The Scroll Saw

 

Having made the purchase of a scroll saw, now How to use a Scroll Saw Properly.

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A recent holiday visit

I was on holiday in Thailand and on a Saturday night market stall in Chiang Mia. There were some Scroll saw baskets for sale and having purchased two of them. I asked the stall holder if I could take a photo of the display. He was delighted to agree having made a purchase from him. He explained he didn’t actually make the but were a local produce.

On inspection the products were made of bamboo.  Were layered in a way the plywood is manufactured. Bamboo is strong, so only the best scroll blades are used. Because bamboo is used as scaffolding in many eastern countries.

 

The following video explains some procedural checks to make to insure everything is set correct.

 

 

There is a short additional video by the same presenter he considers to be an important addition:

 

 

Now is the time to acquire the skills to get the best out of it.

There are however some cutting process that do not come easy the following video will show in detail how to do those difficult cuts:

 

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Having gained more confidence from watching the video and downloading the test cut sheets and tried and completed the various cuts.

Some you may find easy but others may take a couple of times to get the hang of it.

Scroll saw designs

How to use a Scroll Saw Properly

Now to try out your new skills on a design either of your own or one the can be downloaded from the internet.
Make it a simple one, if it is too complicated and fails it could be disheartening. Making you feel like you have made the wrong choice of a new hobby.
The big benefit from scroll saw work is that it does not require large amounts of wood.
Designs can be made from a piece of wood less than 12” square end only 1/4” thick.
The other expense is the choice of scroll saw blades. Therefore they come in a variety of types, sizes and scroll saw brands.
So time should be taken with the selection of them to discover which are the best scroll saw blades. That suite you the best and is the best value.

Stacking

If there is a design that you would like to have more than one of. Then it is possible to put several layers of wood together and cut them as one.
This is called stacking and a common practice and there are some checks to be taken.
The scroll saw blade must be carefully set at exactly right angles to the table. The tension is absolutely correct.
When cutting a stack the action must be considerably slower. So that there will not be any deflection in the scroll saw blade.

Baskets a scroll saw art

Baskets?

How can you make a three dimension object from a flat piece of wood?
It is surprisingly simple, it can be made from a relatively small piece or wood. Because there are several plans available to cut the various parts needed.
There has been some very good scroller operatives who have produced a bowl. That was sanded so good that it looked as if it was turned on a wood lathe.
Following is a video on basket making, be forewarned it is a very long video but it is worth seeing it to the very end.

 

3 dimensional Scroll Sawing

 

How to use a scroll saw properly, with the best scroll saw blades.

Having followed this review and gained some background in correct use of a scroll saw.

A hobby scroll saw can be a very good hobby machine. It is not an exceedingly expensive tool to operate once the initial expense of the original purchase.

It is not necessary to purchase a lot of other equipment to augment the scroll saw unless you want to speed up some operations, such as hand sawing, but an electric hand circular saw to cut lengths of wood into useable scroll saw pieces.

 

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