puzzle making

[heavykevy]

I spent 2 hours last night looking for a puzzle making software download. I had found one at one other time and didn't bookmark it as it didn't interest me at the time. I now have the perfect picture.I am afraid to free hand this project.Any help would be great.

Kevin

[CanadianScroller]

just a thought

You could take a puzzle pattern and glue it to the back of your project.
Cut the project upside down with a reverse tooth blade.

[Carter-Johnson]

Kevin....

The folks who read this board will know what my response below will be in advance. To them - and to you - I apologize....but please, please, try not to use a pattern for your jigsaw puzzle. It results in pieces that are almost identical and not designed for the picture you are cutting. Assuming you would cut the pattern from the picture's back, you run the risk of pieces that cut right through major items in the picture such as faces. Most important, you eliminate all creativity from the project.

Patterns are necessary for all regular scroll saw work. They ensure exactness and uniformity, and I marvel at some of the work the people with those patterns create. But for a jigsaw puzzle, uniformity is a quality that is not desireable. Puzzle pieces should be unique and varied. A pattern for a jigsaw puzzle is not a physical guide, it is rather a psychological constraint. The fun of cutting jigsaw puzzles comes from the freedom to make pieces according to the picture you are cutting.

Practice with scrap until you become adept at cutting pieces with locks or knobs to connect with adjoining pieces. Then start your puzzle by cutting a corner piece with two locks, one for each adjoining edge piece. Then just go from there, one piece at a time, keeping two principles in mind:

1- Try not to have four pieces come together at one exact point. Always start another piece a little off from the corner edge of the previous piece. The end result will hold together much better.

2 - Look ahead as you're cutting to see when an image within the picture is coming up (such as a face or an object) Make the edge of the face or object the edge of a piece. Put locks in but be alert where an object might have a built-in lock (every face has ears and a nose).

I know I sound like I'm on a soapbox, but I guess I am. There is a real joy in cutting jigsaw puzzles without a pattern and scroll saw people have too much talent to ever say "I can't". Please try it - and feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Good luck....and have phun.

Carter