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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Problems with Patterns

Here's the last part of my series on why instructions are sometimes so difficult to follow successfully. It focuses on something that seemed clear to me, but apparently not to everyone. Hope this helps.

5 comments:

  1. Just a quick pattern tip. My eyes ain't what they use to be and I found that printing the patterns in red enables me to watch the blade and be able to tell which is which. I also draw the rings on the blanks with a red pencil.

    dplNiceGuy@gmail.com

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  2. I like red, too, but the publisher said it would cost too much, and they call the shots.

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  3. I was rewatching your video on patterns and was struck by your comment about the printing of patterns.

    In as much as you agree that to use them you need to use a scanner to size them correctly, why don't you just print all of the patterns in a pattern section four to a page and let the user enlarge them the % needed. If this is not praticale for design reasons then I would suggest that all patterns be printed reduced and on the open side of the page. It is very difficult to bend and position the book on a scanner which result in the destruction of the book, or distortion of the patterns.

    I find it helpful to buy two copies of a book with patterns, as I cut them up so that the patterns lay flat and can fit correctly in the scanner. (Don't tell the publisher ) :-) That way I don't lose pages and keep the instruction, on the overside of the pattern, where they belong.

    Another suggestion might be to leave the book as is and then have a PDF file containing just the patterns on the publishers web site with an accsess password printed in the book. We could print them as is and if they need to be enlarged then print them scan them and enlage them. This would keep everything neat. Of course I would like to see the whole book in a PDF file so I could enlarge the print as well, eyes ain't what they use to be.

    I am a beginner scrollsawer and I have completed three bowls. I have made a lot of saw dust in the process, and a lot of very useful mistakes/experience. I use the Exclaiber saw so I don't have to fight gravity just my impatients.

    Thanks again for your insperation.

    Doug

    ps Loved the Pizzelles

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  4. PPS Only they weren't pizzelles they were of course Biscotti. But they don't seem to last long enough to get stale....

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  5. Hi Doug,

    Publishers have their own ways of doing things, but if you share your thoughts with Fox Chapel, maybe something will come of it. They were originally going to have all the patterns in the back, but I guess it was more economical to do it the way that they did. I'm trying to break away from printed patterns as much as I can, and have people measure and draw directly on the wood. My patterns never stay stuck, anyway.

    Thanks for your comments--hope you're still having fun making bowls.

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