Scroll Saw for Christmas

[SSG Johnson]

This morning I awoke to a new Dremel Scroll saw under the Christmas tree. Now with that said I was shocked at the sight of a new tool thats a first in 3 yrs of marage.....LOL Hopefully not the last.

I was looking for patterns and happened in here....... All I can say is wow now I'm excited at what I can try and do with this saw. I am very handy with wood and tile. I have finished my Basement and Just put down wood floors in the living room and Tile in the kitchen.

My question is where should I start I want to jump in with both feet but by experience from other things I'm sure this isn't how I should do it. Any advice would be greatly received and used.

[Max]

Merry Christmas and welcome to a great site for scrolling information. I got my first scroll saw four years ago and had no patterns. I went to the book store and found two great magazines: Scroll Saw Workshop and Creative Wookworks and Crafts. Both have tips for beginners and lots of patterns. You'll find everthing including fretwork, segmentation, intarsia and lots of tips on blade selection, techniques, and finishes. The library is also a great place to look.

Enjoy your new tool! It's addictive!

Dan

[Gill]

Santa's been very kind to you. Scrolling can give you many many hours of pleasure.

You can pick up all the skills as you go along, but most newcomers find it beneficial to work through John Nelson's "Scroll Saw Workbook", which helps them avoid picking up any bad scrolling habits at the outset.

Gill

[scrollworks]

Welcome to the forum. You'll find tons of great advice and tips here from a lot of great people. You might try the library for scroll saw books as well as online on this site and many others (woodworksand crafts.com, among others). Again, welcome and Merry Christmas.

__________________
Chuck...

[Mick Walker]

Check out these sites. www.wildwooddesigns.com, www.mikesworkshop.com and www.heritagewood.com. Mick.

[jttheclockman]

SSg

Congrads on the new tool and am sure you will grow to love this hobby. You started out right by finding this site and like was mentioned you can find some very helpful tips and info here. As far as books go as mentioned you can go to the library or book store and look for a good beginners book. John Nelson has a few good ones as does Pat Spielman. They will give you the basics of setting up the saw and give you practice tips. Practice is the key word but it is something that can be accomplished in a short time and the more you scroll the more little secrets and tips you will learn. As far as adding equipment to the saw. Things that are very helpful are a foot switch. This enables you to turn the saw on and off with your foot aand makes things easier. Also a good light source is a must. It depends alot on your eyesite and the lighting in the room already. But I like and alot of others have magnifier flourescent lights. Great source of light because with flourescent lighting you do not get shadows plus my eyesight is not like it used to be so the magnifier comes in handy for small fret work. Now blades, there is alot of companies out there and some are just clones of others so you will over time get to try many brands and decide for yourself what is good for you. If I may suggest some of the best blades on the market are the Flying Dutchman blade and there is a person here who can help. Plus if you check his web site he has a lot of good info about scrolling. His name is Mike M. and the site is www.mikesworkshop.com

Other than that as far as patterns go there are alot of free pattern sites just go to google and type in free patterns also there are great sources for patterns and you can see alist of site if you look to the left on this site where it says "Other Great Sites" there is a listing for scrollsaw tips which could be of interest so look around and welcome to the site and when questions come up do not hesitate.

[bearfretworks]

What a great wife you have!

As you've seen, you'll get lots of idea's at this place. My two cents include:

1) Buy and read and reread either Patrick Speilman's or John Nelson's scrollsaw handbook/workbook. Great resources for the beginner and experienced.

2) Buy good quality blades. I prefer Flying Dutchman. I've heard good things about but have not used Pegas. I have used and will never buy again anything from Vermont American or Olson (except their PGT blades). Others will disagree.

3) I'm still a rookie at this, having been scrolling for only 1 1/2 years, but have not had nor seen any need for a foot switch. Others will disagree.

4) Think about getting a cheap drill press. Makes drilling those inside holes easy.

5) Get a handheld sander - makes those projects that much nicer!

6) Lots of good pattern recommendations already. I also like woodenteddybear.com - they seem to have many patterns the others don't carry.

7) Fire up the saw and practice. Get some cheap or free wood (1/2" thick, easy to control) and start cutting! Practice your turns, circles, wavy lines, cutting points, making inside cuts, etc.....

The most important thing is to enjoy your new hobby. This is the easiest woodworking I've ever done!

Again, welcome to the board!

[wwalker47]

Welcome

Welcome, as you can see you will good advice here. I have learned tons. I think you will like it here. Congrats on the new saw. Now get out there and make sawdust.

-Bill

[grandpawrichard]

Congrats on the new scroll saw and for having such a thoughtful wife!

I have been scroll sawing for over 20 years now and when I teach a new person I always lone them some of my Patrick Spielman and Judy Gale Roberts pattern books for them to read and do projects from. They are excellent choices for some fabulous ideas.

I buy a lot of my blades and materials from either http://www.scroller.com or http://wildwooddesigns.com they are two really fine companies that are stellar companies for customer service and reputation.

Dick