New from the UK

[sammylou]

Hi,

I'm Sam (short for Samantha). I've just bought a scroll saw so I can make some toys for my two sons (7 and 1).

I've had a bit of a play with some pine, and made some little animals (although as it's pine and not a decent hardwood they are prone to break when dropped or played with). I'm about to buy some decent hardwood to make some better quality toys so be prepared for an influx of stupid questions on what wood, what width and where to get it from (am I googling the wrong thing or is finding small amounts of suitable wood over here in the UK verging on the impossible?).

Sam

[markramsay31]

Welcome

Hi Sam,
I'm new here to. These folks are great. Welcome. Pine can be ok if you make chunky toys without to much detail. They should stand up to a bit of punishment. Your right though, hardwood would be better. I look forward to pics of the projects.

[wood-n-things]

Welcome A Board!! You will be hard pressed to find a friendlier or more knowledgeable group on the net re: woodworking. Share your knowledge and do not hesitate to ask questions. The only dumb question is the one that remains unasked.

You may find the stickies at the top of this forum to be very helpful. Use the Link below.

Message Board FAQ, Suggestions and Feedback - Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts Message Board.

Take a few minutes to read through them. They are chock full of great information.

Be sure and share pics of your projects. We thrive on pictures. You will find we are not a judgmental group.

Whatever reason brought you to our forum we are pleased you found us.

Take some time to read the bylaws of the forum. We do not allow open/direct selling on the forum.

[Fretnot]

Hi Sam. I am from the UK as well. I am in West Wales. Pine is okay to practice on but there is nothing like hardwood. If you have problems getting planed hardwood let me know as I have a very good supplier who ships all over the UK and his prices are very good, He has most types of hardwood that you will need.

[sammylou]

Thanks, I've spent a happy few hours reading all the threads on here today, and had a play with my saw and some hardwood I found in the shed.

I've discovered
- that 1" lime is lovely and soft to work with
- that the 1 1/5" cherry was a bit too much for my saw (or maybe the blade?) the wood started to smoke and was a bit scorched...... I think it may have been the blade as it cut the wood fine to begin with but then started to get stuck and it was after I'd freed it that it smoked and scorched the wood.
- that if the saw isn't level it cuts things wonky.....
- that the sanding will take longer than the cutting ;-)

I'll put some photos up when they are sanded and finished nicely.

Fretnot - I would be very grateful for the details of that supplier.

[journeyman]

Hi Sam and welcome to the forum. I'm from the UK too and love making toys for my grandchildren and other family members. It is difficult getting hardwood in the small quantities that scrollsawers use, most timber merchants want you to buy a whole rain forest -Lol. I use pine for the chunky toys such as trucks and trains. Oak is a favourite of mine too, very strong and has a great feel to it. Oak is one of the easier woods to get hold of over here 'cos it's a local wood. I sometimes buy wood turning blanks if I want a specific wood for a commissioned project. If you are selling your piece then you can recover the costs somewhat. There are some great toy making plans out there that don't require hardwoods at all and the toys can be made from a good quality plywood or even MDF. Check out Toymaker Press | Fun to Make Wood Toy Plans & How-To's for the Scroll Saw and Table Saw and Downloadable Scroll Patterns for the Scroll Saw by The Berry Basket Pattern Co.. They both sell excellent easy to do toy plans and are very reasonably priced. You select the plans you want and they are downloaded to you in minutes. I use both these site and others regularly and have never had a problem. Hope to see some of your work soon. I will be posting some pictures of some toys I have just made from both of these sites in the next couple of days so you can get some idea of how they turn out.
Mick

ps to Fretnot. I would be interested in your suppliers details too. Thanks

[tig2k2000]

Hi Sam like you im new here and have not had my scroll saw very long so at the moment Im sort of picking up as much info as possible also if you go on ebay and search for hardwood offcuts I think you will find enough for your needs LOL oh and im also from the UK

[3_M]

Hi Same,
You might find some help here: New Page 4
Have good tension good speed and slow feed rate.
If you need any information on blades, just email me.
FD Mike