Crafts,  Scrollsaw

Teddy bear intarsia

Teddy Bear Intarsia
Intarsia is about depth of field.

Intarsia… such an odd name, enough to scare some people from even trying such a project. Wooden puzzle… now that sounds more fun!

 

 

 

Teddy Bear Intarsia
Intarsia is a great scrap wood project

I don’t recall where I got this pattern but here is a similar one. Here’s the halfway point of my Teddy Bear Intarsia project. The hardest part is over with which is cutting all the individual pieces and getting them to fit together. I used 3/4″ oak and 3/4″ pine scraps I had in the box. The only pieces I failed to get right the first time were the center footpads. Those I had to cut a second time.

 

Attention to grain detail.
Say hi Teddy!

The fun part was trying to match the flow of the grain pattern in the wood with what I had in mind for certian pieces, like the bill of the baseball cap and the body of the shirt. I cut out most of the pieces on my Delta 14″ bandsaw using a 1/4″ Timberwolf blade. Very sharp blades! For the smaller items I used my Ryobi vari-speed scrollsaw. Even some pieces, like the nose bridge between the eyes, I had to finish on my sander. The only sander I have is a Makita 4″ beltsander which I turn upside-down and clamp to my bench top. It works for me. Here’s a shot where I’m half way through sanding the edges to give the teddy bear some depth of field.

 

Teddy Bear Intarsia
Intarsia is about depth of field.

Here’s a side shot of the same position as above. I really had no idea how to make different parts of the teddy bear to be at different heights so I improvised. I knew the feet had to stick out the farthest so I doubled up the height with some 3/4″ pine pieces of the same shape and dimension. As for the shirt and nose I used a piece of 3/8″ pine that I had laying round. For the glasses, ear and cap I backed it up with a piece of 3/8″ oak. You can see burnmarks on the ear but that disappeared after sanding. Once all the pieces were sanded to what I wanted it to look like, I glued it all on a piece of 1/8″ veneer plywood I had left over from when I took away some of the kitchen cabinets in our house.

Teddy Bear Intarsia woodworking project
Cool Teddy!

 

A Newfoundland born Canadian with a life long interest in woodworking, baking and anything else that peaks my curiosity.

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