Underneath the arches

[bodgerbaz]

I recently bought a load of Schwibbogen Vorlagen (arches templates) from a guy on ebay.de and set about cutting some out to give as Christmas presents. I stack-cut 4 sheets of 1.5 mm ply and the result gave me 2 complete arches for each pattern I chose.

Each pattern came in several sizes and the size I chose was approximately 360 x 170 mm.

The sides are approximately 25mm apart whilst the finishing touch is a micro LED wire loop powered by 2 x AA batteries (ebay.de again). I used a hot-glue gun to tack the wire loom in place and put a small piece of aluminium tape (thanks Lidl) behind each light as I noticed that on the mock-up the LEDs shone through the wood because it is so thin.

Anywho, I thought you might like to see what I've been up to.

Thanks for looking.

Barry

 

[Claymore]

WOW blimey Barry they are superb! how did you managed to make such fine cuts without them snapping off? they are lovely and like the LED idea (wonder if i can put led lights on my motorcycle Intarsias hmmmmm got me thinking now)

Cheers
Brian

 

[bodgerbaz]

Thank you for the kind comments Brian. Much appreciated.

I used a #3 reverse tooth blade and took my time. The candles, in particular, were challenging.

The LEDs are either 10 or 20 LEDs per loom, I chose 20. They were €19.90 for 5 sets with free shipping within Germany. If you can't find any in the UK, pm me and I can arrange to get some and ship 'em to you ;-)

Thanks again for the comments

Barry

 

[scrimper]

I think they are brilliant, I have a few of the patterns for some of these and planned to make some when I get time. They look superbly cut and are so effective with the illumination behind!

100% top marks from me!

 

[bodgerbaz]

Thanks Martin ;-)

 

[Aggrajag]

This is exactly what got me into Scroll Sawing last year after I saw them in Bruges for LOTS of Euros and fancied making one myself despite never having made anything with wood in my life. If you search this forum for schwibbogen you'll see a couple or 3 of my efforts, although I took the design away from Xmas towards woodland and of course they are much simpler than yours as I was just starting out. I've not made one for ages, I get distracted by new projects, ideas and styles but I really ought to get ready for Xmas!

Yours are marvellous, well done, really good work.

 

[bodgerbaz]

Yours were what decided me to make some. I love seeing them at the Christmas Markets but having seen the ones you posted got me looking for patterns. So, thank YOU.

Barry

 

[Alexam]

That's really brilliant. Very well done. I've not seen these before and I can see why it would inspire someone to at least have a go. Are the patterns easy to find? Any pointers would be helpful and how easy is it to find the lighting in the UK please.

Malcolm

 

[gilljc]

Have fancied trying these for a few years now, and have even bought some patterns, but have always been put off by the need for lights . Is it difficult to wire them up? Remember I am just a woman...... Could you post a pic of the lights?
Been a bit in the doldrums this year, need something to inspire me

 

[bodgerbaz]

Gill, the lighting is very easy. Have a look at the picture I posted in reply to Brian. The LED lights I bought is a strip of very thin wire with a tiny bulb every 150mm or so. I tacked the strip with a few dobs of hot glue but tape would do. The end of the wire strip has a plastic holder which you insert 2 AA batteries which should last a long time.

The wire can be bent and looped to fit the design and is about the thickness of fuse wire (old school - pre circuit breakers) ha ha.

I'm sure it could be wired up via a transformer but batteries are good.

 

[bodgerbaz]

That's really brilliant. Very well done. I've not seen these before and I can see why it would inspire someone to at least have a go. Are the patterns easy to find? Any pointers would be helpful and how easy is it to find the lighting in the UK please.

Malcolm

I'll send you some links tomorrow Malcolm.

 

[Aggrajag]

Me too please Bodge, I can't figure the German site even with Google translate and the US site is dreadful. 0/10 for useability!

 

[Aggrajag]

One more thing - 1.5mm seems to be ultra thin, does it hold together well? I've been making mine from 6.5mm and I'm wondering if I'm just making it hard for myself!

 

[Buffalo Chas]

They are absolutely stunning Barry. The detailing is superb and some of those cuts are so fine I don't know how you managed to keep them so sharp. I have great difficulty in Northern Ireland getting thin birch ply, but I finally managed to get some 3mm at a reasonable price. Do you think those designs would work as well in 3mm?

Thanks for posting the photos.

Charley.

 

[bodgerbaz]

Thank you for the lovely comments, it means a lot.

If anyone is after more information and lots of fabulous jaw-dropping examples, go into Google and type "Schwibbogen Vorlage" then select 'images' you'll find a fantastic collection of arches.
Similarly, if you type the same thing into ebay.co.uk you'll get more pictures and patterns for sale.

Whilst in ebay.co.uk, if you type "Micro LED light string wire" you'll find similar lighting to what I bought over here.

This link shows an example similar to the type of lighting I found http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20-400WARM-LE ... nne0I1sfIw but seems to give you a choice of battery, mains or USB.

Good luck and have fun ;-)

Barry

 

[bodgerbaz]

Me too please Bodge, I can't figure the German site even with Google translate and the US site is dreadful. 0/10 for useability!

I use the Google browser all the time over here and, as my German is currently somewhat wanting, have it configured to automatically translate anything from German to English. Similarly I use Google Translate a great deal for odd passages or when I want to send something in German.

The Google browser 'usually' translates adequately to get the general gist but on occasions it just sits there and says "translating...." but never does.

Regarding the wood, yep its 1.5 mm so is really thin and allows me to stack-cut 4 sheets to give 2 complete arches for each cut. The patterns are sooo fine and delicate that I felt a thicker wood may have made it look too chunky and thus spoil the delicate effect. I'm pretty sure all the ones I've spotted at the German Christmas Markets look to be similarly thin.

Having said that, 3 mm would make the whole thing more rigid but I wouldn't go any thicker than that.

 

[bodgerbaz]

They are absolutely stunning Barry. The detailing is superb and some of those cuts are so fine I don't know how you managed to keep them so sharp. I have great difficulty in Northern Ireland getting thin birch ply, but I finally managed to get some 3mm at a reasonable price. Do you think those designs would work as well in 3mm?

Thanks for posting the photos.

Charley.

Hi Charley,

I also have difficulty getting hold of thin ply. Before we left the UK to retire in Germany I ordered LOTS of thin ply and had it shipped over with our furniture

In the past I have usually used an online company called Hobarts and have been pleased with the consistent quality and excellent packing. There minimum shipping rate is a tad pricey so if you use them make sure you make it a decent order to reduce the cost per sheet. I kept adding 5 - 10 sheets at a time until the shipping rate went up then worked out the maximum I could get at that rate ;-)

Here is a link if it helps https://hobarts.com/sheet-materials/woo ... 124_15_56/

 

[NazNomad]

... but on occasions it just sits there and says "translating...." but never does.

Akin to my brain when someone starts jabbering in Welsh to me.

 

[gilljc]

for better or worse, I have ordered a pack of (I think) 120 patterns via ebay.de. Google translate helps a bit, but fingers crossed I will find something in there to inspire me, so thanks for that

 

[Aggrajag]

for better or worse, I have ordered a pack of (I think) 120 patterns via ebay.de. Google translate helps a bit, but fingers crossed I will find something in there to inspire me, so thanks for that

DVD or download? If download can you please send me the Ebay link when you've proved it works