New Scrollsaw Club

[Frenchie]

I've started a Scrollsaw Club in West Central Indiana. In the City of Crawfordsville, our first meeting was Nov. 12th and we had 14 people come. Our next meeting is Dec. 10th. I spoke with the store manager of Town & Country Store about starting a scollsaw club and having them sponsoring us. He thought that was great. They bought us a Dewalt 788 to use, and put an ad in the local paper each month. The way it looks this next meeting we will have several more people.I've decided to take one of my RBI 226 saws to use in the meeting. I helped Blue Lucky start a club in Indianapolis almost a year ago, I was driving 120 mile round trip and it was getting in my bilfold. I hope Michael can keep it going. We have four of us that have from 6 years to 24 years experience, to teach the one's that have never use a scrollsaw. We'll start with the basic. Wish us well Don

[Rolf]

Good luck, since you have done this before you know whats involved.
I am the president of our local club and it is great fun and really helps the newcomers with the learning curve. We have some with more than 60 years experience. We currently have about 36 members.
It is nice if you a meeting place where you can leave a saw set up.
We are in a restored barn that has lots of other acctivites so we can't leave anything set up.

[frieke]

Good luck with your club, wish we had one in Belgium!

[Fran1942]

That sounds really great. Maybe you could post some pictures from time to time, I would love to see them.
Fran

[Frenchie]

I'll try to get some pic for the next meeting on the 10 of Dec and post them Don

[Rolf]

Don,
I will gather up some stuff when I get home, actually after this weekend (I have a fair to do tommorow) .You will have a better idea of what to do once you get a feel for the existing skills of the membership. The test cutting patterns curves ,zigzags etc. is a good start. But as a heads up I have found that lots of people have a real problem with cutting while others are watching.
One thing that gets many newbies is that the fact that the blade wants to cut to one side, let them know that that is normal.

[Frenchie]

Thanks Rolf; The blade cutting to one side was the first thing I told everyone. Don

[paul44224]

Best of luck to you, and the club, Don! Our club is slowly growing. Does your local library have a display case? Talk to them about displaying some scrolled items. Any exposure helps! Is your club listed on here? And you should make the announcement on some other scrolling forums.

Paul

[marshall]

Good luck Don , this sounds like it will be a rewarding in more ways than one . It's been my understanding when teaching that the teacher also learns while teaching - happy scrolling ....................MB

[Frenchie]

Thanks everyone, Your ideas will help. Paul I'll check with the library to see if they have anything Thanks The store we are setup in will put an ad in the local paper each month. I'm working on getting an ad in the Lafayette paper, which is 28 miles north of us. Their out there I've just got to find them. Marshall, you're right I'm sure I'll learn also. I've been scrolling for 24 years and I didn't realize there was a forum until Dec of 2009. I've learn alot from all of you. We have a great forum going here.I din't realize there were so many. I'll post pic after our next meeting. Don

[Frenchie]

Paul; The club isn't listed yet, I'll be asking ideas for a name at the next meeting. An idea would be West Central Indiana Scrollers. I'll have to get more information on the rules before I list it. Don

[Catlyn]

What would all the benefits of a scrollsaw club be?

Couple things I can think of would be exchanges of tips/solutions on problems
and maybe if your saw wasn't acting just right you could bring it to the
meeting and get help with it?
What else could a club do for you?

[paul44224]

Catlyn, it's mostly making friends with a great hobby in common. We have a couple of people who have just started scrolling that we help out a bit. We recently did a small craft show that benefited a place that helps out cancer patients.

Paul

[Rolf]

Catlyn,
A bit long winded but here goes.
Where to start? Ok, besides all of the benefits stated by Paul a club greatly reduces the learning curve, introduces members to new types of projects and techniques.
I was raised around tools(German machinist) so all of the mechanics of scrolling came very easily to me. But there are so many little nuances such as how to cut a sharp V or W, straight lines, circles. You can read and watch all the videos you want but nothing beats having an experienced scroller showing you. I am now president of that club (3 years) I have learned many things and now I encourage our members to try things like Intarsia and other things they haven’t done before.

[Frenchie]

Catlyn; We had 14 people come to the first meeting, 5 of us have a scrollsaw that we use. A few have a saw but have never used it, and some don't have a saw but want to learn. I ask the one's that use their saw,to bring a couple of items to the meetings to show what can be done with the saw. This will give the other the initiative to learn. I'm expecting around 20 or more for this next meeting. I think just teaching newcomer how to use the saw would be a benefit for them, and enjoyment for the one teaching. I don't know if any of the clubs have a membership fee or not. I'm furnishing the wood and the blades so far. I normally demo how to cut something and then let a few that want to try. And walk them through it.Of coarse I don't know how to do a lot of it. but normally there may be one of us that may know a different techique.( I hope) Don