yamatetsu

I made this from an image that I found online. So, it IS a pattern, but one I had to adjust a bit while cutting because some of the cuts were too close together for comfort.

I actually didn't want to do segmentation, I started with a yellow backer board and cut the pieces out of the black board. Alas, this didn't work for the tiny pieces, the yellow background just wasn't visible. So I had to start again, but this time I had to focus on cutting the pieces properly as I needed them later. Much more work, but it was worth it.

'Calvin & Hobbes' 30 x 33cm, backer board 6mm, Calvin & Hobbes 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade. This is segmentation, so the yellow parts are cut out of the black board, painted, and then inserted back into the board. Since there are very small gaps around every single piece, I had to paint not only the surfaces but the sides too. This goes for every yellow piece and all the cuts in the black board. Took me about four hours just to paint it.

"Johnny Bravo" 20,5 x 24,5cm, backer board 4mm, Johnny 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade. "Johnny Bravo" 21 x 24cm, backer board 4mm, Johnny 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade. "Hong Kong Phooey" 21 x 24cm, backer board 4mm, Hong Kong Phooey 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade. "The Inspector" 21 x 14,5cm, backer board 4mm, inspector 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade.

You could still use that as a kind of jig. - Cut a scrap board, cover it with painter's tape, this will be the backer board - put small strips of painter's tape at the yellow dots - put a dab of superglue on those strips - glue the two boards together - put the piece in and sand it - twist the two boards to separate them without breaking the template board

I would make a small jig for this. - cut two boards to identical size - cut one earring out of one board - use spray glue / double tape to glue the two boards together - plop the earring into the hole - sand it - pull the boards apart, remove the earring - tape / glue the boards together - plop the next earring into the hole - rinse and repeat

"Bon appetit" 21 x 21,9cm, backer board 6mm, vulture 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade.

"Rainy day" 29,5cm x 31cm, backer board 6mm, Snoopy & Woodstock 2 layers of 6mm each, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #3 blade.

Ummm, this is not my dog. I just made the patterns so that Sycamore67 might have an incentive to cut one.

Aww, come on. Take a look at your gallery, you have done trickier things than this.

Two fun scrapwood projects. "Felix the cat" Roughly 8,5cm x 13,5cm, backer board 3mm, Felix layer 6mm, Felix parts 3mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #3 blade. "Donald" Roughly 21,5cm x 7,5cm, backer board 6mm, Donald black layer 6mm, Donald 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #3 blade. Donald meets Felix.

"suspicious" 30 x 24cm, backer board 4mm, bird 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade. "angry" 27,5 x 23,5cm, backer board 6mm, bird 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade.

'Hagar the Horrible' 21 x 30cm, backer board 4mm, Hagar 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade.

"Mr. Lizzardo" 23 x 28cm, backer board 4mm, Mr. Lizzardo 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade. I wanted to do a more traditional pattern that gave me a challenge, and boy, did I get one. This thing is almost completely about very fine details, and lots upon lots of 'em. 25 - 30 hours of focused concentration, very careful sawing and even more careful sanding.

'The little mole' ca. 18 x 12cm, backer board 3mm, mole/car 3mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #3 blade. This is a cartoon character, my mom loves him, so I made one for her.

"23" 33 x 49,6cm, backer board 6mm, Michael 3mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #3 blade.

"Meeting Bruce" 27,5 x 17cm, Bruce/water 2cm, surfboard 3mm, surfer 8mm, done with a handheld fretsaw with a #3 blade. This is a Steve Good pattern. Cutting by hand through 2cm thick wood with a #3 blade was... exhausting.

I think that if you are able to do something like that with a scroll saw, you know all techniques that are required for the cutting process, so the hard pard is already done. It would just be a process of learning how to control the blade properly when using a handheld fretsaw, i.e. which speed to use in various situations and how to move and rotate the board around with just one hand. Plus you can also turn the saw around a bit, which helps cutting corners and curves. I'd say that someone who is a good scroller would be able to use a handheld fretsaw. It would definitely take some time and much practising to get to the same level, but if someone who had zero woodworking experience (that's me!) can do it...

I just loved the flow of the grain too much to paint it over. I did cut the shadow and put the car and the shadow on a plain background, but it just looked ... plain. As for the frame, it would of course be nice to have one, but making one is just too much hassle for me. I don't have any power tools except for a cheap grinder, so I have to do everything by hand. I am able to make a nice looking frame, but it would simply take too much work.

"Wacky Races: The Mean Machine" 65,5 x 30cm, backer board 4mm, Mean Machine 4mm, Mean Machine backer board 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade. This one has many teensy small details, despite being pretty large. Check out the 'glass' in Dick Dastardly's sunglasses, the small one has the diameter of a toothpick. I wanted to go with a bland background and a black shadow underneath the car, but the grain on the board I used just fits perfectly, it looks like the car is driving on a dirt road or something. Nice.

"Wacky Races: The Mean Machine" Done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade.

I use a brush. Small pieces I can give that smooth look, larger pieces sometimes don't look that good, those I work over with a foam roller. The backer board is painted black. So by glueing the painted pieces to the exact places where they belong, the black lines are created automagically because they are the only pieces of the backer board that are still visible.

Yep. I start by cutting two boards to the exact same size, one to be the bottom layer, the other, the top. I then cut the first piece. When that's done, I paint it completely, except for the bottom. I set that one aside to dry. While the first piece is drying, I cut and paint the next one. After three or four pieces, the top layer has basically become a template. I put that template on the bottom layer, aligning them perfectly. Now, to glue my pieces to the bottom layer, I just have to plop them into their respective holes and then gently lift the top layer to avoid getting it glued to the bottom layer accidentally. Rinse and repeat. Edit: This is a special case, since Dick Dastardly and Muttley are basically two separate pictures. So I made three backer boards, the big one I glued Dick & Muttley on, and a backer board for Dick & Muttley each. I then made two top layer boards. I used double tape to tape the backer boards to the top layers and then cut out Dick & Muttley's shapes out of the two boards. So I ended up with two backer boards in Dick & Muttley shape and two top layers in the exact size & shape. From this point on I used the process of cutting and glueing the pieces to finally get Dick & Muttley on their backer boards, which I then glued on the big backer board.

"Wacky Races: Dick Dastardly & Muttley" 46 x 40cm, backer board 4mm, Dick & Muttley 4mm, Dick & Muttley backer boards 4mm thick, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade.