I only attempted this basket because I am part of Wendi’s Power Tool Challenge Team, and this month’s theme was “Single Board Projects.”  I used a single piece of 2x2 plywood.  Nothing else.  The other ladies in this challenge also used only a single board (although the type and size of their boards are all different).  Their projects are also amazing!  Seriously, I would expect nothing less..these are some of the best builders I know!

About My Scroll Saw:

Project Inspiration:

And I cannot take credit for this idea.. NOT AT ALL. I actually borrowed a book from the library (so I could learn to use my scroll saw) and this sample project was on the front cover:
I Googled to see if anyone had a pattern available, and I found one on a woodworkers forum from a user named “Birchbark"

It was really low resolution and not in a format I could print in multiple pages, so I blew it up to actual size, converted it to a PDF and put some registration lines on it (so I could print it in 6 sections and tape them together.   You can download my updated version, but credit should still be attributed to Birchbark, it is his pattern.

How To Build The Basket:

The “How To” on my project couldn’t be much simpler. You take a single piece of plywood (or solid wood would actually be better).  Cut concentric wavy rings out and then stack them and glue them together.

Seriously.. doesn’t it look a lot more complicated than that?

 The key is having a regular repeating pattern in the rings so you can stagger the layers.  Luckily that part was taken care of!

Once I had the pattern printed out and taped together, I used spray adhesive to attach it to the wood.

The Loctite professional grade adhesive is by far my favorite.. and it worked great for this.  It stayed down but still pulled off cleanly when I was done cutting.
You just cut along the pattern lines using your scroll saw.
It isn’t as straight forward as that really, because this pattern requires INSIDE cuts (like the center of the letter O).  A scroll saw blade is held in place at the top and the bottom of the saw arm with little pins. There is no free end of the blade, so you can’t put it INSIDE a circle while it is attached to the saw.

To overcome this problem, you first have to drill a hole into the board, feed the blade through the hole and then mount the blade on the saw.  When you are done cutting you need to remove the blade and repeat the process in reverse order.   That is why a QUICK RELEASE BLADE is so important on a scroll saw.  I had to take the blade on and off the machine ELEVEN TIMES for this project.  This is a great starter project because it is really forgiving, the curves are easy, and there are a lot of them, and you get a lot of practice with blade changes!
Once I had all the circles cut out I needed to sand them. Especially the areas where I started and stopped the cut (near the drilled hole).  You need to be a little careful at this step since if you push too hard on the circles, they will want to break. On their own they are pretty delicate. I decided to leave the wood it’s natural color. I wanted it to be obvious this was made of wood, plus the plywood layers were sort of cool.  I used a layer of polyurethane just to protect the wood from any moisture. 
To build the bowl I used the same Rapid Fuse Wood Adhesive I used on my cutting board tray.
 It has held up so well, dried so fast and was so clear, I knew it would be the perfect thing!

I made sure everything was lined up perfectly, added a little weight to the top and let it dry overnight. The final basket (or bowl) is really cool. I love all the layers!