Scroll Saw Gloat

[Roy Wall]

Hello power users! I'm a newbie and have a few posts on the "Haven Side".

Saturday Night, my wife & I went out to dinner with 6 other good friends to celebrate a Birthday. Had a great time, delicious dinner, wonderful conversation, and a great view of Kansas City's "Plaza" area. None of these friends are woodworkers......

So, on the way home with one couple, we agree to go see a mutual friend & his wife. He (Bill) is a very successful plastic surgeon and occasional woodworker. We were taking a tour of their new home and went down to the basement to look at his shop. As we're looking, Bill asks me if I have a scroll saw at home. Of course, I didn't - and then he says " You've got one now!". Just out of the blue! He had just recently purchased a newer DeWalt model so this one was no longer going to be used - he said.

It is 16" Sears model with one speed - a $90 item - so I guess I better learn how to use it.....This is a basic SS for sure with a 10" round table surface...

I'll go out on a limb and ask your suggestions and assume there is a book out there called "The Scroll Saw Book":) that will put me on my way!!

Thanks for looking - I'm aware of many things in my life, including:
The quality of friendships and the blessings from it - whether they're woodworkers or not ;)

[Mike Cutler]

Roy. What a nice gift. I have an older Ryobi scrollsaw that looks similar to the one in your picture. You are correct, there are many "Scollsaw books" out there and I know that I have visited a forum dedicated to Scrollsawing( is that a real word). I can't claim to be real knowledgable on scroll saws. I mounted mine on a real heavy bench and just sort of went at it for a project I was doing.The only advice I could give is to buy lots of blades, I seemed to break a lot of them when I was using my scrollsaw( I'm sure it was due to to poor technique on my part).I've seen some very fine scrollwork by the wife of one of the members of this forum, but I don't remember whom it was. Nice gloat and have fun with your new Scrollsaw

[Betsy Yocum]

Roy - next time you go for a visit to your friend's place - let me know - I want to go!!!! What a nice guy. Of course, once you get hooked on scroll saw work - you'll need a friend to come to your house to take this model off your hands because you'll want the next step up!!!

I recommend looking up books by Patrick Spielman. He has written some great books - from the history and basics to the more complex. The one thing about scroll saws is there are literally tons, upon tons of good patterns and you are only limited by your imagination.

If you do a google search on scroll sawing you will see how big it is. It's great fun.

Now go make some dust!!
Betsy

[David Klink]

Quite a nice friend you've got there Roy. You'll have to get 'er in gear and make something for him!

There are all kinds of books out there on scrolling. You could probably do a search at Amazon or Barnes and Noble and find a ton.

There are several sites I've used to find plans and supplies as well.

Here are a couple:

http://www.scrollsaw.com/Woodworking_Project_Plan_Full_/Scrollsaw_Plans_and_Patterns/scrollsaw_plans_and_patterns.htm

http://www.cherrytree-online.com/

http://www.meiselwoodhobby.com/cgi-bin/webplus.exe?script=/shop/store.wml&storeid=1

There are a couple others, including this one that has some basic tips on using one, as well as how to choose blades.

http://www.sawbird.com/scrolling.htm#scroll_saw_blades

There's also a magazine that pops up in our supermarket from time to time called Creative Woodworks & Crafts. It usually has free plans for different types of scroll saw projects, including instructions on how to go about them. Some of them include full size plans.

The magazine's website is here:

http://www.woodworksandcrafts.com/

Have fun with your new tool! I've been scrolling for a couple of years now, and love it.

[Holly Mosser]

Roy I am new at scroll sawing also, and was very lucky when I met Mike Moorlach from Mikes Workshop. His address is mike@mikesworkshop.com (http://ca.f901.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?&To=mike@mikesworkshop.com) He is a wealth of information and sells the Flying Dutchman Scroll Saw Blades. I ordered a sample pack from him, they are the very best of blades. His prices are extremely reasonable, even with the U.S exchange rate to Canadian he is still 2 times lower than what I pay and the blades last and cut better than anything I have tried. Give him a try you will not be disappointed. He has a sample pack of blades and a Scroll Saw book on sale, great book for beginners.
Holly

[Terry Quiram]

Roy

Be careful or scrolling will turn into an obsession. :D The public library is your best and cheapest path to scroll saw books, both insturctional and pattern. Scroll Association of the World is also an excellent resource. http://www.saw-online.org/ If you dig deep enough you will even see my mug. http://www.saw-online.org/Gallery/Contest/2003il/BOC1.jpg

Terry

[Kurt Aebi]

Roy,

Nice Gloat & Friend as well. I got into scrolling the very same way, my sister gave me the early version of that saw about 18 years ago and it is still in use today. My wife and I have added (2) others to the mix, but that saw still sees the most action. Check sears to see if the "pinless" adapter is still available, this way you can use pinned and pinless blades. For doing outline cutouts, it will not matter, but if you start doing any fretwork (fancy inside cuts) you may want to go pinless since feeding the blade through a hole with the cross-pin is tough and you will need a larger hole.

Start with neat shape outline cutouts and go from there, you are going to really enjoy it. Check with your friend who gave you the saw, I am sure he will have pointers and maybe some starter projects or books he is no longer needing and you can work out a deal. Most scrollers are real good people who are more than happy to help. Mush like all of us woodworkers here ath the "creek"

Enjoy and WAY TO GO!

[Michael Ballent]

Nice gloat, perhaps when your friend decides to upgrade to a Euro-saw ;)

Flying Dutchman blades are the cat's meow... clean cuts and reasonably priced. For a good intro book check out Scroll Saw Basics by Patrick Spielman. It gives you the basics of cutting... Also check out Scroll Saws: A Workshop Bench Reference by Zachary Taylor, it gives you good info setting it up. HTH