Hi, im a newbie and i request some advise :)

[Redshirt]

Hello,
My name's Daniel, im from germany and i just found this community. Since i bought my first scrollsaw a while ago i find myself constantly frustrated by my inability to properly cut even relatively thing wood.
It's perhaps a matter of practice  but i just can't seem to be able to cut a (straight or curved, it doesn't matter much) line without constant bumps (which then need to be sanded) and the ever present feel that the blade is somehow twisting.  It's especialy annoying with concave shapes (like the inside of a ship's frames) lines since sanding them is usualy a bit difficult and frustrating.
Since i have seen many wonderful projects here i wonder, can anyone give me a piece of advice?

[don in brooklin on]

Hi there

Thin wood is actually harder to cut than something a little thicker.  When I am doing 1/8 I often cut 2 0r 3 at a time as the resistance makes it easier.

Keeping on the line takes practice.  On Steve's site he has some videos on each type on line including straight lines.

http://www.stevedgood.com/school/sss.html

Also, Shelia Landry has good lessons at Lumberjocks

 http://lumberjocks.com/scrollgirl/blog/series/4134

[ALG]

Do what Don said and things will go better for you.

[DWSudekum]

Daniel there are some very simple but important items that should be done.  First relax and have fun.  When you put your blade in and apply tension on it if you pluck it with your finger you should get a ting sound.  This indicates that the blade is properly tensioned for most cuttings.  You should take a piece of pine that is 19mm ( 3/4 inch  ) and draw lines, circles, curves and then cut them.  If when you are cutting you find that when you stop cutting the saw continues for a little bit then you are pushing the wood into the blade and rushing the cut.  If you are positioned right over the cutting you probably will have trouble with control.  I have found that cutting at about a comfortable reach to the saw table gives me the best control.  You need to be comfortable when you cut.  There are several books out there that have been published by Fox Chapel Publishing that give a beginning scroller some great tips, insights and general instruction.  You generally will get better with practice.  Make things and above all have fun.


DW

[Redshirt]

Thanks for the replies
I will watch the videos and try out the advice you gave me. If all goes well i shall post the results soon(tm)ish.

[Jim-78028]

Daniel,  I am new too, Santa brought my saw.  Things I found that helped, some were suggestions from the good people here were: relax your shoulders and breathe, concentrating makes you tense up and the blade feels it.

If you have used a jig saw or power saw in the past, the scroll saw is different.  Power sawing you look ahead where you want to cut, the scroll saw you have to look at the point where the blade hits the wood or maybe 0.5cm ahead of it.  If you move your eyes the saw seems to take over.

I took the foot off the saw and that helped too, the part that rides on the wood to "hold it down"

Tip the whole saw toward you, I put wood under the rear legs of the saw, what a difference that made, I have about 9 cm under the rear.

We all have a dominant eye, sit or stand so that the dominant eye is in line with the cut line. If you need to know how to determine the dominant eye let me know.

Take a break every so often and walk around.

[julief]

Hi Daniel and welcome to the forum.  I'm Julie from Texas.  Glad to have you.  Everything that has been said is spot on.  If your blade is twisting, you either need to tighten the tension or you are pushing the wood.  Let the blade do its job.  Take it slow.  Very thin wood is difficult.  Either start with something thicker or stack cut your piece to give it more stability.  Blades are very important.  Good blades will take your cutting to a whole new level.  Most of us here use either Flying Dutchman or Olson blades.  Let us know if any of this helps.  Good luck.

[Bill Wilson]

Daniel, you are going through what most of us went through when we first started.  The advantage you have over some of us, is that when we started, there weren't any forums like this and there weren't any videos on-line to help. 

First off, I would practice on some scrap wood, instead of trying to cut an actual project.  Draw some lines, curves, straight, sharp angles, etc on the wood and just focus on following the lines.  This way you don't get the added frustration of feeling like you've spoiled a project.

You may be experiencing some blade drift.  Some scrollsaw blades tend to drift to one side or the other (mostly to the right, in my experience).  It's fairly common, but a source of great frustration until it's understood and compensated for.  Draw a straight line on a piece of wood.  Line it up with the blade and feed it straight into the cut, being careful not to twist or push the wood to one side or the other.  If the blade wants to wander off to the side, despite you not feeding it there, this is blade drift.  It can be compensated for by moving slightly to the side and feeding the wood into the blade from a slight angle.  If the blade drifts off to the line to the right, then stand/sit slightly off center to the right and then feed the wood straight ahead.  You will be pushing the wood at a slight angle across the table, but the blade should cut a straighter line.  It might take some trial & error to find the sweet spot, but once you do, it should be easier to follow the line. 

Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

[Hawkdave]

G'Day Daniel. and welcome to the forum.

You have had some great replies to your query and I am sure your problem will be answered when you check all of the videos out.

When it is solved, have a great time in this brilliant hobby.

Dave.

[Toneman]

I really cannot add to what advice has been give to you by others here on the forum. That been said, I found in the beginning, my shoulders began to hurt, so from advice from the nice people here I took a deep breath and dropped my shoulders! This made a big difference and I became more relaxed and seems staying on pattern became easier.

Tony,aka,Toneman

[UHMNL]

Hi Daniel,
You got a lot of very good answers. If you go to http://mikesworkshop.com/ and click on "selecting a blade" and "Q and A" you might find some more. Very imported is to keep a straight line. The best how to do that is on Steve Good's site.
Blade have a burr on the right site, what makes them cut to the right. Also good tension and good speed is very imported. Let the blade do the cutting, never be in a hurry.
You can buy the best blades right in Germany at: NIQUA GMBH
Saegen- und Werkzeugfabrik
Schulstr. 19
56290 Beltheim / GERMANY.   
I think that the phone number for Bernd is: 49-6762-4093-15 or you could also ask for Tino.
I would recommend the Ultra Reverse blade. It is made from very good steel and it has a tinny marking on one end, telling that it is the top. The blade has two teeth down and one up along the blade and very hard to use your finger.
If you have any other questions, please email me at: sdmike@alliancecom.net.
Mike

[Aggrajag]

The videos on this site: http://www.scrollsawparadise.com/#!tutorials/c2269 helped me enormously when I started. Try to open them directly in YouTube so you can see bigger versions. Watch all his tutorials and also print out and practice using his test pattern.

Grab yourself some quality plywood about 8-10mm thick and practice on that. I know it can be expensive for what it is to practice on, but it'll be flat, it'll cut cleanly and there's no grain to worry about (which on some woods can influence/twist the blade.)

I'd also recommend using a double-reverse blade (something like http://www.woodworkscraftsupplies.co.uk/doublereverse-tooth-scroll-blades-144s-p-440.html) so that the bottom of the cut is as clean as the top.

Take your time, it's not a race, don't push the wood in, let the weight of your hands move it forwards gently and don't be scared to turn the piece around quickly - you'll be surprised how fast and sharp you can turn once you've got the hang of it.

But really do take the time to watch the videos; they'll show you how to use/abuse the unwanted part of your wood to turn around in and come back so you can get an angle where you want a sharp point rather than a turn. Seriously - invest some time in watching them!

Good luck and have fun!