Creative Wooden Boxes from the Scroll Saw: 28 Useful & Surprisingly Easy-to-Make Projects
This book is up in the top 10 of my favourite woodworking books!! The projects are so, well, creative!! Imagine a box that looks like a pie, yes, a good ol' apple pie! And not only is it cute as "pie" but useful too, it is a box, remember. AND if you are handy with the scroll saw well, I'm sure the projects would be as easy as "pie" as well, given the in-depth instructions and photos. Besides the boxes that look like food, we also have boxes with bows, boxes with hinges and boxes that look like furniture!! The variety of projects (over two dozen, actually), and the creativity, is, to me, over the top extraordinary. I love this book! Creative ideas. Beautiful creations. Practical projects. My Ratings of The Book Layout and Appearance: Good balance of photos, how-to instructions, projects. Thumbs Up! Instructions: Clear information and instructions Thumbs Up! Projects Selection: A wide variety of projects, simple to complex. Great. Inspiration: Oh how I wish I was a better scrollsaw-er! I want to make that pie. Overall: Thumbs Up!There are a number of books on the subject of making boxes using a bandsaw. Far fewer offer instructions for making them on a scroll saw. Yet, as Carole Rothman shows in this book, the scrollsaw has inherent advantages for this work. The author's introductory notes are given an unusual twist by being presented as a series of questions. These include: What if I can't get the recommended wood for a project? How can I control warping of thin wood and veneer? How do I drill an angled entry hole? Most of the book is, however, devoted to the 28 box projects. While the words innovative and unique are probably overworked in the description of books such as this, they certainly come to mind when reading through this group of projects. They begin with four bow boxes. The first looks a little like an oval Shaker box but has crossed ribbons 'secured' by a large, florid bow. The box is scrollsawn inside and out from a sol id block, the top and bottom added, then the ribbons are made from wood laminated from various species. The loops and waved tails of ribbon are scrollsawn from the same laminated wood and the ribbons, loops and tails are all glued in place around the box. The second bow box has a diagonal ribbon and a sunrise group of loops. The third is a square box with decoration similar to the first, while the fourth has sides that taper inwards, both above and below their horizontal centre. The box is made with stacked ring construction and again decorated with lavish bows and ribbons. The remaining boxes include ones with a cookery motif (a tart, a cupcake, a steaming cup of coffee etc.) and others that are in the form of miniature furniture as well as barrel hinge and pivot lid boxes. The text is crisp and informative and the book is well illustrated with photos and dimensioned drawings.Now is the time to think inside and around the box. The author shows how to make 28 unique boxes using the scroll saw. And, if you thought that boxes are square Rothman proves that they are certainly not. There is a Cup Cake Box, an Ice Cream Box, a Coffee Cup Box and a Ribbons and Bows Box to name just a few. This book shows that the author is a very adept sawyer and her skills are well illustrated in this book. She provides precise directions in both the text and the photos to all of the beautiful boxes. Each project is preceded with a materials and tools list along with her recommended wood species. It is apparent that Carole Rothman is as adept in the kitchen as she is in the woodshop as proven by the food-based boxes she has designed and built. She even adds a bit of flavor and aroma to her Apple Tart Box. Great imagination and talent!Rothman (Wooden Bowls from the Scroll Saw ) here presents a second collection of projects, focusing on wooden boxes?but these aren?t the wooden boxes you might imagine. Rothman?s boxes are shaped like wrapped gifts, furniture, and food, and they often include stripes or resin inlays. The first box in each chapter includes step-by-step directions with photographs to illustrate basic techniques, and these can be used as a reference for the other boxes in the chapter. VERDICT Rothman?s designs are eye-catching and creative; woodworkers can learn from the techniques illustrated in this collection even if the projects are not their style.