Cutting out a plywood dog

A number of people have expressed an interest in how I go about creating my jump fillers, or garden art creations.  I thought I'd take a moment today to walk you through one of the sets in making a dog.

​It starts with a drawing.  I have an number of general dog shapes and designs already created.  I'll share that process with you another day, today is all about the cutting out.  I first transfer the drawing to a half inch piece of plywood.  I like working with plywood with a fine finish.  It saves a lot of time filling in knot holes etc.g
Once the drawing is on the board it's ready to cut out.  The most important first step is safety equipment.  If your are operating any kind of electric saw for any length of time you need ear protection.  And if you are working with power tools, or frankly any kind of tool at all you need eye protection.

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Now that safety equipment is on, you need to fix your plywood with the drawing onto a a workmate type work bench.  If you want to cut with any detail the plywood must be firmly attached to the bench so it won't move in any way at all.  I use a number of cast iron clamps that my mother and grandmother used on their quilting frames along with a larger clamp I got from Princess Auto.  My Mom's clamps work the best.  ​

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It's important to keep the area you are cutting supported by the table which means you have unclamp readjust the board, then reclamp and start cutting again. You may have to do this 4, 5 or 6 times before our dog is completely cut out.

A final note, make sure you have a good jigsaw, get a fine blade and be prepared to change it often.  Practice on a design that doesn't have too many twists and turns before you attempt a long haired or fluffy animal.  Most of my hairier dogs take about 2 to three hours to cut out.  My most important advice is be patient, mistakes happen don't let it stop you from being creative.