Scroll saw letter opener patterns

Here scroll saw patterns are presented that can serve you to create 10 different models of letter openers.

Letter openers are knife-like desktop tools that allow you to cut open the envelopes in which letters are mailed and to slice through a bended paper. Letter openers are also called paper knives, which is a bit wrong, although the letter opener has evolved from the paper knife, and both are very similar in appearance. Paper knives are used for cutting open the pages of hand-produced books, and today this tool can only be seen in museums, antique shops or with various collectors and enthusiasts.

Letter openers can take many forms, from very simple to elegant ornamental models. They are usually made of wood, stainless steel, plastic or a material combination. With ornamental letter opener models, the handle and sometimes the blade are decorated with various techniques. If you take a look at these 10 patterns, you can see handles richly decorated with scroll saw technique, but techniques such as woodcarving, pyrography, inlay and the like can also be used to decorate letter openers. Overly decorated letter openers do not feel good in the hand, but since nowadays it is not usually necessary to open many letters at once, it pays to sacrifice a little ergonomics for the sake of beautiful design.

Pattern category

Scroll saw patterns

Free vector categories

Vector collections

Available file formats

Autodesk (dwg), Encapsulated PostScript (eps) and Scalable Vector Graphics (svg)

Pattern license

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license

These days, letter openers can be seen less and less frequently because communication via computer has suppressed communication through letter writing. Letters are still used a lot in business communication and communication with government institutions. In case you often receive business letters at your workplace, it might not be a bad idea to have an elegant letter opener on your desktop.

The process of making a letter opener decorated using the scroll saw method consists of the following stages: crafting the stock of appropriate shape and dimensions, transferring the pattern to the stock, cutting the pattern, tapering and sharpening of the blade, and finishing. Letter openers can be made from all kinds of hardwoods such as maple, walnut, cherry ... Letter openers are small in size so you can use exotic hardwoods too, especially if you want to craft a highly decorative piece.

All scroll patterns in the files are the same size, and before transferring any pattern to the stock, it needs to be scaled to the desired dimension of the letter opener. Letter opener length depends on the model and is within a range of 15-25 cm, most commonly 20-23cm; recommended thickness of the wooden stock is 5-12mm. And one more thing to beware: the thinner the material, the more beautiful its decorations with the scroll saw decorating technique! For blade sharpening you can use a spindle sander, drum sander, Dremel tool with a sanding wheel, or you can do it manually with sandpaper attached to a flat surface. The blade doesn't have to be as sharp as a knife blade, just thin enough to cut folded paper well. If the blade is too sharp, it can easily be damaged and can also damage the desk or objects kept on it. Tapering and sharpening of the blade needs to be done carefully and precisely to make the letter opener look as good as possible. Letter openers adorned with scroll saw patterns like these may make very nice gifts for family members, friends, and probably even your business partners and colleagues who certainly won’t object to them.

Vector tags