Trouble with scrolling straight lines

[PackerScroller]

After working for weeks on curvy patterns and getting the hang of pivoting and pinpoint turns, I was stymied by the last thing I thought would give me a problem:

Straight lines.

For some reason, my DeWalt just veers off to the right - I would guess by about 10-15 degrees. I'm using Olson saw blades, so I thought this wasn't supposed to be an issue. I've tried increasing my blade tension, but even at the maximum tension level, it still has an issue.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

J

[Capt Weasel]

Pretty much all blades are going to pull to the right. It is because of the way they are made/machined. Best thing to do is practice,practice,practice. You'll learn to compensate for the pull by feeding your piece a little to the side so the piece is crooked but the cut is straight if ya' get what I'm sayin'. Be sure to turn early on corners so ya' won't dip in then out of the corner and leave a bobble. When possible cut off of the line a little then sand down to it.

[MikeDingas]

Ditto what Capt said. Some projects just beg to be at least partially cut on a band saw where a straight cut is hard to accomplish on a scroll saw (i.e., thick woods). Keep practicing and remember that almost straight is still pretty good for hand made.

[Randy Huckeby]

Takes a whole lot of practice, but it does get easier. Just ask Mikey, he will scroll anything!

[Minnesota scroller]

Just ask Mikey, he will scroll anything!

Randy, are you talking about me again?

And yeah, 10 -15 degrees off sounds about right for any blade.

[CanadianScroller]

Just like cutting the curves, don't look at where the blade and line meet, look beyond that point.
When you are driving your car you don't look at where the rubber meets the road you look ahead.

Like Capt said skew your wood slightly. Sit a little off center when you are sliding your wood into the blade. Let the saw do the work, all you have to do is follow the line.

[Rolf]

I use a lot of different blades the Only Olson blades that tend to cut straighter than the others is the PGT series, the Mach series cuts pretty straight also. But most of the others tend to cut to one side.
I find it just takes practice and I find I cut straighter when I cut fast than if I try to follow the line slowly.

[DukeNukem]

Packer,you might also want to try to increase the speed of your saw I've learned that this helps a little bit too.DukeNukem

[Mick Walker]

J, when cutting a straight line if you start to go off the line don't try to come back to the line abruptly or you will most likely overshoot and go off on the other side. Just come back to the line gradually. The more you use your saw the better you will become.

[utbva]

Every blade is differnt, even ones from the same package. Last week I had one FD blade that I had to skew my wood about 30 degrees to get a staight cut. I gave up one that blade real quick and changed to a new blade. I have also found that the Olson PGT blades will give the straighest cut with the least skew.

[lucky788scroller]

speed up the saw,look ahead of the cut, and like mentioned, make adjustments gradual. Like also mentioned, practice is the key.You will master it pretty quickly ,hang in there. Dale

[Scott]

This may sound silly. If you have a dominant eye try sitting so that side is right behind the blade. I have this issue and it works for me a a couple of others that I've taught to saw.

[unixpro]

The advice to increase the speed of the saw is good, IF you remember NOT to increase the speed of your cutting. In other words, make the blade go faster but DON'T go through the wood any faster. In fact, you might need to slow down your feed rate a little until you get good at straight lines. As others have said, it's just a matter of practice and patience.

[PackerScroller]

Thank you

All -

Thank you for the great advice. I've spent a good chunk of time today practicing the tricks you've mentioned on scrap, and it's really paying off. I also secured the scrollsaw to the table a lot better, and increased the lighting, both of which have helped the accuracy all around.

Thanks again.

J

[tcleckler]

Just a thought, you may want to highlight your cut lines with a green highlighter. For some reason black line with the green against it is easier for me to see that black line against white paper.