# Scroll saw uses



## martinka (30 May 2013)

Just wondering if anyone puts their scroll saw to any other use than cutting patterns from wood for show or sale? 

I've not used my Hegner for a week or two because I got so fed up of breaking blades, but yesterday I had a need to cut some plastic. For some time I have wanted to make a little guard for my Myford lathe to stop the headstock front bearing flinging oil at me. I had an old plastic box thing that was made for fitting a car radio under the dash, so a few minutes with the scroll saw later I had the pieces I need, bent one piece using a hot air gun and glued the bits together, and job done. I've been putting this off for maybe a couple of years, but cutting the plastic into just the size I wanted was so easy using the scroll saw, with no tidying up needed. I'm now looking round for other jobs that could use the scroll saw.

Regarding breaking blades, I put the bottom clamp under the microscope and decided it was worn, so I ordered new clamps in both 0.5mm and 0.7mm sizes today. Fingers crossed.

Martin.


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## Reggie (4 Jun 2013)

There appear to be a ton of good uses for scroll saws, have you looked at the boxes and bowls people make from a single piece of wood? There are some fantastic examples on youtube, totally different from the usual scroll saw patterns etc. that people do.


I can't post any links yet, so search youtube and google for scrollsaw bowls and other forums and you'll see some fantastic ideas out there, there's even a website that shows you how to calculate the ring sizes and fancy shapes with some web based software.


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## Gary Morris (5 Jun 2013)

Is it this one Reggie
http://scrollmania.com/


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## Reggie (5 Jun 2013)

that's the one Gary, thanks  You can combine the bowl/box/vase technique with making your own laminates of fancy woods and get some fantastic effects.

There are also some really good ideas you can get from googling bandsaw boxes, obviously you can't do 8" thick cuts like you can with a bandsaw but you can use the same technique for cutting the single piece into manageable chunks and glue back together after cutting, or use different types of wood to add depth to a box etc.


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## martinka (5 Jun 2013)

Hi Reggie,

I've seen the bowls, etc, that can be made. I had a go at one of those that is a long spiral, after seeing one on a stall recently. Unfortunately it was a failure because it snapped, but I'll have another go.

I was actually thinking of other uses than wood for the scroll saw. For instance, in the video link posted in the last few days, about the Hawk scroll saw, the guy cuts initials into a stack of paper to make personal notepaper. I've seen people cutting old coins by hand and thought it could be done with a scroll saw using some sort of jig to hold the coin, though with my eyesight, I'd have to cut something as big as an old half-crown. Before I bought my scroll saw, I borrowed one from a friend and he also gave me some slate, which made think he'd gone nutty, until he showed me how easy it saws, although I still haven't got around to trying it myself. He also cuts dolphins and a variety of other shapes from aluminium and thin brass sheet with his old Draper scroll saw.

Anyay, it seems most people put them to the use they were intended, and there's nothing wrong with that. 

Martin.


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## Ian down london way (5 Jun 2013)

Its the main tool I use for my WIP - which I can finally put to bed over the next two weeks -just need to mount it on a wall, take a video and pop it on youtube.

wip-cogitation-designed-by-clayton-boyer-t65479.html


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## martinka (5 Jun 2013)

Ian down london way":191vjqjh said:


> Its the main tool I use for my WIP - which I can finally put to bed over the next two weeks -just need to mount it on a wall, take a video and pop it on youtube.
> 
> wip-cogitation-designed-by-clayton-boyer-t65479.html



I just read through the thread - great job and I can't wait to see the video of it working. How easy/difficult were the gears? I fancy a go at something with gears, though not necessarily a clock . I remember looking round the museum of automata in York and thinking I'd love to make something like that. Maybe I can with the scroll saw.

It took me a minute or three to figure out what WIP stands for.  

Martin.


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## Reggie (5 Jun 2013)

Martin,now I understand the question, those are all standard uses for scroll saws, paper, metal, plastic, even fabric, I'm yet to attempt any of the above, pretty sure the metal/plastic will require different blades and they'll be key to doing a decent job. I plan to work with perspex myself at some point.

Going back to your bowl quickly, I've seen the spiral design and whilst it looks OK, it did look like it would have a tendency to be collapse-able but the bowl designs I was thinking of are lots of concentric shapes that are cut at an angle, then remove all of the pieces and restack them and you've got a rough bowl shape, then it takes a fair bit of sanding but they really do produce some quality results.

Ian, that clock looks like it's going to be really nice when it's finished!!

Regards,
Reggie.


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## martinka (5 Jun 2013)

Reggie":1m13qw4s said:


> Martin,now I understand the question, those are all standard uses for scroll saws, paper, metal, plastic, even fabric, I'm yet to attempt any of the above, pretty sure the metal/plastic will require different blades and they'll be key to doing a decent job. I plan to work with perspex myself at some point.



I found another material to cut with it today - old conveyor belting out of a coal mine.  I made a little squeegee to clean up the oil and coolant on my lathe.

Martin.


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## Bryan Bennett (7 Jun 2013)

Hi Martin I saw in a post that you were fed up breaking blades.I quite recently started using P'egas blades and I find them to be not as brittle as other blades.The one that I am using at the moment is Reverse Skip No 3 ref 90.428,and will go through a 1 mm hole.

Bryan 8)


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## martinka (8 Jun 2013)

Hi Bryan,

Some of the blades I broke originally were Pegas, hopefully that is behind me now, but yes, I like those blades too. I have a couple of the 90,429 blades left which are the same as yours but one size bigger. At the moment I am using the Flying Dutchman blades that SteveB very kindly sent me to try and I really like them, especially the "two way cut". I like the "ultra reverse" as well, but they cut so fast in thin material that I keep making mistakes. That's when I wish I had variable speed. 

Martin.


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