Welcome to Lesson 7. This time, we're actually putting together what we've learned up to this point to design a scroll saw pattern. We will be designing a simple trinket box. Since the lid will have some nice fretwork, you can also use this box to hold potpourri.

This video demonstrates the entire process. We move fairly fast and don't spend much time teaching you how to use the tools. But everything that I have done in the video (with the exception of the Dynamic Offset tool) has already been covered in previous lessons. There is too much information to cover in written instructions, so I've provided a general overview instead. You probably won't understand the written instruction without seeing the video first.

The box lid and base will be made of 1/4" material. First, we have to come up with a general shape for our box. First, I create a perfect circle. I duplicate that circle, center the two circles vertically and stack them on top of each other. I group the circles and duplicate them, then rotate them 90 degrees. I group both of these groups, duplicate, then rotate 45 degrees. Now we have a nice shape for our trinket box. I ungroup all of the groups, then union each of the pieces until we have a single shape. Then using the scaling tools, I lock the aspect ratio and make the box 5.4" tall so it will fit nicely on a 1x6" stock. Duplicate this object so we have two copies (1 lid, 1 base).

The box walls will be made of 2 or 3 pieces of 1/2" or 3/4" stock, stacked and glued. The box walls will be inset from the base and lid a bit for a nice shadow line. I duplicate the lid and scale it down to 4.9". I draw a small square and scale it to 1/4". We will use this as a measuring tool. I center the walls and the square vertically, then align it to the top. This will give us a visual indication of what 1/4" measurement. We now need to make the inner walls. I then duplicate the wall again, then use a new tool. Choose Path>Dynamic Offset. Grab the diamond-shaped node and drag it down to the bottom of your 1/4" measuring square. It doesn't have to be exact, just get close. Set the square aside to use later. Duplicate the inner wall and set that aside, we'll use that for the Lid Insert. Select the outer wall and the inner wall and choose Difference.

The Lid Insert will fit snuggly inside the box walls. This will be made of 1/4" or 1/8" stock. We'll glue this to the lid so it positions the lid precisely. Since we want to add piercing cuts to the lid, we must make this lid insert into a ring so the fretwork shows through. Repeat the same process as we created the Box Walls. Put the measuring square in place, duplicate the insert, then dynamic offset it until it reaches the bottom of the measuring square. Duplicate and set the inner ring wall to the side for reference for when we add the fretwork. Then select the inner and outer ring and choose Difference.

Now it's time to add a bit of fretwork to the lid. But first, we need to know where the safe areas are to place the fretwork. We don't want the Lid Insert or the Box Walls to show through the fretwork. Choose the Lid Insert the inner wall and center that in the lid. The Lid Insert inner wall will now be our boundary.

For the fretwork, I decided to use a DingBat font. Find a design that you like. You can find the Dingbat font that I used from DaFont.com. Find the pattern you want, and begin placing the pattern within your boundary. Once everything is in place, remove your boundary reference. Then choose your fretwork patterns and choose Difference.

Now that we're done, go through and label all of your pieces and add any necessary instructions. Be sure to sign and date your work so that scrollers can give credit where credit is due. Upload a copy to the Pattern Library to share your pattern with the world! It's a huge thrill when you see your pattern cut by another scroller.

The pattern that was designed in the video demonstration is below.