y father loved woods.  The grain, color, smell, and texture of different woods inspired him.  He bought veneer samples of everything he could get, ranging from the almost featureless white birch, which is so easy to work, to the gnarled burls of exotic woods which crumble when you try to shape then.  Veneers are used for inlay work and the jig saw is the prime tool for that.  He would assemble a stack of his favorite veneers, sandwich the stack between two pieces of plywood and nail the package together.  On top he would glue a piece of paper carrying his design and start cutting along the lines.  When he was finished cutting, he had as many puzzles as he had veneers, and then he would assemble each of the puzzles and glue them on to a support.  If you want to succeed at this kind of work, you must have a very steady hand and keep the saw blade vertical at all times, because otherwise the pieces will not fit together.  The reward for all your effort is that you get to paint lacquer on the  finished surface and see the incredible colors  of the woods come to life.

 He made many cigarette cases with heraldic designs like this one.

- Lars Luther