When was the last time you showed somebody how to do their first woodworking project? The holidays are a great time to share the gift of woodworking with a relative, friend, child or neighbor. For a lot of us, woodworking is a solitary thing and we spend most of our shop time alone. Try inviting someone into your shop over the holidays and help them make their first project.
This evening I taught my 11 year old daughter how to use the scroll saw to make a simple Christmas ornament. Of all my tools, I feel most comfortable starting a child out on the scroll saw. We searched Google Images and she picked out this Christmas Tree. This was a great choice because she got to drill a hole and learn to cut curves, plus there were no interior cuts to complicate matters. She was able to cut out the whole project and sand it herself in about 30 minutes.
So take the time this holiday season to share your love of woodworking with someone. As always, use good judgement and make sure to teach good safety practices, especially when working with children and newbies. Happy Holidays and Happy Woodworking!
I was not looking forward to dragging our 20-year-old artificial Christmas tree out from under the stairs again this year. Every year I have to do some sort of MacGyvering to get it to stand up and not lean to one side. So, I wanted to make a new one out of wood...from a tree. LOL
My initial plan for this project was to make a full size wooden tree. But as usual, I didn't think about it far enough in advance to give me enough time to make it. So, I ended up putting up our old tree and making this wooden table top Twisted Christmas Tree.
It's made from old cedar fence boards that my father-in-law replaced, so I had to work around nail holes. I planed them down to expose the fresh wood underneath the gray weathering. Then I cut the boards into 14-1/8" lengths. I ripped those into 3/4" strips and cut them in pairs from 1" to 14" in 1/4" increments. Each piece yielded two pieces of the tree. The extra 1/8" in length compensated for the saw blade kerf.
I cut half-lap dadoes in each pair of tree branches so they would overlap in the middle and drilled a 3/8" hole in the middle. I mounted a 3/8" dowel rod into a base and slid the branches on from largest to smallest. I cut out a star and drilled a hole to mount it on top.
I used no glue or fasteners on this project so that I could disassemble it for storage. I left this project unfinished because I liked the smell of the cedar - like a real Christmas tree. This was an easy project with lots of repeatable cuts that go a lot faster than you would expect, so give it a shot. I had extra pieces left over so I made a smaller one for my favorite mother-in-law!
This evening I taught my 11 year old daughter how to use the scroll saw to make a simple Christmas ornament. Of all my tools, I feel most comfortable starting a child out on the scroll saw. We searched Google Images and she picked out this Christmas Tree. This was a great choice because she got to drill a hole and learn to cut curves, plus there were no interior cuts to complicate matters. She was able to cut out the whole project and sand it herself in about 30 minutes.
