Epiphany for new scroller

[SteveK]

I had a realization as I did some practice lessons this evening. I expect one of two reactions from experienced strollers: (1) you don't understand, (2) duh, of course.

I have been worrying about where the blade is going; tonite I realized the blade is staying still, I have think about where the wood is going.

That made it much easier to get the cut where I wanted it.

What do you think?

[rippersmom]

Yep, you got it. You are the driver.

[Jan]

Hot dang!!!!! It usually takes a lot longer to figure that out! Congratulations.

Jan

[wood-n-things]

Kudos you got it in less than a year. Yer awesomeness will shine through....

[Gill]

Sadly, you still haven't grasped the fundamental point of a scroll saw's operation. The blade does move.



Up and down.



A lot.

[JimSawyer]

All kidding aside..You'll find that there is side to side movement if you're not careful...
It's like dancing on the head of a pin..It reminds me of an old arcade video game called, "Pole Position". It was a racing game where you had too make turns on a race track that required you to keep the car just so in the turns. I think the title said it all...

[SteveK]

Thanks Jim and all. I know my description is simplistic, but it makes a lot of sense to me. Up and down, and left and right, yeah. But first step to me was to realize that I don't make the blade follow the line, but the other way around.

As to Pole Position, no need to explain. At 60, I remember it well!

[Bill Wilson]

Well done Grasshopper!

I'm glad you posted this. In a few weeks I'll be teaching my first scroll saw class and nuggets like this, from the perspective of a beginner, are valuable to me to help communicate concepts that I may take for granted, in such a way that the beginner can better relate.

Thanks!

[weiner9696]

Welcome to the dark side. Your journey is now complete.

George

[tgiro]

Thanks Jim and all. I know my description is simplistic, but it makes a lot of sense to me. Up and down, and left and right, yeah. But first step to me was to realize that I don't make the blade follow the line, but the other way around.

As to Pole Position, no need to explain. At 60, I remember it well!

And - Don't worry about where the blade "is". It's already there, made the cut, and nothing you can do about it. Think ahead of the blade, where is the blade going to be when it makes that next down stroke.

You are mastering this quickly - I know you'll be posting pictures real soon now. . .

Tony

PS - Welcome Aboard!

[Carter-Johnson]

Okay, now that you've got the idea of pushing the wood into the blade, learn to stop pushing while the blade is running and turn where you want to turn. A big mistake people inadvertently make early on is to keeping pushing when you're turning - and thus overshoot your turn. To practice this, do it freehand first. Cut a giraffe, an elephant, an arrow, anything whose shape you know, without following a pattern. That way, you cannot make a mistake - but you can learn!

Carter

[SteveK]

Okay, now that you've got the idea of pushing the wood into the blade, learn to stop pushing while the blade is running and turn where you want to turn. A big mistake people inadvertently make early on is to keeping pushing when you're turning - and thus overshoot your turn. To practice this, do it freehand first. Cut a giraffe, an elephant, an arrow, anything whose shape you know, without following a pattern. That way, you cannot make a mistake - but you can learn!

Carter

Great suggestion!

[Jim McDonald]

Your signature tag line explains the frustrations of EVERY scroller on this board at one time or another.

Your "awakening" about who/what is in control of cut is a very succinct method of summing up most of the advise I have ever been given or have given on this subject to newbies. Tony beat me to the punch-where the blade is is not important now. Where it will be in .01 seconds is more important.

[journeyman]

I was given a tip by Mick Walker when I first came to this site and it is one of the best pieces of advice I have ever been given regarding scrolling.
Following a line when sawing is like driving a car, you don't look directly in front of the hood, but look some way ahead of you. That way the car steers where you want to go.
Same applies to scrolling along a line. Look slightly ahead of the blade and you have more chance of keeping on line. Hope that's not too confusing.
Mick

[3_M]

Remember that most blades have a burr on the right side, this makes them cut to the right. You have to move the wood some degree to the right to stay on the line.
Have good tension. The blade should not move sideways more than 1/8". Have good speed and low feed rate. Let the blade do the cutting, they say.
You can find also a lot of information here:
New Page 4
FD Mike