Let me introduce myself

[yysasa]

Hello!

I've been lurking here every now and then and I think it's time to introduce myself. Firstly, my name is Satu and I live in Finland. I've been scrolling for ca 1,5 years now.

How I got here? It's a long story. About 2,5 years ago I got bitten by a dolls' house bug and I wanted to make one for myself. And of course I wanted to do it the hard way. Instead of buying a kit to assemble and decorate I enrolled for a Woodworking for Women class two years ago - never done woodworking before.

At some point I tried the scroll saw they had in the class. I bet I made all the possible mistakes a beginner can make. I had absolutely no idea how fast the blades wear out so I just grabbed the one next to the saw. It must have been the dullest blade in the world. Secondly, the teacher forgot to mention the blade draws to the right. Thirdly, in my eyes a scroll saw looked just like a sewing machine and I tried to steer accordingly, by trying to force the blade sideways. Well, you know, it was totally impossible to stay even close the line and somewhat impossible to get back to it.

However, I thought it would be nice to buy a cheap saw for myself to make dolls house furniture. At this point I browsed the net and I was simply overwhelmed by all the different things you could do with a scroll saw and especially fretwork clocks amazed me. When I realized *I* could do that too I was a goner. Now I didn't go for the cheapest possible saw anymore but bought a variable speed Rexxon. I don't know if you have these in US. It was on sale at 200€, the normal price was supposedly 300€.

Since then I've been scrolling little this and little that. I uploaded some pictures to the gallery. I don't know how to make a link, but they're in yysasa's member gallery, if you're interested. I feel I'm always too busy to make things I'd like to make. On the other hand if I spent less time dreaming and more time sawing I could make some more progress. But on the other hand by reading this and other scroll saw related sites I’ve learned a lot. This has been invaluable to me, since there hasn’t been anyone to show me the hints and tricks in real life. This is funny – there are saws for sale and the city library has several books available, but I’ve never met anyone who is actually scrolling.

Currently I'm working on the Worthington wall clock, my first larger clock. It's going to be a birthday present for my father who turns 60 later this year. (yikes, a deadline!) Later I want to make one of the larger clocks for myself as well. I've been dreaming about Jennifer - or maybe Brentwood wall clock. Yep, I bought the Nelson's book. I think it's very good value for the money. At first a 100 to 200 hour clock didn't feel that distant objective to me as I've been doing cross stitching and larger pieces could take ca 300 hours. Later I've realised these time ranges are for experienced scrollers. A beginner like me needs at least twice the time. And revelation #2: I can stitch while sitting on my sofa and watching TV in the same time. While sawing I'll be alone in the workshop/garage and just be sawing. That makes a big difference.

Oh, the dolls house? I bet most of you guessed already. It's still a pile of plywood pieces...

BR,
-Satu

http://www.scrollsawer.com/gallery/s...00&ppuser=3423 (Edit: I've added a link to your gallery -Marcel in Longueuil)

[bronco]

Welcome to the forum, nice pictures, I especially like the Parrot puzzle.
You appear to be very talented, looking forward to many more.
Bill

[Marcel in Longueuil]

Welcome Satu

Hi,

Welcome to our corner of the web, glad to have you on board with us.

A new country to add to the list, I guess.
I'm anxious to read how scrolling is going in your part of the world: what materials are easily available, are prices affordable, what essences of wood are common, and which are hard to get... and so on.

The fun thing about this hobby, is I'm discovering different cultures at the same time. Different living conditions, I'm in South-Eastern Canada, and conditions differ from those that are from Western Canada, not the same wood species are easily available for example. And Evie lives in the Mohave desert (or close to it) from what I understood of her postings.

So different climates, different cultures, different living conditions, laws, governments, etc.

BUT...

We have found common ground:
we can communicate using one language,
we share one passion for making sawdust,
we enjoy sharing our knowledge and ideas and creations
we enjoy life.

Oh, and we enjoy having clean fun.
Hope you join in the conversations, share with us, and just plain enjoy your stay.

One question: What is "yysasa", or what does it mean?

Regards,
Marcel

PS: I've added a link to your gallery in your post for your convenience.

[Charlie_1]

Welcome aboard


Charlie,

[Back2Jake]

Welcome Satu

Glad you found us and look forward to your contributions. The dollhouses/furniture is a hobby all its own as I understand it.

I have an uncle and cousin who make them for a very good profit, but they take the time to make sure everything is to scale and fits as an exact small scale replica of a full size house. WAY more time consuming than anything I could do.

Again, welcome!

[Little flower]

Good to see you have joined us Satu after reading here for a while. Welcome!

[ZooZoo1]

intro

SAtu, welcome aboard. I guess you have already found out, this hobby is addictive. I am very curious about scroll sawing in Finland. I am putting together articles for SAWDUST, the newsletter published by SAW and am very interested about scrolling in other countries. drop me a line and tell me about what you have learned, what you want to learn, and any help you may need pursuing your new hobby. Toby

[lucky788scroller]

Welcome aboard. Now teach me this.....Why is "Finnish plywood" made in Russia, and not in Finland????????????????????? Dale

[yysasa]

A new country to add to the list, I guess.
I'm anxious to read how scrolling is going in your part of the world: what materials are easily available, are prices affordable, what essences of wood are common, and which are hard to get... and so on.

Well, for scrolling materials birch plywood is easily available and that's it. For other woodworking pine and birch are easily available. Hardwood is all imported. These are available in either veneer or 2"x10" planks. I've found nothing in scrollable thicknesses, exept for the plywood of course. But all the projects don't look good in plywood.

I even went as far as mail ordering the wood (red oak) for my Worthington project. The problem is the shipping charges add a lot to the cost. On the other hand if I'd enroll for the woodworking class again, I'd be able to resaw and plane the wood myself, they have the machinery. Considering the waste created, it's an expensive option as well, not to mention tough job.

One question: What is "yysasa", or what does it mean?

Regards,
Marcel

Ah, it doesn't mean anything in any language as far as I know and that's the catch. It was once my computer generated userID at University: yy abreviation for my faculty, sa for Satu and sa for Saarinen, my maiden name. Later, when registration was required in every other web page I got frustrated because all the good IDs were taken and found myself having different ID for each service - never able to remember the correct combination of the ID and password. Until I thought, what the heck, why not use my old username yysasa. And it works like a charm, every time.

BR,
-Satu

[yysasa]

Welcome aboard. Now teach me this.....Why is "Finnish plywood" made in Russia, and not in Finland????????????????????? Dale

Beats me. Why would you buy Russian plywood? If I go to the lumber store, I'll get Finnish plywood, that's for sure. On the other hand labour costs are much lower in Russia or Baltic countries than in Finland, so they can make plywood much cheaper there. I wonder if somebody is making good profit by this. But hey, if the quality is fine, does it matter?

Now, I've been curious about this term "Finnish birch plywood" for a while. I mean, all the plywood they sell locally is Finnish, but it comes in different grades. I wonder what kind of quality grade you mean when taking about Finnish plywood.

So far I've been buying construction quality birch plywood and it's been fine. Five layers for 6mm (1/4") thickness, one good side, the other side with few patches - easily avoided if two good sides required in a project, some sanding needed. However, the last time I bought plywood the quality was worse: one side with patches and the other was full of sound knots. Would be fine if painted, but looks like a dalmatian. I asked for a piece with less imperfections and they said this is what this grade stuff looks like. I had to check is at home and it was true: I had paid for BB/WG (3./4.) grade and that's the way it looked like in standards. Earlier I had gotten 1.-2./3. grade at the same price... Construction quality plywood is available in 4,5 mm to 21 mm thicknesses.

The other large lumber store sells also the craft quality plywood which is higher quality and it also comes in three different grades! Unfortunately they only sell it in 4'x8' boards. I've bought this stuff in a hobby shop which sells it in small strips at triple price. It's 1,5mm (1/16"?) and has three layers and it's so smooth it's almost water repellent. Craft quality plywood comes in thicknesses of 0,6mm - 12 mm.

BR,
-Satu

[lucky788scroller]

To help you out with using plywoods, check out all your possibilities on this site : http://www.macsimmons.com/macsnotebookindex.html . Dont be afraid or intimidated with a big clock. Its nothing more then a bunch of little projects glued together. Think of it that way. You can do it.
As for finnish birch ply, whenever I see it for sale, it says made in russia. Also, a product we use at work, called betofilm, and finnform always comes crated with a label saying made in russia.Finnform is the same product used by the Incra company for their jigs and tables for precise woodworking jigs and fixtures, and is a top quality birch veneer ply.As to if the Finnish ply as I've seen is really Russian or Finnish, I guess it could be either way.
as for rexxon saw. I do have a cute little rexxon saw sitting down in the shop.I think the throat must be around 14 inches, and it only takes pin end blades, and is blue. It weighs about 8 pounds Im guessing. I plugged it in and ran it after it was given to me, but havent tried cutting on it . It did run real quiet though, and surprisingly, for weighing so little, vibrated very little. could it be the same rexxon???????????????????? Dale

[yysasa]

Rexon saw

To help you out with using plywoods, check out all your possibilities on this site : http://www.macsimmons.com/macsnotebookindex.html

Wow, looks great, but way out of my league. Kind of reminds me of old Finnish woodworking masters. We have plenty of wood in Finland, but it's all pine, spruce and birch, all over the place. They used decorative painting to turn common wood furniture into fine "hardwood". And the churches were made of wood too, columns painted to resemble marble...

As for finnish birch ply, whenever I see it for sale, it says made in russia. Also, a product we use at work, called betofilm, and finnform always comes crated with a label saying made in russia.

You've got me curious and I did some Google searches. It looks like FinnForm and Betofilm are trademarks only used in USA, but I traced it to UPM Kymmene, a large Finnish group in paper and wood industry. And guess what, they have production plants in Finland, France, Estonia, Russia and Austria just for wood products. Sigh, should have known. They seem to move all the industry to lower costs countries. Textile industry has long ago gone to Estonia, papermills are being moved to South America, Nokia and its subcontractors are moving to China and India... But I did assume it is Finnish if it's sold as Finnish.

as for rexxon saw. I do have a cute little rexxon saw sitting down in the shop.I think the throat must be around 14 inches, and it only takes pin end blades, and is blue. It weighs about 8 pounds Im guessing. I plugged it in and ran it after it was given to me, but havent tried cutting on it . It did run real quiet though, and surprisingly, for weighing so little, vibrated very little. could it be the same rexxon???????????????????? Dale

It's not the same model. Mine is Rexon VS4000, it's 16 inches and takes both pin or pinless blades. It's also variable speed which is good because at full speed it vibrates a lot, I guess it resonates with the table, but if I turn it down just a notch it'll be fine. I was looking for a mid-range saw and I've been happy with it, yet I don't have anything to compare it with. They also sell Delta over here and I'm not sure about Hegner. Let me try if I can have a picture attached here...

BR,
-Satu

[yysasa]

I to am a needle wooker. and if you can do neele point x stich. you can do anything.

Hi Evie,
I've never thought about it that way. I guess the patience needed in stitching does help in making many other things. Cross stitching seems to be my specialty, but I've always been curious to try different crafts. I've even promised myself I'll learn to make bobbin lace when I retire.
See http://kotisivu.mtv3.fi/yysasa/tekeleita.htm if you're interested in the other stuff I have made before I discovered woodworking. (if you wonder, the clocks are my uncle's making, not mine!)

BR,
-Satu

[Marcel in Longueuil]

Finnish, I presume

Nice work shown on the website,

Now, if I could just understand what it says


There are 2 females in the pictures, one standing next to a (?) carpet holding roses.

The other is young & blonde and... oh yea, right: She is wearing a traditional costume of sorts.

Are you one of the two?

And VERY VERY nice stichwork by the way.

Regards,
Marcel

[lucky788scroller]

The similarities are remarkable huh? I saw this exact saw (red one, a B&D) this weekend in a closeout store I cant remember the price, but Im thinking it was $89. It actually looks like a nice saw! Dale