Steve Good

One of the first people I found that had a lot of good information was Steve Good at scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com.  He has been scroll sawing for over 20 years and his information is really useful.  He also has lots of free patterns you can download and try.  Some of the things I have learned from Steve that have been useful.

How to Select a Scroll Saw

This is is really good video that talks about the features of a scroll saw.  I watched this one before deciding to buy my Delta.  From this video I learned that I wanted a saw that was easy to use, easy to change the blade, and used the flat blades and not the pin blades.  The video is actually in 2 parts so watch Part 1 and Part 2.

The Basics to Getting Started

Steve has a scroll saw school on this blog.  It is a series of 9 videos that cover the basics.  There is really good information about blades and how to get a project ready to cut.  One link for his suggested Flying Dutchman blades is to the left in the link list.  Visit Steve's school here.

What It Looks Like To Be Good.  (No pun intended!)

Here is Steve cutting out a Christmas ornament.  He goes through the whole process of applying the pattern, drilling the holes for the inside cuts and then cutting each part.  It is a little lengthy because it shows him doing the whole thing but it is amazing to watch how good his cuts are.  I use this to watch his fingers, how he holds the board, how fast he cuts, and how he hits the angles.  It is one I will watch several times.

First Project

When I got my scroll saw home I was excited to do something, anything.  So I found a small scrap piece of wood laying around.  Then I went into Word and wrote my name with a script font and made it about 48 points big.  In my initial scroll saw research I had seen people attach the patterns to the wood with spray adhesive.  I didn't have any so I got a glue stick and rubbed it on the back of the paper and stuck it to the wood.  It held secure enough to cut and it peeled right off when I was done.  I imagine you wouldn't want it to dry very long though.  So here is my very first attempt at cutting something out:

As you can see I got a little skinny on the top part of the K and a little fat on the bottom part.  Turning sharp in the m didn't turn out so well either.  But it gives me a starting point.  I got the feel for the saw and got more excited about doing better.

A whole bunch of YouTube videos later I decided to see how cutting out inside pieces would go.  A found a keychain pattern, which I will give you the link to later, and cut it out and glued it to some of the 3/4 inch pine I had left.  I drilled hole for the blade to go in and gave it a shot.  This is what happened:

It is pretty sloppy but this is what I found.  The wood for the first Kim was about half as thick as the wood from the keychain.  Cutting thicker wood is harder to cut straight and is harder to follow the lines.  I will need lots of practice for thick woods.  Also cutting out the inside pieces was pretty hard, especially the small pieces.  Again, it was hard to keep a straight line.  You can also see where I didn't drill the hole all the way through on the bottom of the K.  I had already put my drill and bits away when I discovered this and I didn't want to drag them out again so I left it as is for a reminder to always check the holes.

Now I have something to refer back to as my first cutting on a scroll saw.  We'll see how things improve from here.

BTW, the pattern for the keychain can be found on Steve Good's blog, or from this link: 

How it all started

Like all good things in life, this hobby started because of my wife. I have to thank her for her indulgence and letting me pursue something new. A few weeks ago my wife got this wood carving from a friend and wanted me to make a few copies.

This is actually the one I cut out.  I have given the original that was painted nice and everything back to my wife's friend.

It seemed kind of light but was 1 1/2 inches think. I didn't know what kind of wood they used so I just went and got some 2 by 8 boards and traced them out. One of the few power tools I own is a band saw my father gave me about a year ago. I used the band saw to cut them out and that worked OK. The wood is real hard and the inside of the J was very difficult. I ended up doing a lot of sanding to smooth it out. Then I got the idea that maybe they used two pieces of 1 inch pine glued together. (1 inch really means 3/4 inch so it ended up 1 1/2 inches:)) I tried this and it cut a little nicer but was much more expensive than the construction lumber.

Then my wife decided that she wanted some more but only about half the size. I could use just one sheet of pine instead of two and fit twice as many. Then she could have a bunch of smaller 3/4 inch thick words. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: I really would need a scroll saw to do something like that. I don't think I can make that tight of turns on a band saw.

Her: How much is a scroll saw.

Me: About $500. Everything is about $500. I have looked at table saws, drill presses, planers, scroll saws, etc. Everything is about $500.

Her: Look on Craig's List and see if there is anything. So to appease her I looked on Craig's List and found this Delta ShopMaster scroll saw for sale for $185.00.

I did some googling and found that it was probably a pretty good quality saw. It also looked in good condition so I told her what I found. To my surprise she told me to go get it. I went and took a closer look at it. He let me cut a little piece of wood to show it worked so I asked him if he would take $150 for it. He said yes so that is how I ended up with my first scroll saw!!