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This picture/pattern is not up for grabs, but it is a great example piece for explaining how to tackle an intarsia...where to start for example, and some great tips can come out of this.
The inside cuts are always the ones I make first. I cut out the eyes, the eyebrows and the mouth...then set them aside. Next I cut out the hair. It is much easier to trace the face into the hair than it is to make the hair to match the outside of the face. Making hair is just like making feathers, you can make gang cuts, but not to many, and so you need to know where to start and stop. In the first picture, I have marked all the areas that can be gang cut. This means that several strands of hair can be transfered to a piece of wood and cut out similar to a segmentation style. You can not do all the hair this way because certain areas will not fit back together, and the kerf that is removed by the saw blade will reduce the size of the picture quite considerably over 10-15 cuts. There are a few hair pieces that must be cut as just one, but most can be cut gang style.
how to figure it out? Above her left eye is a red squigly with 4 strands above it. These strands reach all the way from one end to the other. The green above is two pieces trapped in the center between the red below and the red above. If these were all cut at once, there would be a gap in there due to the saw kerf. So there are two reasons to watch for...saw kerf that makes a gap, and just overall saw kerf dimensional loss.
why cut the eyes first? To make a good fit, the pieces need to be traced into position. It is difficult to reach a pencil down in a small hole. Build the piece that goes in the hole, then trace and cut the hole.
The hair is taped together as it is cut, and constantly traced to the next batch/gang. Once all the hair is cut, the face can be traced in. The board for the face is jacked up higher by a few scraps of wood. The carbon paper and the pattern is pinned to the wood. This is the most crucial time where no errors can be made..the pattern must not move. The hair is set on top into position and clamped in place<see pic2>. The hair is all traced into place...then the eyes, eyebrows, mouth and nose. (this will be a glue on then carve down nose, not a seperate nose). when all is traced, pull out the wood and carefully freehand re-trace the lines to darken them<as in pic3>. Cut out inside holes and then the outside diameter. Be careful not to break any weak spots while cutting, as are evident with this particular face at the left eye and eyebrow.
The inside cuts are always the ones I make first. I cut out the eyes, the eyebrows and the mouth...then set them aside. Next I cut out the hair. It is much easier to trace the face into the hair than it is to make the hair to match the outside of the face. Making hair is just like making feathers, you can make gang cuts, but not to many, and so you need to know where to start and stop. In the first picture, I have marked all the areas that can be gang cut. This means that several strands of hair can be transfered to a piece of wood and cut out similar to a segmentation style. You can not do all the hair this way because certain areas will not fit back together, and the kerf that is removed by the saw blade will reduce the size of the picture quite considerably over 10-15 cuts. There are a few hair pieces that must be cut as just one, but most can be cut gang style.
how to figure it out? Above her left eye is a red squigly with 4 strands above it. These strands reach all the way from one end to the other. The green above is two pieces trapped in the center between the red below and the red above. If these were all cut at once, there would be a gap in there due to the saw kerf. So there are two reasons to watch for...saw kerf that makes a gap, and just overall saw kerf dimensional loss.
why cut the eyes first? To make a good fit, the pieces need to be traced into position. It is difficult to reach a pencil down in a small hole. Build the piece that goes in the hole, then trace and cut the hole.
The hair is taped together as it is cut, and constantly traced to the next batch/gang. Once all the hair is cut, the face can be traced in. The board for the face is jacked up higher by a few scraps of wood. The carbon paper and the pattern is pinned to the wood. This is the most crucial time where no errors can be made..the pattern must not move. The hair is set on top into position and clamped in place<see pic2>. The hair is all traced into place...then the eyes, eyebrows, mouth and nose. (this will be a glue on then carve down nose, not a seperate nose). when all is traced, pull out the wood and carefully freehand re-trace the lines to darken them<as in pic3>. Cut out inside holes and then the outside diameter. Be careful not to break any weak spots while cutting, as are evident with this particular face at the left eye and eyebrow.
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