Built by a scroller.
For scrollers.
I’m not a programmer. I’m a project manager who fell in love with a scroll saw, got frustrated with the tools that didn’t understand the craft, and decided to build the one that did.
A Ryobi in a box.
Still in the box.
While on disability in retirement, a friend decided I needed something to do. One day she dropped off a Ryobi 16″ scroll saw — still in the box. I had no idea what was about to happen.
Two weeks later, after watching almost every Steve Good video on YouTube, I finally got on the saw.
“I fell in love.” The focus. The quiet.
The way everything else just… fades.
Every board is
a calculation.
Here’s the thing about being on disability: supplies cost money. Mistakes cost more. I wanted to design my own patterns, but the tools out there? Either way out of my budget, or built for graphic designers who’ve never held a blade.
They don’t understand kerf. They can’t warn you when an island’s about to fall out. They think in pixels, not blade width.
So I had a choice: walk away from scrolling, or build what we were all missing.
No guessing.
No AI improving your design.
RipSaw is a pattern maker built specifically for scroll saw, fretwork, intarsia, and segmentation artists. You own every line. What the software understands:
Kerf
Your blade has width. RipSaw makes that the foundation of every calculation — entered once, never forgotten.
Islands and Seams
Scroll saw mode detects floating islands. Intarsia and segmentation workflows focus on piece fit, seam snapping, overlaps, and near gaps.
Bridges and Cut Lines
Bridge placement stays in your hands. RipSaw helps you see where connection matters and gives you cut-line tools that respect the blade.
Pattern Preview and Print Output
Preview the pattern without construction clutter and export at real-world scale when you are ready to take it to the shop.
Intarsia Tools
Wood palette, grain direction arrows, sequential piece numbering. The full intarsia workflow, inside the same design tool.
Shape & Line Tools
Draw, duplicate, flip, curve. Node editing. Everything you need to get what’s in your head onto the pattern — and from there, onto wood.
It kept ripping
my ideas apart.
I’m not a programmer. I’m a project manager. But I know how to break down complex work, and I partnered with AI to help me build this.
Early on, the AI kept busting my chops. Every idea I had, it would tear apart. “That won’t work.” “Here’s why that fails.” Constantly ripping me up.
“You know what?
I’m calling you RipSaw.
Because you rip me up
all the time.”
RipSaw exists because
they made me stay.
I can’t talk about this journey without talking about the people who got me here.
Steve Good
His videos taught me everything when I was just starting out. His generosity with patterns, his patience in explaining techniques, his way of making beginners feel welcome — there was nothing quite like it.
Steve has passed, and it hit all of us hard. But what he put into scrollers lives on. In every pattern we cut. In every beginner we encourage. In the peace we find at the saw.
Kathy Wise
Her patterns make me dream of scrolling. That’s the only way I can describe it.
Newton Makes
Skills beyond my comprehension. The kind of craftsmanship that makes you want to keep pushing.
Wendal Woodworks
Danielle
A wholesome family woman whose heart shines out in her work. You can feel it in everything she creates.
This is for them. And for everyone they’ve inspired.
I still can’t believe I can create the things I create now. Every time I finish a piece, there’s this moment of genuine surprise.
That’s what I want RipSaw to give you. Not just a tool — growth in your craft. The confidence to try patterns you thought were beyond you. The ability to design what’s in your head and actually cut it.
I made that. Damn, I can’t wait to see what you make.
Roberta Matera
Scroll saw artist. Retired project manager turned scroll saw application developer. Community contributor.
I’m not building a tech company. I’m building a tool for us — shaped by scroller feedback, open for the community to improve.
info@forgepatterns.com
- OS Windows 10/11 64-bit — Mac coming soon
- Built with Python, PyQt6, Shapely
- File format .forge (human-readable JSON)
- Export PDF at 1:1 scale, multi-page tiling
- Cost $99 one-time — $49 pre-orders
RipSaw handles the physics.
You handle the art.
Less Computing · More Scrolling