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!!