Scroll or bandsaw cut out example

click any image to enlarge

front view

Here i have a drawing picture/pattern or remembered likeness of what i conceive to be Snidely Whiplash,

Now for you young folks, he was a famous hombre back during or before talking movies, Snidely Whiplash: was the arch villain of Dudley do Right? of the Canadian mounties, he pestered Sweet Nell about the deed to her ranch at every opportunity available, "Curses Foiled again" could be heard muttered by Snidely Whiplash, when Dudley showed up on the scene... Snidely Whiplash, efforts were forcing Sweet Nell into submission, by tying her to the railroad track, or tying her to a log fixing to be cut up at the saw mill.

Never the less this post is more about how you cut a pattern out of a block of wood , this post or lesson was done with a scroll saw...

my scroll saws are fitted with blades from http://www.mikesworkshop.com flying Dutchman #5 polar blades,

which is a blade where the teeth are all in one direction allowing the sawdust a way to be removed, where as reverse tooth blades trap the sawdust and through friction overheat the blade and scorch your project.

Side view with some corrections,

When, cutting the out line, i try to stay off the lines 1/8" outside the pattern in the waste field,

because you can remove waste, you cant grow it back, but some mistakes can be corrected by carving down all the other features,

its just best to give yourself some leeway. in case of scorching, or slight miss cuts.

Starting the cutting ,

Here notice i have cut the block 2 times, "for demonstration purposes i made one cut from each view,"

you will cut out one view completely, re tape the block back to make a solid block, to cradle the project, and keep it flat to the table.

When finished with one side then turn it to the next view and cut out the outline.

OK cuttings done.

If you take off the tape you'll have 9 pieces of wood usually, on a band saw your mileage may very. because of tight relief cuts...

Now with some, redrawing details, and careful carving starts appearing...

Side carved some

Front with near finished details...

The details will come out the more you carve towards your goal... remember the different plane or levels in the face/carving as you remove stock,

i still pencil in the details as i carve most times, as the pencil lines are carved away i redraw them as needed. from here on i never use a permanent marker like sharpy... because ink marks soak in and will smudge and transfer to other parts of the carving as you handle it...

good luck!