This ornate candle stand will hold a four-inch diameter candle. It is cut from 1/4" thick wood. There are three layers and it sits on four legs. The legs are optional but I like the elevation they give the candle. The legs make it more of a victorian style centerpiece.
This pattern could be easily modified for other purposes. Skip cutting the holes for the candle and you have a platform for a special figurine. It could be used as a base for a pot of flowers. Skip the top circle and leave the top flat for a trivet.
Eliminate the legs and reduce the size of the pattern for ornate drink coasters.
This pattern does have one feature that makes it an intermediate level pattern. The top ring and the hole in the center layer need to be as cleanly cut as possible. They need to be round with few errors. If you struggle with cutting circles you can often fix the errors by sanding after the cut.
Sand the top ring first. Then glue it to the center layer and sand the holes flush.
If you need some tips for cutting circles accurately then check out my Scroll Saw School Videos. Watch video #7 on cutting curves and circles.
Google Trends for the Search Term "scroll saw" from 2004-2019:
Click Image to Enlarge
Slow but steady rise after the crash of 2008. Anyone who remembers 2008 knows that money was tight. Consumer activity tanked. It was a tough year. The chart above shows a great deal about our favorite hobby in a very basic form. The blue line shows the Google search activity for the term "scroll saw", over the last 15 years. The higher the line to more search activity was going on at that time.
The first thing that you notice is that 2004(Left side of the chart) was a banner year for searching the term scroll saw on Google. I don't have an explanation for that peak but the internet was a very different place in 2004. Maybe we are just still recovering from the disaster in 2008. There were ~817 million users of the internet in 2004 compared to almost 4.5 billion now. Those numbers make that peak stand out even more. Fewer users of the internet did more searches for the term scroll saw. Maybe there were multiple products introduced that year or more advertising. I just don't know.
The next thing that stands out is the consistent yearly peaks in December and January and the lows are June, July, and August. This is easy to understand. Scrollers like to make homemade gifts for the holidays plus people get new scroll saws for Christmas and look for information about the hobby.
We get more scroll saw users in December and January than the rest of the year combined.
The lows are caused by people spending more time with summer outdoor activities and the heat is keeping people out of their shops.
The slightly more difficult trend to see is more exciting. After reaching a low in 2011 there has been a slow but relatively steady and consistent uptick in the activity. We are still far from the peak in 2004 but at least we are trending up. I would love to see the next few years get back to the 2004 levels of activity.
That is important for the hobby because it also puts more money in the pockets of manufacturers and sellers of the equipment and supplies we need. If they don't make money the hobby dies. Individual companies are not necessarily seeing an uptick in profits for a couple of reasons. There are more players in the game so the pie gets cut into smaller slices. More competition generally drives profit margins down. That is a double-edged sword. Consumers benefit from lower prices but some companies will not be around to continue to help the hobby grow.
In most industries, low periods of activity mean aggressive price drops or good sales. Our niche is not large enough and the profit margins are so slim that we don't see too many big price markdowns. Some of the larger sellers like Woodcraft and Amazon are often more aggressive during the summer. They have enough volume to cut small margins even smaller.
Just remember that Amazon cares nothing about the health of our hobby. Try to support the small scroll saw related sellers when you have the opportunity. I'm not saying you should not use Amazon. I use them every week. Just don't forget about the small businesses who can often give you much better support because they understand the product. If you buy a scroll saw from Amazon you may get a good price but no one there will have any idea how to help you solve a problem.
$12 per sheet of 12 coins plus $3.50 shipping
Inlay with a 1" Forstner Bit.
The perfect way to sign your work.
Email Newsletter Readers: Remember that the Newsletter is just a copy of the daily blog post. To see the post in it's proper formatting click this link. If you ever misplace a pattern or any item you see here you can always find it on the blog. Everything stays on the blog forever.
Products for your consideration:
Every Scrollsaw Workshop Pattern from 2007-2018 in DVD
This DVD has over 2,600 patterns published from 2007 thru 2018.
The DVD is $20 plus shipping. Ships to 60 countries around the world.
The DVD is $20 plus shipping. Ships to 60 countries around the world.
If you use the DVD on a Windows PC there is a simple viewer program to browse through the patterns.
The DVD also works fine on a MAC. The viewer program is not MAC compatible but there is an included PDF with all the patterns shown as thumbnails for easy viewing.
All the same file but on an easy to use a thumb drive. The USB thumb drive option is $23 plus shipping.
Now Available on USB Thumb Drive
Don't have a DVD drive on your new computer. No problem. Buy the catalog on a USB thumb drive.All the same file but on an easy to use a thumb drive. The USB thumb drive option is $23 plus shipping.
Scroll Saw Pattern Design Tutorial: DVD
Let me teach you to create a beautiful wooden portrait pattern. I will show you everything you need from start to finish. The video will show you the free software program you can download for Windows or Mac OS. I will show you how to install the program and configure it for best results.
Let me teach you to create a beautiful wooden portrait pattern. I will show you everything you need from start to finish. The video will show you the free software program you can download for Windows or Mac OS. I will show you how to install the program and configure it for best results.
Then I will show you the technique to take your photograph and make a pattern from it. When the pattern is complete we will go in the shop and cut it.
The DVD is $10 plus shipping. This is a data DVD that you will use on your computer to watch the video tutorial
Want to create beautiful wooden vases on the scroll saw?
My two "Wooden Vases on the Scroll Saw" books make it easy.
The books are $12 each and available for instant download after purchase. Click for Video Demonstration.
My Sponsors:
Support the businesses who support our community.
Home of Pegas scroll saw blades.
