scroll sawing is tough!!

[Jim Finn]

I have been scroll sawing for a number of years now and am comfortable with it now.  I recently read , in a post, that following a line with a scroll saw is similar to driving a car. You do not just hold the steering wheel with a death like grip, but you keep a light touch and swing the wheel left and right as you drive.  Same with a scroll saw.  I realized that this is a good description of what I have learned.  To make sharp turns cutting into the waste and then back to the line does not work when doing inlay work. Double bevel inlay is easy to do but unforgiving because there is no waste to cut in to.  What I do for corners is round them off a bit and start them just ahead of the actual corner. No backing up when doing inlay.  So if you ever want to try inlay I suggest working on making corners without cutting into the waste side of your line.  I do not do any fret work.  It does not intrest me...yet.

[etcher]

Everyone here is incredible!!  Thanks for the motivation and the tips, I will try them all!!

Dixie

[GrayBeard]

Well Dixie, you have received about all the advice anyone can give on learning the scrollsaw hobby!

Now my nickel's worth....
DO NOT get ahead of yourself and expect to be a master scroller in a week!
If you set YOUR expectations too high at the very beginning you are doomed to have a large paperweight in your shop.
Give yourself some time and some room and PLEASE have some patience with yourself.
Sure it gets exasperating but you are learning a whole new set of skills so read all you can, experiment as much as you have time for and above all....RELAX and ENJOY the process.
You have the ability and creativity! Now you just have to learn the skills, the tools and the process.

Good Luck...

~~~GB~~~

[etcher]

That's very good advice, GB!  I guess I'm so used to mastering my crafts fairly quickly, I get a little frustrated when I have trouble with it starting out.

After looking at everyone advice (top notch at that, thanks everyone again!), I went to the Sears and found tiny blades that were fairly cheap and figured it would be good to practice with.  I'm still waiting for my Flying Dutchman blades to show up but I'm hoping I can get a little more practice in with the one's from Sears before hand.

I promise that I'll keep everyone posted with my progress

Dixie

[troy_curtis]

My advice is keep coming on here and feel free to ask tons of questions. I learn so much from this family of wood workers. Also don't be afraid to try things. I jump in and try. Some things are good and others are learning mistakes. As for the straight edge cutting...some of my projects dont have the straightest lines. I find a good sander can fix mistakes. Also dont worry if you dont cut a perfect line. I get off my pattern sometimes and when all is said and done no one but me knows. I also suggest trying to use a spiral blade. Either you will love it or hate it. Many cutters dont do well with them, but there are a few of us who swear by them.

[GrayBeard]

RE: Spiral Blades...

I use them about 85% of the time ... but I do mostly portrait type projects.

Learn to use the flat blades BEFORE you even think of ordering Spirals!!!
They have a totally different learning curve and seem to have a mind of their own.

My experience has been that when I need long straight or gently curving cuts that the FD Polar #5 is my go-to blade.

~~GB~~~

[Shogun]

Hi Dixie,
I'm new here too but have been scrolling for a while now. The saw I have now and my last one as well both had weak blowers on them. What you can do is pick up a fish tank pump at a pet store or maybe wal-Mart. They are not too expensive and make great dust blowers.

Eddie

[king310]

if scrolling was easy everyone would do it  Besides my neighbor would not have wood to burn.

[Billy in Va]

I know King.  I took two buckets of designer heat and put it in the owners wood burning boiler yesterday.

[tas2181]

Dixie,
While all the advice you have been given so far by everyone is great, the one thing I found that is the most helpful is to concentrate on the cutting line slightly in front of the blade. (1/8" -1/4"). It is too late to make corrections with the travel of the blade if you concentrate on where the blade is, instead of where you want it to go.
The car driving analogy is good- point it the direction you want to be not where it is now.

[etcher]

Again, thank you all for the wonderful advice!

The good news is that my new Flying Dutchman blades came in (I bought a variety pack so I'll be able to experiment with the different types).

The bad news is that between work and a sick hubby, not much time in the wood shop.  Oh well, it'll happen soon enough.

Oh yea, love the idea about the fish pump!  I should look into that the next time I'm able to get out.

Thanks again!!

Dixie

[IBMer]

It will get better with practice.    I started cutting about 2 months ago.   My first project was...  Ugly for the lack of better words.   Now I can cut just about anything, and 10 times faster than when I first started.    Like everyone here will tell you, make sure that your blades are correctly tightened as it will make your cuts more accurate.   Also, once you learn that blades don't cut straight lines, it will really help.   By that I mean, when they make blades, one side is sharper than the other which makes it hard to cut a straight line.   You'll learn to hold your wood at an angle to compliment how the blades cut.

Oh, and start with soft wood like Pine.   I learned on super hard, dense woods and was shocked how much easier it was to work with baltic birch ply, and pine.   Night and day.

[tbolt]

I started with pine then moved up to poplar i think it is easier to cut than pine tried some oak and struggled a bit all i can say is practice practice