Any of You use a Scroll Saw?

[Rich Riddle]

I had someone ask what I would give for a scroll saw. I responded, "nothing." I have never run across a situation where it was needed. At the shows, I see folks using them and small lathes to make trinkets. Nothing wrong with making trinkets, but it's not the place where my woodworking focuses. After all, what could a scroll saw cut of practical value that the 24" Italian band saw can't?

[Jim Matthews]

My Hegner was one of the first power tool purchases, when I started.

It was one of the first power tool sales, shortly thereafter.

[Jesse Busenitz]

Exactly, I was given a cheap scroll saw which I played with a couple times and then promptly broke. Frankly the thing scared me w/ the arm flying back and forth.... stupid I know. Anyways never need one for a real job. Ended up using the motor to make a sharpener.

[Tom M King]

I was given a Powermatic green with racing stripe probably 20 years ago. I don't remember ever turning it on. I expect someone uses them.

[Chris Padilla]

They are great for small, intricate cuts like one might do for inlay and/or marquetry.

[Max Neu]

i use mine quite a bit, mostly for veneering jobs.I just finished a bar top for a designer I work with that wanted brass inlay's, scroll saw worked great for that.There is a big difference between a cheap scroll saw, and a good one.The cheap ones will just frustrate you and make you never want to use it.You also need to use them fairly often, or you will get rusty.

[Mike Henderson]

They are great for small, intricate cuts like one might do for inlay and/or marquetry.
+1 Same thing I use mine for.

Mike

[Curtis Myers]

Scroll saws like many wood working tools take practice to get perficant. I'm not very good on mine but getting better. I forget the name but their is a web site for scroll saws. The folks over their do amazing work with scroll saws.

[Rich Riddle]

Guess I was just wondering what folks did with them. The only thing I have seen demonstrated is making ornaments and such. Seems like a lot of new folks and "advanced" folks get into them. Not sure where they fall for me.

[Wade Lippman]

I bought a "Dewalt" when Delta closed them out for almost nothing.
It is great for cutting pills in half.
I am hoping someday to find a woodworking use for it. Maybe if I bought better blades...

[Dick Brown]

Friend asked me to cut out some 3/8 thick pine butterflies for a playground project a couple or three years ago. Used a twisted blade and was kind of fun in that you can cut in any direction without turning the wood with that blade. Wouldn't try it on thick stock, though. As best I can remember, it has sat next to my cyclone, doing the same job (Collecting Dust) every since.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I use mine a lot for making odd shaped holes both for work pieces and templates. Not used often but does cuts the bandsaw can't or where I don't want or need the bandsaw kerf showing through.

[Jim Finn]

This is what I do with my three scroll saws. I use them about 330 days a year. I sell all that I make with them.

[Jeffrey Martel]

I tried using an old Delta saw a couple years ago. Apparently I wasn't doing stuff right because it never worked correctly. Kept breaking blades, even in 1/4" ply. For my marquetry stuff I just use an exacto knife at the moment. I plan on building myself a Chevalet, however.

[Dave Lehnert]

Made on a scrollsaw.

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[Dave Lehnert]

Another scrollsaw project. Part of an 8x10 picture frame.

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[Mort Stevens]

This is what I do with my three scroll saws. I use them about 330 days a year. I sell all that I make with them.

Since you're doing this as a 'biz' more than a hobby, I suspect you don't get much satisfaction out of spending hours on something and then selling it! There are much better ways to spend your days than sitting sawing. So let me introduce you to the world of CNC. A CNC once programmed can do those designs in just a few minutes. Also bee careful with trademarked logos. The highly stylized "S" "TAM" & "Running Pony" are easily recognizable. Doing them for yourself is fine, but selling them might create some problems.

[Michael Moscicki]

Just some Christmas themed stuff that I made on a scroll saw. The tree is out of 1/4 red oak and the nativity scene is out of ply.

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Yes a CNC machine can do the stuff, but it lacks the handmade touch. When I give these as gifts to friends, they know that I took the time to make them.

I don't want to get in a purist debate, as a neander can say that a manual foot operated scroll saw is the only way to go or a handheld coping/fret saw. To each his own and I have no problem with people who use CNC's, but I myself would never replace my scroll saw with a CNC machine.

[Thomas Canfield]

I bought a Dremel scroll saw about 6 or 7 years back. I do not use it very often, but it can do inside cuts that cannot be done on a band saw, and the fine cut on little plywood pieces do not require any sanding. It definitely is not a "have to have" piece of equipment, but nice when needed and the price on the Dremel was not that much but does take up some space.

[Peter Quinn]

I got an old circa 1940's cast iron 18" craftsman from a deceased neighbors basement when his kids held an estate sale. Rusty skupper after years in a damp basement, cleaned up fine, still totally functional! I use it to make templates. With a good blade the cut is way smoother than any bandsaw blade, Italian or otherwise ( I too have a 20" Italian bandsaw sitting across the room). It takes up little space, it's always ready, and I can follow really tight lines on complicated templates without having to back out and change directions. Plus I don't have to switch band saw blades as often,and my saw doesn't want to take less than a 5/16" blade without playing some games with the guides which makes intricate scrolling on the big saw beyond reach. Almost no sanding patterns for the router bearing to follow as well. Another feature I've used is the ability to drill a hole and start in the middle of a piece, not have to saw into something then re glue it. Mine will easily cut 3/4" material with a decent blade.

[Rich Riddle]

Quite a few interesting projects. Hats off to you folks who have those skills needed for the more advanced work. Thanks for posting the pictures.

[Charles Lent]

I use my 2 scroll saws frequently all year for smaller woodworking projects, but almost continuously from October to January.

I make 3D Christmas Ornaments and 3D reindeer. My family and neighbors seem to have an open demand for more of the ornaments every year. I make the 3D reindeer to give away to friends, cashiers, nurses, waitresses, sales clerks, young children, etc. during the Christmas Season. Whenever I go out to do any shopping or to go out for lunch I give one to anyone who helps or waits on me. I usually wish them a "Merry Christmas" and hold out my hand palm down with a reindeer held in it with my thumb. When they hold out their hand I drop the reindeer into it. This helps me get fully into the Christmas spirit and brightens the faces of a lot of people as well. This past season I made 91 reindeer and gave them all away. I also made 34 ornaments and gave most away, but added a few to our tree to replace some that I had given away during the last Christmas Season.

The picture attached shows a few of the ones that I made this Christmas Season.

Charley

[glenn bradley]

Obviously the usefulness of a tool will depend on what you do. I have a DeWalt and use it on thick material primarily. I do sometimes use it to add a bit of pizzazz to small gifts and such.

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I use one seldom enough that when I do want one, it had better work well. The DeWalt has done fine for me.

[Len Rosenberg]

I still have an Excalibur scroll saw I bought in the early 1990s. I used it many times to make toys and puzzles for my very young kids. Take very thin plywood, glue a photo or paint a picture on it, and use the scroll saw to make it into a jigsaw puzzle. Scroll saw the letters of the kids' name and let them arrange it on a stand, or wire, or whatever. Take 1/2" soft pine, stencil the image/outline of an animal, or train, or whatever, and scroll saw it into puzzle parts. Save the surrounding wood as a frame, paint the parts, and you have a fun wooden puzzle. My kids have grown and I haven't used the saw for many years, but it was great fun at the time. There are plenty of puzzle and toy plans out there for the scroll saw.

Len

[Grant Wilkinson]

I use mine for jigsaw puzzles and some small toy making.

[Keith Weber]

I use mine for one thing only, and I guess my use is a little different from everyone else's according the the above posts. I have the table tilted, and I use it to back cut coping cuts on crown moulding. If I found a better way of doing that, I'd probably get rid of the thing.

[Dennis Aspö]

I could have used it when I made my tilting router lift, there's a part of the process where a scroll saw would have worked, or a router table too but hey I was building that.

[Kevin Bourque]

I have a scroll saw. I keep it on the shelf next to my biscuit joiner. A very dusty shelf...:)

[julian abram]

Nice work Jim. Just another area of woodworking that few of us explore. Too many categories of woodworking and not enough time to do them all, must pick and choose according to interest.

[Brian Henderson]

I use mine for everything from puzzle making to intarsia to inlay work. It isn't something I use every day, but for the projects that need it, it is instrumental and irreplaceable.

[Larry Frank]

I have a Hegner Scroll saw and use it a lot. I have posted a couple of Intarsia projects and have made puzzles, ornaments, toys and other things. I enjoy doing this.

Scroll saw work is not discussed much on this forum.

[Carl Carew]

A strong second to Max's comment about 1/2 a page back, quality is a huge factor, I have had 3 scroll saws a cheap one that was useless, a dewalt which is a very big improvement, and finally a hegner which is great. There is a learning curve, but if you have a good saw its pretty simple. the right blade for the material and thickness, correct tension and then learning how to look just a little ahead of where you are cutting and feed the cut line to the blade. Of course many of the comments are relevant if you dont need to make this type of cut you don't need the tool. Since I upgraded my band saw to an 18 inch laguna I tend to leave the 3/4 inch resaw blade in most of the time, and turn to the scroll saw more often. I also use it a lot for cutting patterns to use with my router trim bits

[John Sincerbeaux]

I have a 20" agazzani band saw, SAC 24 widebelt, Kundig Uniq edge sander, new VB36 lathe, all purchased with income I produced with my Dewalt scrollsaw. Hands down the most lucrative tool/machine I own. I hope my lathe will out produce the scroll saw soon.
My website: sincerbeaux.com

[Kevin McCluney]

I've used my scroll saw for a number of projects including furniture (I have one in progress now - table skirts with a scroll sawed pattern). It's a little difficult to see in the picture, but the lower shelf of this nightstand has a flower and vine pattern cut using a scroll saw. This was one of a pair, so there were lots of holes to cut.
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[Max Neu]

306301Here is a bar support I had to match out of Rustic Alder.The designer wanted that same look for a bar I made for one of her clients.Needless to say,I couldn't buy them anywhere like that out of rustic Alder.So i glued up the main chunks and cut them out with the bandsaw.Then did the fret work with the scroll saw on another piece.Then resawed the cutout piece that gave me 6 identical pieces 1/4'' thick to attach to the the pieces that were cutout on the bandsaw.They ended up matching very close to the original's,I could not have done that without a scroll saw.I went years without owning one,and probably could go until retirement (25+ years) without owning one,but when you have one,you can find all sorts of things to use it for that no other saw can do.

[Rich Riddle]

After seeing your posts it's beginning to become clear why there is no scroll saw in the garage. I lack the talent, patience, and time to use one to make such fine work. Your guys work is great. If I used one, folks would be getting strange looking ornaments for Christmas.

[Brian Henderson]

After seeing your posts it's beginning to become clear why there is no scroll saw in the garage. I lack the talent, patience, and time to use one to make such fine work. Your guys work is great. If I used one, folks would be getting strange looking ornaments for Christmas.

Nobody started out an expert, everyone has to learn. You can produce some gorgeous work with a scroll saw, it just takes time and practice. When I first started, I thought I could never make anything worthwhile, but I've managed to turn out some really nice presents for people that they enjoyed.

[Tom Giacomo]

306315I use mine for marquetry.

[David Falkner]

My scroll saw is a valuable piece of my 'arsenal' in the shop and I would hate to be without it.

I like to do things like this anniversary gift for my wife -
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Here's the overall size -
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And one of these is from the left over pieces of the anniversary gift -
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This is my 1944 Delta scroll saw I recently restored. I bought this about 30 years ago from the man who bought it new. This photo is before the restoration.
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This is one of the pieces I like to do; takes me about 25 hours to do this. Designed and drawn in CorelDraw and I usually make these out of Mahogany.
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[Jim Finn]

I get a lot of satisfaction of making things that others buy from me. I have done this all my life, doing construction work. I do not spend hours on doing one inlay. Most inlays I do take less than ten minutes to apply the pattern ,cut and assemble. Only one cut is required to cut both the inlaid image and the background wood. (Double bevel inlay)
Does not a CNC machine make a cut in the background wood and then another cut to make the inserted piece? I have not seen one work, as I suspect you have not seen inlay work done with a scroll saw using the double bevel inlay method.
I would much rather spend my time cutting wood than sitting at a computer and letting a computer direct the cutting for me.
Different strokes for different folks.

[Chris Corwin]

Nice work! I have several CnC routers and have done what you are doing with the cut outs. I don't do it anymore because I found out that a 1/8" bit does a pretty good job of cutting the smaller cutouts. Since I got my laser engravers, I don't even use the 1/8" bit, the laser does all the cutting!

Here are some Picts done using the 1/8" bit

[Calvin Arterberry]

Hello folks. I'm new to sawmill. I am also new to woodworking. I have been reading some of the blogs on sawmill, and the threads are very interesting. Enjoying them.
I have done metal fabrication and welding all my life. I got married 13 years ago and my wife talked me into learning how to deal Blackjack. I had never even seen the game played, let alone deal it. Low and behold...I am now a Blackjack pit boss. I have been doing this for almost 10yrs now. BUT...I still have that itch to draw and read prints and build stuff. Ever since mid-September I have been buying woodworking equipment to do woodworking as a hobby. I have got everything that I think that I need to start. I'm going to start scrolling this coming up week. First time ever to use a scroll saw, planer, router...etc. I do feel like I have a good enough background in fabrication to do pretty good at this. Practice! Right?
Any thoughts? Opinions? Tips? Or maybe you might just wanna tell me I'm crazy for buying all brand new equipment for something that I know very little about.

[Rich Riddle]

Hello folks. I'm new to sawmill. I am also new to woodworking. I have been reading some of the blogs on sawmill, and the threads are very interesting. Enjoying them.
I have done metal fabrication and welding all my life. I got married 13 years ago and my wife talked me into learning how to deal Blackjack. I had never even seen the game played, let alone deal it. Low and behold...I am now a Blackjack pit boss. I have been doing this for almost 10yrs now. BUT...I still have that itch to draw and read prints and build stuff. Ever since mid-September I have been buying woodworking equipment to do woodworking as a hobby. I have got everything that I think that I need to start. I'm going to start scrolling this coming up week. First time ever to use a scroll saw, planer, router...etc. I do feel like I have a good enough background in fabrication to do pretty good at this. Practice! Right?
Any thoughts? Opinions? Tips? Or maybe you might just wanna tell me I'm crazy for buying all brand new equipment for something that I know very little about.
Welcome to SMC. The Creekers have plenty of thoughts, opinions, and even a few tips. The hobby is like many others. You start out with your startup tools and then quickly migrate toward different ones, better one, more advanced ones, etc. Don't go to the Neander room if you don't have a budget like the casino that employs you. Those tools get ridiculous in price. Try to enjoy the hobby, learn from your mistakes, and don't let all the differences of opinions bother you. Most folks here act like decent folks.

[Calvin Arterberry]

Rich.
Thank you for your reply. From what I have been reading on SMC for the last couple weeks, everybody seems to be down to earth, truthful and honest. These folks do not seem to beat around the bush. I like that. They seem to love the art of woodworking and have some very helpful tips and opinions. As of right now, I have spent the last 2-3 weeks building some good sturdy work benches for my machines. I have found that just a few hours in a shop cutting wood creates a ton of dust. I am making a trip to Plano, Tx. tomorrow to a woodcraft store to buy a dust collection system. I have read a lot of articles and watched a bunch of video reviews. I read the thread on SMC about dust collection and the Oneida dust deputy system. This is the one that I believe I am gonna buy. Everybody seems to like this system.
My wife does screen printing on the side. She likes to do local craft shows and small town festivals to sell her products. I'm thinking that I'll start making some projects to put in her booth when she sets up at these shows to see if it will catch a few eyes. I agree with the ole boy that said that there's satisfaction in knowing that a person will spend money on something that you have hand-crafted from a vision in your mind. I have programmed and operated CNC machines. You zero out the material on the table, calibrate the machine, punch in a program, press start, sit down with a cup o coffee and watch it run. Ok. Where's the satisfaction? Where's the hand crafting?
Me personally. I would rather operate a 40-ton manual metal press, where you have to actually look at prints and bend sheet metal to specific angles and dimensions to meet specs. I love machine shop work. Lathes and mills. To me, that's satisfaction. I am hoping that I can take my knowledge of metal fabrication and put it into wood working.

[Jim Finn]

Welcome. I am a retired sheet metal worker. Construction. Yes a lot of the skills acquired in fabricating metal,can help with working with wood. I make small artsy crafty stuff that I sell at street fairs and festivals and my wife sells her crocheted items with me occasionally. I sell a lot of Cedar boxes within images inlaid into the hinged lids. They sell well here in and around Lubbock. Using a little of my metal working skill, I made the wyes I needed to install my six inch metal dust collection system.

[Bryan Cramer]

I first got an old Powermatic for next to nothing from the late 60's. I use it to do accurate pierced work such as a handle I cut for a serving tray. I like it for more furniture scale work because I run coping saw blades and it cuts more like a slow bandsaw. I also have a Excalibur that I use for fretwork and veneer work. In my opinion if you do average furniture work and have the space find an old Delta or Powermatic "plunger type" saw. It will come in handy for that occasional precision pierced work. Modern scroll saws are better suited for the craft side of woodworking because they can hold small blades.

[Rich Riddle]

Bryan,

That offered a very informative synopsis. Thanks for that information. I have a fondness for old Powermatic tools and will keep that in mind. Craft work proves bewildering and complex. Perhaps one day more patience will allow for craft work.

[Myk Rian]

They come in handy when one of the kids looses a pet.

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