Wildlife Projects: 28 Favorite Projects & Patterns

Introduction

Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts is proud to present this collection of 28 wildlife projects. This book will enable you to create your own wooden zoo, using your scroll saw to make everything from a sea turtle to an elk to a house cat.

The variety goes beyond kinds of animals, too. Some projects are all about the scroll saw, using only dozens of small cuts on a single piece of wood to form an animal’s likeness. Others incorporate different skills, adding multiple woods, sanding, and paint to form multi-dimensional intarsia images.

The categories—Birds, Pets, Water Life, North American Wildlife, and Big Cats—will help you decide which project to tackle first. Most are decorative, designed to be hung on walls, but you will also find a napkin holder, a coat rack, some trivet options, and even one aquatic portrait that can bring new life to an abandoned aquarium.

The more demanding projects include detailed step-by-step instructions, while some of the simpler ones consist only of a pattern and picture of the final project. You will also find tips that will help you improve your skills scattered throughout the book.

Whether you’re carving for yourself or as a gift for someone else, we’re sure you will enjoy making these wild, wonderful creatures.

Horse, page 42

Birds

From the huge bald eagle to the tiny songbird, birds have always captured the human imagination. We envy their flight, smile at their song, and thrill to the unexpected flash of color they bring the landscape.

The four projects in this section offer a chance to translate that fascination into works of art that make captivating home accents and gifts. Maybe the rooster napkin holder will remind you of all those times you awoke to that early-morning crow, or the blue jay intarsia of the beauties of nature.

Whether you’re a seasoned scroller or just starting out, the variety in this set of projects ensures that you will be able to enjoy creating your own fine feathered friend.

Blue Jay Intarsia, page 22

America’s Symbol of Freedom

By Leldon Maxcy

Whether you’re a beginner or advanced scroller, cutting this eagle project will keep you busy at your saw for some time! You’ll get lots of practice making tight turns, which is a great skill to have. Once finished, you will have captured the beauty of this magnificent bird, America’s symbol of freedom. This project, cut as a silhouette using oak or a portrait using Baltic birch, should sell well at craft shows.

Step 1: If you’re cutting this as a silhouette and using a hardwood, put 2" packaging tape over the top of the wood. The tape lubricates the blades and prevents burning. If you’re cutting this as a portrait, use 1/8" Baltic birch plywood to stack cut three to six in one cutting session. You can use the packaging tape on the stack too.

Step 2: Attach the pattern to the wood or to the packaging tape, if you’ve chosen to apply tape to the wood as described in Step 1. Use temporary bond spray adhesive. Be sure to spray the back of the paper pattern, NOT the uncovered wood. If you spray the wood, you’ll have a hard time removing the pattern.

TIP STACK CUTTING SAVES TIME

This eagle project lends itself nicely to making multiple pieces at one time, a technique called stack cutting. The key to successfully cutting several pieces at once is making sure the pieces of wood in your stack don’t slide around.

There are several methods for getting the stack ready for sawing. I prefer the packaging tape method. First you cut the wood pieces to the same size, sand them, then apply tape to all four sides of the stack, folding it over each top and bottom edge. Now you have a stack ready for sawing. Make sure the tape is flat, especially on the part that wraps onto the bottom of the stack. If it’s not, the tape could get stuck on the saw table.

Step 3: Drill all blade-entry holes with a 1/16" bit. Refer to the pattern and drill in the places marked with X’s. Note that all large cuts have at least one drill hole marked. Some of the small interior cuts don’t have any drill spots marked. Drill the blade-entry holes in the available space. Keep in mind, too, that you can leave some of these small areas uncut without affecting the overall appearance of the eagle image.

Step 4: Before sawing, sand the back with 180-grit sandpaper to remove any tearout from the drilling. Sanding also evens out the back surface to keep the project level on the saw table.

Step 5: You can leave the corners square or round them as I have in the completed project you see here. If you want to round the corners, do that now, before making any inside cuts. Start cutting out the eagle using the #3 reverse-tooth blade (or blade of choice). As a general rule, cut the smaller inside cuts first so you have more of the workpiece to hold on to as you continue cutting. Periodically sand the back to remove fuzzies to help keep the project level. This might save the fragile pieces from breaking off when you do the final sanding.

TIP DON’T DISCARD YOUR CUTOUTS

For this piece and any other piece of detailed fretwork that has large cutout areas, save the pieces you have cut out, and place them back in the cutout. Do not glue them; they simply hold the shape of the cutout space to give fragile pieces some support.

Step 6: Remove the pattern. See What to Do When the Pattern Sticks if you have difficulty taking it off. After removing the pattern, give the entire piece a good sanding to remove fuzzies and residue left from the spray adhesive. I start with 180-grit sandpaper and finish with 220 grit.

Step 7: Attach the backer. I use a piece of unstained Baltic birch plywood for the backer. Apply and evenly spread the wood glue to the back of the eagle.

Step 8: Apply the finish of your choice. I use four coats of semi-gloss lacquer. If you chose hardwood and you’d like to have