Draw pattern directly on wood, is it a good or bad idea?

[Bo Liljeborn]

So a friend of my ho is a artiest (painter) ask me how I get my patterns on to the wood for cutting, I told him how and he looked Verde on mi and said WHY?

I ask what hi meant and hi said why don’t you do as I do to get a sketch on canvas for painting by using a digital projector an let it project whatever image I want on the canvas, but you just put a piece of wood and sketch on what instead.

Its sounded smart and I remembered having an old projector laying around so I gave it a go and it work really well after some adjustments with the angels to get the pattern square, but then I just draw the lines and the pattern was done and ready for cutting, no gluing paper or painters tape just pencil lines on wood to follow.

I am still testing it so it’s too early to tell how well it will work in the long run, but so far it feels like a nice idea and time efficient.

So anyone ho using this method or have tested it and have some tips and experiences to share?

[OCtoolguy]

Probably not a bad idea. If you happen to have a projector lying around. 

[FrankEV]

To actualy make the pattern on the wood you will be 'manualy tracing' the projected image. That seems like it will be very inaccurate and very difficult to do,especially for very small detailed areas.  Projected images will get bigger, creating thicker lines, when moved away from what they are projected onto.  

A digital image of the pattern printed on paper will be much more accurate.  By using Inkscape, or similar program, to develope or copy the pattern, it becomes very easy to size the pattern to suit the panel you want to cut.  

Hope this might help.

[Millwab]

I would think your projected image technique is fine for rather simple patterns, but if you have a very detailed pattern (e.g. 100s of inside cuts) it would not only be very tedious to trace but prone to missing some of the detail.  Myself, I prefer printing the pattern from a digital image and attaching it to the wood covered with shelf liner (which peels off cleanly without the need for solvents).  In the end you need to do what works for you.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Way too time consuming. I vote bad idea. You can print on paper and attach to wood and begin cutting and probably finish cutting before you even get done tracing. just an opinion. 

[kmmcrafts]

There use to be someone on one of the forums back in the day that did it with a projector.. But I agree with all the points above saying it'd be very time consuming and probably inaccurate.

Back in the early days i use to watch my father trace his patterns directly onto the wood with copy paper.. This was back in the late 70's probably when he first got into it.. later in the 80's I know he use to go get copies made but i'm not sure how he attached the papers etc.. I remember seeing him cutting out text from papers and taping them to other patterns when he needed a custom name.. he made a lot of these wedding heart things.. and he would tape the letters onto the pattern and then go have a copy made, LOL.. I'm so fortunate that I started the hobby in the early 2000's when I had a home printer, and editing software 

 

[Bo Liljeborn]

Did some more testing on small details and you are right about the magnification issue it blow them up, luckily I am not so good scroller what I can cut so fine details anyway so for the simpler patterns I use it will work so the future will tell when to use it.

However I released what I can use the method in two other woodworking area as a licensed sign carver when its mostly letters and bigger details and as a hobby chainsaw carver also bigger details so will work better for what. 

[Blaughn]

Like many, I tried a number of methods for affixing the pattern to the wood.  This is the method I have settled on for ease of application, secure connection to the wood and ease of removal.

I thoroughly sand my blank (cherry wood) using a final sanding of 400 grit. 

I wipe the wood with a alcohol dampened cloth until all the sanding dust is removed. 

I apply Walmart clear shelf liner and use a rubber wallpaper seam roller to press this into the wood and trim it to size..

I print my patterns on 8x10" labels.  I cut them to pre-align with each other if necessary. I remove the backing paper and apply them to the self liner surface, roll them and trim the edges flush with the wooden blank.

I apply 2" wide clear packaging tape over the surface.  This keeps the pattern from lifting as you cut the small details.

This sounds complicated but there is nothing more irritating than having a portion of the pattern lifting as you are cutting.  On the rare occasion with the above method you can take another piece of the 2" clear packing tape and reinforce a spot that is lifting.

I use a small heat gun to take the pattern off and it usually comes off in one piece.

This is my method.

 Bruce

[Mike Crosa]

I have been using the 8 x 10 labels myself, but have not been using the shelf liner or blue painters tape.  I just put the label directly on the wood and use a roller to securely attach to the wood.  So far I have not run into a problem.  I am not doing intricate cuttings though and have not had a problem with lift up.

 

[Wichman]

Another issue would be using a dark wood, such as walnut, the pencil lines would blend into the wood tone. Some figured wood could present the same challenges. With printed patterns you can easily select the color of the paper, the stroke (thin lines), and the fill (to show what areas to keep or remove) (for contrast and ease of finding lines). Yes, all this can be done by hand; I started in '85 and I've used all the methods, but the computer is so much easier.

[Wichman]

Anyone remember the bad ole days when patterns from some sources were printed on top of a grid and it was up to the user to enlarge the drawing using just hand eye coordination and a hand drawn larger grid?

[BadBob]

11 hours ago, Wichman said:

Anyone remember the bad ole days when patterns from some sources were printed on top of a grid and it was up to the user to enlarge the drawing using just hand eye coordination and a hand drawn larger grid?

I've done that a lot. I think I still have some 1-inch square paper for doing that.

[BadBob]

I have traced many patterns directly on the wood with a pencil. As soon as I could scan and print paper patterns, I stopped. Pencil lines are hard to see on anything but light-colored wood. I made templates to trace from thin materials, and if I wanted a different size, I had to start over. It worked okay for simple things, but I can't imagine tracing anything complex working out well. There is storing and organizing all the templates.

[rafairchild2]

Mainly I print on paper as I prefer my lines to be magenta, with a 10% fill for the areas not being cut out.  I also want my lines to be 1 point so I strive to be super accurate when looking through my 5x lens.

All others have mentioned the accuracy of lines, etc... so no need for me to rehash. Also the color/darkness of the wood is critical too for penciling in lines. That being said, I created a bunch of standard 4 mm birch templates of some of my simpler/popular toys. When I finish cutting another patterned piece I will, look at the waste area, and see if one of my templates will fit it, so I can cut out a toy blank. Otherwise I try and create square/rectangle blanks for other projects too.

Anyway, I lay my template down and pencil it right in, I use my engineers pencil that works well, I need to see if I can find some red lead and see if I can get a brighter line.  Many times I am penciling in on the left over paper template, so visibility is not an issue.

Below

#1: Through the lens with 1 point line and 10% magenta fill. 

#2 My "scrap" templates, used for reclaiming 'waste'.

#3: Last night's Thai Dinner... with Shrimp, Thai Sausage and Red Pork, in Thai fried rice.  I am getting 3 or 4 meals out of this! Oh yeah spicy level 3 out of 5.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2024 by rafairchild2

[timelett]

On 7/19/2024 at 4:48 PM, Bo Liljeborn said:

So a friend of my ho is a artiest (painter) ask me how I get my patterns on to the wood for cutting, I told him how and he looked Verde on mi and said WHY?

I ask what hi meant and hi said why don’t you do as I do to get a sketch on canvas for painting by using a digital projector an let it project whatever image I want on the canvas, but you just put a piece of wood and sketch on what instead.

Its sounded smart and I remembered having an old projector laying around so I gave it a go and it work really well after some adjustments with the angels to get the pattern square, but then I just draw the lines and the pattern was done and ready for cutting, no gluing paper or painters tape just pencil lines on wood to follow.

I am still testing it so it’s too early to tell how well it will work in the long run, but so far it feels like a nice idea and time efficient.

So anyone ho using this method or have tested it and have some tips and experiences to share?

If I had to draw something to cut out, I wouldn't even attempt to. I'm thankful that artists are willing to share their talent and allow us to copy and cut out the pattern they create, that's just me.

[DrPete]

The very few that I have done I used my diode laser engraver set a very low power and fast speed to  draw my patterns.

It works but there are things you have to be careful of, if you miss the line depending on how much power was used the line goes in pretty deep and doesn't sand away easily. I run a material test before I engrave the pattern.

You could put painters tape on the entire wood and engrave onto that so everything gets removed.

It has it's place as a tool but sometimes it's not worth the time or if your engraving onto walnut it always comes out really dark.