bet learning to cut your own chess set will be easier than you think. Learning to play a good game of chess, on the other hand, is a whole different story!

Lath Art Progression Pictures

I learn best by example and demonstration. That's why I love progression pictures and tutorials so much. So I was pretty excited when I saw Christopher Hildebrand's set of progression pictures as he puts together a lath art painting of a horse grazing. He makes a few comments about each photo. The photos are high resolution, which makes it easy to see the details and is really quiet helpful in understanding how a lath art painting is put together.

Chris also has another set of progression pictures in his personal gallery as he puts together a golf course scene. Many of these pictures also have comments This 9 picture set breaks down each step a little bit more, which I find especially helpful.

So if lath art painting is in your future, be sure to check out Chris' two sets of progression pictures (set 1, set 2). I bet you'll learn a lot just by watching him work!

Heirloom Puzzles For Children

While looking through YouTube, I came across Ceal Pedersen as she demonstrates how she makes unique wooden puzzles for children. The video is very interesting. I especially like how she mounts her artwork to the wood. Very informative for any puzzle maker out there. Check out her YouTube video here. And while you are at it, check out her website Heirloom Puzzles For Children to see more of her work. She has some really great stuff and will spark an idea or two, I'm sure!

So You Want to Make a Wooden Clock?

One of my Holy Grail projects is to make a wooden clock. I think I would have a real sense of accomplishment. It would be a great way to show off your skill and impress your friends. Besides, they look really cool. Adrian Iredale has a bunch of videos on YouTube that show off the clocks he has made. He also put together a great video on how he goes about making his clocks. After seeing him make a clock, it seems a little less intimidating. Perhaps I might take a crack at clock making a little sooner than I thought. You can check out the rest of his videos here. You can see his clocks in action. You can also visit his website and purchase plans for many of these clocks.

Puzzle-Cutting Video

I wrote a while back about Carter Johnson. He is the resident puzzle-making master in the forums. He has made almost 600 full-size puzzles (400 of which still reside in his basement), 700 Christmas card puzzles and nearly 2000 stamp puzzles made from 1 cent stamps! This guy knows his stuff! It's no wonder why people are always asking his advice on puzzle-cutting. Due to popular demand, Carter has put together a great demonstration video showing how he cuts his puzzles. He graciously allowed me to post his video here. Check it out. You'll be amazed at how easy he makes it look. And while you are at it, check out his puzzle gallery for more inspiration!

Make Your Own Picture Frames

OK. So you've cut a beautiful portrait that you're quite proud of. What's the next step? Frame it, of course! You can go to Wal-Mart and buy a $3 frame. The problem with that is it looks like a $3 frame. You can go to a frame shop and buy a $30 frame. It looks nice, but you're $30 poorer. What to do? Well, you can make your own frame!

The fine folks over at Woodworking Online has a video podcast episode about making your own picture frames. In this seminar demonstration, Cris Fitch of Woodsmith magazine shows his step-by-step techniques for building simple, but elegant picture frames. In this hour long video, he makes a one piece molded frame and how he uses contrasting woods to make beautiful frames. He also goes over the basics of matting and mounting your works of art.

Now that you are inspired to make your own frames, you'll want to know where to get plans for the miter sled he uses in the video. Its simple to build and you can find the plans here.