Historical Scroll Saw Fretwork Patterns

We're always looking for new patterns. How about some old ones instead. I was searching the internet and I came upon this site www.finescrollsaw.com . The first thing that came to my attention was the section of historical scroll saw fretwork books and documents.

The author of this site has scanned several books and placed them on the site. The oldest book "Sorrento and inlaid work" by Arthur Hope, was published in 1876 was one of the first scroll saw books to be available in the United States, and made an introduction to marquetry and inlaying. The second book "Fretwork and marquetry" by D. Denning published in 1895, gives the reader an explanation of all aspects of fretwork, inlaying, overlaying, marquetry, scroll saw machines, blades and patterns.

These books are a historical record from more than 100 years ago. Although many of the techniques and materials explained in them are obsolete, they are still worth the read, for if nothing more than to give you a greater appreciation of the technical limitations of the day that artists were faced with, and were able to produce pieces of art that are still greatly admired today.

The site offers many free patterns from the long ago published Hobbies fretwork magazine, which are available as PDF files, also available are patterns for sale from the sites author Pedro Lopez
that have been restored and digitized. The site has many fine examples of scroll saw fretwork in the photo gallery, as well as some tutorials to accompany his patterns.

Whatever your tastes may be as a scroll saw enthusiast, the beautiful and finely detailed fretwork showcased on this site is well worth your time to visit.