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When I was very young, my grandfather lived with us for a few years. He absolutely loved westerns. He was a huge Louis L'Amour fan. L'Amour was a writer of mostly western novels. I am sure grandpa read all of his novels and short story collections. You would seldom see him without a paperback in his back pocket.
He would also watch all the western movies and TV shows. I loved to sit and watch those shows with him. Gunsmoke was serious business. When Gunsmoke was on it was time to sit down and be quiet. That was fine with me because I loved Matt and Festus.
I was thinking about my grandpa yesterday and decided to start drawing this pattern. I named it "The Great Stagecoach Robbery". I finished it up today and went to the shop to cut it out. Because it makes me think of grandpa this is a favorite for me.
There are two versions of the pattern included. Small and Large. the small one is 15 inches wide. I will tell you upfront that there are several small cuts in the small version. I normally design patterns so a 1/16" drill bit will work for all the interior holes. For the small version, you will need a smaller bit.
When I saw that the small version was a bit difficult I enlarged is to make a larger version that is easier to cut. A 1/16" drill bit should work fine on the large pattern. The large version is 18.5 inches long.
I used a #3 reverse tooth blade so I could make the small cuts and quick turns.
Here are some close-up images. There is not a large amount of detail so cutting goes pretty quick. I finished the whole piece in 3 hours Including painting the background board black and letting it dry.
Construction is pretty simple. You have the black backer board and four layers stacked up. Tow of the layers are just filler strips.
