Hand-Cut Wooden Designs

This hanging is an example of a minimilast design that combines wood tones and geometric designs in a simple wooden frame. Figure A Figure B Put a new blade into a craft knife before cutting out the pattern. It may take more than one pass to get through the grain.

Materials:

wood veneer of several types from wood-specialty shops (should fit the frame)
wood art papers
tracing wheel
shadow-box picture frame and glass (three pieces)
double-sided adhesive sheet
cloth sack
charcoal powder
pencil
craft knife
straight edge
alcohol or razor scraper to remove adhesive from glass

Steps:

1. Gather several sheets of contrasting types of wood veneer.
   
   
2. Take a design out of a graphic book or other source and place it over art paper. Trace the design with a tracing wheel (figure A).
   
   
3. Attach the veneer to the glass with double-sided adhesive.
   
   
4. Use a cloth sack filled with charcoal dust to dab through the holes in the art paper and transfer the design to the veneer (figure B).
   
   
5. Connect the dots with pencil to complete the design, then cut along all of the lines in the pattern with a craft knife.
   
   
6. Remove the pieces that have been outlined, leaving the clear glass (clean the remaining adhesive from the double-stick tape with alcohol or a razor paint scraper).
   
   
7. Put a contrasting piece of veneer on top of a piece of glass, then put another piece of glass on top of that.