Okay, Who Said Scrolling Was Easy??

[pddesertrat]

I decided to practice some scrolling today before I start on the nice pattern Dave made for me of my Dobie.  Ha!  I'm  attempting to scroll an eagle head that I have a pattern for.  Not real complex, but more complex than anything I have done before.  Holy cow, most important thing I learned is I have a lot to learn!  Felt at times like I was hanging on for dear life!  I will post a picture of it when I get done so everyone can have a chuckle.  It is fun, but more challenging than I thought it would be. I will need many more practice run before I try something I want to hang on the wall.

[julief]

Practice, practice, practice.  It will get easier.  Try different speeds and different blades.  You will find your own "sweet spot".  Keep those first pieces so you can see your progress.  No "death grips".  If you are having to hold on like that, something is wrong.

[Russ C]

Julief is right. Repeating, practice, practice, practice and try different speeds and different blades.  It takes time and patience. The more you cut the better you will get. 

[Toneman]

Yep, Julie and Russ said it all:"practice,practice,practice". Also, there are no set rules on speed, blades, or techniques. I agree with the "sweet spot". I have a certain speed that allows control and cuts the wood without pushing. The only time I slow my speed is on thin wood with fret cuts that are close and on portraits. My technique changes at times. On corners for instant, sometimes I spin the wood and sometimes I back up and turn the blade and sometimes I will cut over to the other line direction and cut back to the corner. Hope this isn't confusing to you!LOL In other words, watch the tutorials and select the techniques that are comfortable to you.

Tony,aka,Toneman

[Rapid Roger]

Your problem is, you are holding your breath!  No, I'm not joking, I'm serious.  You need to just relax, drop your shoulders down, and take a deep breath and start sawing and keep breathing normally as you are guiding the wood into the blade. 
When you are trying too hard, there is a tendency to hold your breath while you concentrate on what you are doing.  (Some people even stick their tongue out while trying something they think is going to be hard to do.  )
I found out about this when I was racing Go Karts. As the race started, I would tend to hold my breath and struggled to drive as hard as I could and concentrate on the track and other drivers. Once I learned to relax and BREATHE it became much easier to drive as fast as I could for an hour.   

Rog

[pddesertrat]

Well, well, well, I am surprised how well it turned out.  Finished it about an hour ago and the piece of advice that seemed to relax me the most and give it more pleasure to do, was drop the shoulders.  I didn't realize before I was so tense and I did have my shoulder up around my ears.  So here is the results.  There are a few places where it chipped out on some sharp corners, but all in all I'm surprised, like I said.  Do a few more practice run and I may REALLY enjoy this.

[jrpeteo]

Hey, that turned out great! See you can do it!
Pete

[Rover2]

Your eagle came out great!!  Just relax and go for the Dobie and you will be fine.  Great job. Al

[spirithorse]

Well done!
Thanks for sharing and God Bless! Spirithorse

[julief]

See, I knew you could do it.  The beauty of scrolling is that, with a few exceptions, once the pattern comes off, you are the only one who knows where the mistakes are.  Some call it artistic license.  Great job.

[Spartan scroller]

I think we are all over critical of our own work.  We are generally looking at it under magnification when we are cutting it and we know where we made mistakes, but to the average non scroller those mistakes are usually un-noticed and sometimes even scrollers don't pick them up without magnification.  Your project looks pretty good to me.  To quote Bill Murray from Caddy shack: "I'd keep playin."

Regards,
Terry
terrysscrollshoppe.com
Facebook.com/Terry's Scroll Shoppe

[pddesertrat]

Thanks for the comments.  The smallest blade I have is a #5.  In the spots where there are just a zig zag line I think a #3 or so would have been easier or better.  Is that correct?

[Danny]

Been following this post and EVERYTHING others said is Very True.  The finished portrait of the Eagle looks VERY GOOD. 
As far as BLADES GO....   I will ALWAYS BELIEVE in the FDUR 1 for cutting ANY SOFT WOOD up to a INCH.  My 2 cents worth.

Look VERY MUCH FORWARD to seeing more of your finished Scrolling.  Danny  :+}

[jrpeteo]

I'm with Danny, smaller is better. I always try to use the smallest blade I can for the circumstance. More control, tighter turns...
Pete

[Graywolf]

The eagle is great. Like every one said keep sawing. I still have the first piece I cut Indian in a feather. I have come quite a ways since 2011 and have a long way to go, but getting better all the time.