One of my favorite project to cut on the scroll saw is baskets. You can use just about any wood and they look great. I have made these from cheap pine and people love the look crazy end grain of the pine. It gives the basket a rustic look.
When you cut these from nice hardwoods you can mix and match species to give interesting looks. I used three different species in this one just to mix it up.
This basket is an actual weave. You cut the rings and then fill in the gaps with thin strips of wood. You can see how it is done in the pictures below. This gives a much more realistic illusion of a weave than the solid ring baskets.
I only cut three rings for this prototype basket. I used 1" thick wood for the rings. You can give a more intricate look to the basket by using thinner wood for the rings and cut more of them. You just want to keep the total height of the rings around three inches for good proportion.
This is a pattern that can easily be enlarged. Enlarge the rings to approximately eight inches. Cut several rings and you have a very impressive basket.
The vertical slats are cut to size once you have the dimensions of your basket. Cut thin strips on your table saw or scroll saw. Make them the size that fits into the openings of the basket. If you use the included pattern size they need to be 3/4" wide and 3 inches long. Cut them between 1/16" and 1/8" thick.
In the picture above you will see that I am using my recent custom feather board pattern as a thin cut guide. I place the jig to the left of the blade the distance that I need the thickness to be. Make sure you place the jig forward of the blade.
Adjust the fence of the table saw until the wood touches the jig. Make a cut, move the fence and repeat until you get enough slats. This keeps all the cuts the same thickness.
You do not want to cut these thin strips between the blade and the fence. That is a dengerous cut. Don't do it.
When you glue up the rings they need to be centered. You can use the thin slat to center the rings while the glue dries.
You see that I cut the slats long. Once the rings are glued up I mark and cut the slats to the length needed.
