Does anyone really use their scroll saw?

[Jimmy Harris]

I use mine all of the time. It does a few things that a bandsaw cannot, and works a lot faster than a coping saw or fretsaw. One of it's biggest advantages is cutting out a hole in the middle of something. It's also great for tight turns, especially with something like letters or numbers. It's also used for marquetry and inlay sometimes. And I've used it to make saw handles and other things like that on several occasions.

But, if all you do is make large scale furniture, then it probably won't see much use. I use mine mostly for small things and detail work. It rarely gets used when making large pieces of furniture. It's definitely not a "must have" tool for most people, but it can be for some. And, one of the great things about a scroll saw is they're small and you can get a good one for relatively cheap. Mine's a Wen brand (I think I paid about $100 for it), and it does everything I've asked of it very well. I keep it in a cabinet and only pull it out when needed. It's especially nice because it holds both pinned and pinless blades.

[Rick Potter]

My dad used to enjoy doing craft shows, and left me his RBI. I already had an Excalibur I picked up on CL, then my wife decided to buy (for me?)another RBI at the fair, along with some wood, several books and patterns. She loves to sew, and wanted to try scroll sawing.

That was 20 years ago. The two RBI's are in a shed, one never used (but she still wants it), the Excalibur on a shelf in the shop, where I seldom use it. No one in the family wants one, but I keep hoping.

All three are really nice machines, just don't use them, and I just cannot sell the one she insisted I buy for her (a gift?).

PS: To add perspective...Her RBI cost over $1100 twenty years ago. I am gonna be buried with it.

[Clifford McGuire]

I had the Delta Q3 scroll saw and used it occasionally. Then the top arm developed a crack. Couldn't find parts and when I moved, I gave it away.

[Cary Falk]

I have had 3 over the years and they met the same fate. I ended up selling them all. The first was a Craftsman that worked better as a jackhammer. The second was an old cast iron Delta that I restored but it was heavy and hard to store. The 3rd was the Dewalt which was easy to store and used pinless blades. It was a great saw but I didn't use it as much as I thought I would. I i wasn't using one because of the quality of the saw was the issue. I just didn't use it enough. I have other tools now that I can get to do what I would do with the scroll saw.

[Michael Schuch]

Thank you Michael... I had been cutting non-ferrous metal with the a jewelers saw and Pike and Super Pike saw blades (I have every size --most in the gross amounts-- from 6/0 up through #6)
The way I had read to cut thin gauge metal on bandsaw or scroll saw was to sandwich the metal between two pieces of wood and use the regular band saw or scroll saw blade .
I will have to try the conversion holders.

You are welcome!

I tried cutting a sheet of brass on a shear once... that was a complete mess! The sheet would just bend over and rip instead of cutting. The sheet metal sheer probably needed to be adjusted for soft metal???

I have sandwiched brass sheet with wood and cut on a table saw and a radial arm saw with good results for breaking large sheets down to a usable size.

When "I" have tried to use a plasma cutter I always get a pretty rough edge that needs a good bit of clean up. But so does the sheet steel I cut with the plasma. Maybe someone with more experience and skill can make a plasma cutter work better.

When I have cut sheet brass on my bandsaw without any kind of backing. it has worked out OK but does bend the edges over which then need cleanup.

I had good luck with the scroll saw and jewelers blades for less accurate cuts than a jewelers bow saw and cleaned them up with needle files.

With your blade assortment can I assume you do a fair amount of white smithing?

[Patty Hann]

You are welcome!

I tried cutting a sheet of brass on a shear once... that was a complete mess! The sheet would just bend over and rip instead of cutting. The sheet metal sheer probably needed to be adjusted for soft metal???

I have sandwiched brass sheet with wood and cut on a table saw and a radial arm saw with good results for breaking large sheets down to a usable size.

When "I" have tried to use a plasma cutter I always get a pretty rough edge that needs a good bit of clean up. But so does the sheet steel I cut with the plasma. Maybe someone with more experience and skill can make a plasma cutter work better.

When I have cut sheet brass on my bandsaw without any kind of backing. it has worked out OK but does bend the edges over which then need cleanup.

I had good luck with the scroll saw and jewelers blades for less accurate cuts than a jewelers bow saw and cleaned them up with needle files.

With your blade assortment can I assume you do a fair amount of white smithing?

HAHA... had to look up "white-smithing", which tells you how much I do.
I may have posted this pic earlier, but this is my only "whites smithing" project (that I''m willing to show.)
I Steampunked a USB Cable to go with my Steampunked Keyboard (Some metal work on the keyboard)



IMG_3685_20.jpg IMG_3676_20.jpg IMG_3678_20.jpg IMG_3679_20.jpgIMG_3665_20.jpgIMG_2591_KB.jpgIMG_2546_LitKB.jpg

[stephen thomas]

I love it!!!
smt

[Rich Engelhardt]

Patty - that is tremendous!
You - are - a very - talented - lady!

[Steven O Smith]

I've done a fair bit with my RBI saw, just for hobby, not selling crafts. The first image is a six bottle wine holder, wedding present for a friend. The second shows a clock mechanism, and why the clock sometimes stops.

fjegfdkdgihggpph.jpgHermes clock 006.jpg

[Jimmy Harris]

I would suggest that if you want one, but don't know how much use it'll get, get a cheap one. Generally, you want to buy nice tools so they'll last a lifetime and not give you grief to use. Buy once, cry once, right? But with a scroll saw, it's the blade that does all the work, so you don't gain much by stepping up to a large and expensive model with all of the bells and whistles. Very few people will benefit from a high end scroll saw. We won't use it enough to gain the experience with it to make a high end saw a worthy return on that investment. Though, for the people who have that need, like a luthier, a big, fancy model is probably a worthy investment.

I'd also suggest buying a momentary foot switch with one. That way you can start and stop it without having to move your hands. That comes in really handy when you first start using one, because unlike most other saws, the blades on a scroll saw are stamped, not ground. That means they'll want to pull too one side, so you'll have to get into the habit of feeding your stock at a slight angle to cut straight, or a different angle to cut the angle you want. And that angle will change as you change blades. It takes a bit of experience to get the hang of that. So being able to stop the microsecond it starts to get off line is really helpful.

[Mike Henderson]

I agree with Jimmy Harris about the foot switch. I couldn't operate my scroll saw without it.

Depends on the work you plan to do, but if you will cut on the bevel, it's really nice to have a saw where the saw blade tilts and not the platen. Unfortunately, that's usually found on higher end saws.

Mike

[Jimmy Harris]

I agree with Jimmy Harris about the foot switch. I couldn't operate my scroll saw without it.

Depends on the work you plan to do, but if you will cut on the bevel, it's really nice to have a saw where the saw blade tilts and not the platen. Unfortunately, that's usually found on higher end saws.

Mike

Yeah, that is one of the advantages. And there are a few others. If you're doing serious scroll work, then it might be worth the upgrade to a serious machine. But if you're debating on whether you actually NEED a scroll saw, then you probably don't need an expensive one. There are workarounds that can be done with these cheaper machines even if they present a slight inconvenience. Though if you have the money and the space, get what you want!

But for a lot less that even a mid-range scroll saw, you can buy a 16" Wen, Grizzly, Shop Fox, Skil, Ryobi, Makita, Central Machinery, Rikon, and probably a dozen other brands, and get done what you need to do. They're all pretty much the same saw made in the same factory. The only differences are the color and some of the accessories. Though I would recommend getting one with a pinless blade adapter, as that actually makes a HUGE difference by opening up a wold of new blades that you can use. But my 16" Wen has seen use, probably once every 2-3 months for the past 10 years now, and it's never let me down. So it was well worth the money I paid.

[andy bessette]

I've done a fair bit with my RBI saw, just for hobby, not selling crafts. The first image is a six bottle wine holder, wedding present for a friend. The second shows a clock mechanism, and why the clock sometimes stops.

fjegfdkdgihggpph.jpgHermes clock 006.jpg

HAHA... had to look up "white-smithing", which tells you how much I do.
I may have posted this pic earlier, but this is my only "whites smithing" project (that I''m willing to show.)
I Steampunked a USB Cable to go with my Steampunked Keyboard (Some metal work on the keyboard)



IMG_3685_20.jpg IMG_3676_20.jpg IMG_3678_20.jpg IMG_3679_20.jpgIMG_3665_20.jpgIMG_2591_KB.jpgIMG_2546_LitKB.jpg

Last year I purchased a higher end Seyco scrollsaw model (my first scroll saw) and absolutely love it. Spent a few hours today working on a birthday gift for a relative in fact. I have a passion for most all form of woodworking from full blown furniture making, wood turning (segmentation), extreme diy remodeling, shop improvement projects, and now several forms of scroll sawing including some delicate fret work. 99% of my scrolling projects are given away as gifts. I enjoy the ‘hunt’ for great designs on Etsy and then the selection of woods to represent the look I’m going for. The look on peoples faces when they open the gifts is priceless as it is truly something uniquely made just for them. I own and use a shaper origin as well but there is something really cool about the perfect in-perfections with scrolling. If you want some inspiration look up a poster on instagram called scrollsaw scribbler- his posts inspired me to give it a try. Below are just a few examples of my work - I have a LONG WAY to go before I would consider myself good at scrolling but I’m enjoying the journey.

Really nice work.

I have an ancient, variable speed Delta that is used mostly for model building, but also any time I need to make an "inside" cut.

[Patty Hann]

I love it!!!
smt

Patty - that is tremendous!
You - are - a very - talented - lady!

Really nice work.

Thank you all for the nice comments.

[dennis thompson]

IMG_0275.jpg

I use my Pegas scroll saw three to four hours a day making intarsia like this.
It’s 240 pieces and if a piece is off by 1/32” you throw it away!
When I made this I made a total of about 380 pieces, 140 were thrown away