How I Got Started In the Hobby Of Scrolling

[julief]

I was a single mom for 21 years.  As my kids got older (and more expensive), I had to find a way to make more than one job could pay.  I made furniture (cradles, hope chests, tables etc.) but those items were in short demand.  I started making scrolled items because the wood was lighter and I could complete projects quickly. 
  I started selling at a local pharmacy/gift shop that let me put in some spiral bowls and crosses.  I took in 8 pieces the first week and sold out by Thursday.  What a blessing!  As my kids went away to college, I started carrying things with me everywhere.  I would meet friends for lunch and carry in a box of random pieces.  Not to sell to my friends, but people in the restaurants would ask if they were for sale when I would take them out to show my friends.  I often left with no wood and a fair amount of money.
  I moved from the Dallas area to central Texas in 08 and worried that I would have to start all over because my business was mostly word of mouth.  I found a great gallery that specialized in wood working items and sold my stuff for way more than I did.  The local people know what I do because I often donate to silent auctions and fund raisers.  I live in a very small community and folks often show up just to see what I am working on.
  I no longer have to make a living off my scrollwork.  I do it for the shear enjoyment of making something that makes me happy.  I am blessed to be able to do what I love for no other reason.

[Shogun]

I started out making sighns with a router and got kind of good at it. My Moms boyfriend at the time dave me a stack of old Woodworking magazines and they still had the pull out patterns in them. I read some of the articles and chose a few simple patterns, like a miniature Decons bench and bought my first scroll saw.

[Kepy]

My first scrolling was with a coping saw in 1951 while at camp (I still have it).  In the 60's, I attended an auction with my grandfather.  He purchased a box that had what I thought was a bunch of junk.  Turned out it was a Delta scrolling jigsaw that was all there but just in pieces.  He got a kick out of reminding me what a great pile of junk he had as I learned to cut on it.  In the 70's, I found an identical saw at a garage sale and took it home.  For several years about all I did was design a Christmas ornament every year which I sent instead of cards to family and friends.  Then got busy with career until 90 when I got caught in a hostile takeover and let go.  Moved back to the hills and bought a wholesale craft supply business.  Part of the business was cutting parts for tole painters.  Got along with the old Delta for several years but finally purchased a Delta Q3.  Have since had 3 Delta 350s, an RBI Hawk and now DeWalt 788.  Have long since retired and just cut for fun and gifts to family and friends.

[troy_curtis]

Isn't it funny how many good stories this thread had created. I have always been far from handy with tools. I am more a computer geek than a tool man. About 12 years ago my father in law said he would love to take a cabinet making class. To get him out of his easy chair and doing something with his life I said I'd do the class with him. So off we went to a community college course on making cabinets. I designed a simple cabinet for my wife's precious moment collection. Then with 3 weeks left in the course I got playing around with the lathe. Loved the lathe (even though I wasnt great at it). The next year for Christmas my wife got me a Harbor Freight Lathe. I worked on it some for about 2 years until we moved into an apartment. No place in the apartment for it, so I stored it away. The apartment was replaced with a condo, so the lathe stayed in storage.

During this time I had seen a scroll saw at the AZ State Fair. I thought that it was pretty interesting. From then on I would see things I knew were made from a scroll saw. For about 10 years I kept thinking how I could probably make things with a saw. Then last year for Christmas I asked my wife for one. So, I got a basic saw from Harbor Freight. At first I had some difficulty using the saw. Then I found this site, and have been learning so much and loving it ever since. I wish I had gotten the saw 10 years ago.