# Help and Advice please



## boysie39 (17 Jul 2012)

I am looking for any information about Scroll saws and the art of scroll sawing that I can get .What can be done
and can it be used while sitting down .
If anyone can help me in this I would really appreciate your help .If you can point me in the right direction
please do .Thank you in advance.

I have since came across the post WHICH SCROOL SAW. so thank you for allowing me to post .
This was originally posted to the Lathe section where I normally post.


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## Gill (18 Jul 2012)

You certainly can use a scroll saw whilst sitting and I should say most of us do.

As for what you can make with a scroll saw... it's a bit like asking what can you cook with an oven  . Really, the only limitation is your own imagination. I'd like to show you some of my work as examples, but my online picture hosting website is currently undergoing maintenance  .

A lot of scrollers like to translate photographs into wood by creating shadow portraits. This is achieved by converting the picture into a mono-tone pattern (black and white - no grey  ) which can then be cut with a scroll saw. This is quite straight forward since all scroll saws allow you to cut whilst turning the wood and the thin blades can be inserted into drilled pilot holes in the middle of a board. However, just because it is straight forward it is not necessarily easy - some shadow portraits are terribly detailed and delicate. Yet some are beautiful because of their very simplicity.

Some people embellish furniture with decorative details, some make whole pieces of furniture or small trinkets. It's possible to inlay wood and other materials with a scroll saw, you can make clocks and similar mechanical devices, you can even make wooden bowls without using a lathe. It's possible to make jigsaws which can be designed to amuse by incorporating suitably shaped pieces, such as reindeer-shaped pieces for a Christmas pattern. You can make your own Christmas decorations too, which is a favourite of mine. Then there are door signs you can make, Welsh love spoons, children's toys... the list goes on.

If you're familiar with lathes, scroll saws can be used to create some very attractive and distinctive pen blanks too.

I'm sure I've missed dozens of other uses for a scroll saw and I've no doubt other members will chime in helpfully with their ideas.


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## boysie39 (18 Jul 2012)

Gill ,many thanks for your post , I would love to view your picture website hope you are up and running again soon .
As I am going to be mostly housebound what I really would like to know is if it is possible to work within the house .
Would there be a problem with dust I mean in the air not on the floors .I have a spare room 12' x 12' would this be 
suitable .
I have no idea whats involved in this craft , I had to give up my woodturning for health reasons (not able to stand for long periods)
I wood love to stay involved with wood and am wondering are there DVDs or something I can learn from .
If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be great.
I havne't looked at scroll saws yet as I found out with lathes cheap can be good but expensive to find the one .
So far better to have one recommended by someone who knows .


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## Gill (18 Jul 2012)

You might find it useful to look through Steve Good's blog for a better idea of what is involved. Steve's blog can be a bit American for my tastes but it is excellent nonetheless, especially for newcomers. He has lots of videos on YouTube - there's really no need to buy DVDs  .

You should be able to work quite happily in a spare room. Scroll saws do produce a small amount of fine dust so some breathing protection is advisable, although the majority of saws can be hooked up to a vacuum cleaner which will suck away most of the dust as you cut.

When it comes to buying a scroll saw, the choice of machine can be controversial. My own preference is for quality which means Hegner, but they ain't cheap! It's often a good idea to test the waters with a second-hand machine from an online auction.


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## Mike M (18 Jul 2012)

Go to this site and you can see what you can make with a scroll saw. http://www.mikesworkshop.com/samples.htm
Don't forget to check also: http://www.mikesworkshop.com/Q&A-FP.htm
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.
FD Mike


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## boysie39 (19 Jul 2012)

Mike M ,thank you for your advice ,it is very helpful to be able to go to a website with so much information .
No doubt when I have read it all it will be very helpful to me in which way I want to go .Thank you.


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## Gill (19 Jul 2012)

Now that Photobucket is back up and running again, here's some photographs of projects I've cut with a scroll saw. I'm not looking for compliments (or brickbats  ) - I just hope they give you an idea of what can be achieved.

Here's a shadow portrait of The Beatles:







This is a compound cut chess set for woodworkers:






A musical trinket box:






A relief cut plaque to commemorate a Golden wedding anniversary (the quote is from the recipients' local poet):






A door stop for an Alsation lover:






A door sign for Halloween:






A door sign for Christmas:






Christmas baubles and decorations:












Ear rings:


















Relief cut picture frame:






Clock with segmentation dance motif:






Compound cut Christmas tree bauble:






Segmented dragon:






Compound cut dog and lamp post:






Compound cut bookworm:






Shadow portrait of a Spaniel:






Shadow portraits of a deceased forum member, cut to the size of a credit card:


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## bassethound (19 Jul 2012)

certainly gives all of us newbies hope, great stuff, =D>


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## boysie39 (21 Jul 2012)

Jeez Gill , from the look of those I'd be better off buying of you than trying to make them myself super work .
Now the question is what machine?? By the looks of things this seems to as slippery a slope as woodturning.
I think I will try and contact someone over here who use scroll saws and see what the score is .
Thanks all for the advice I will be watching the forum in the meantime for any help I can get.


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## boysie39 (21 Jul 2012)

Jeez Gill , from the look of those I'd be better off buying of you than trying to make them myself super work .
Now the question is what machine?? By the looks of things this seems to as slippery a slope as woodturning.
I think I will try and contact someone over here who use scroll saws and see what the score is .
Thanks all for the advice I will be watching the forum in the meantime for any help I can get.


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## Gill (21 Jul 2012)

Sadly, I'm not able to sell my work. It's the usual story with craftwork - customers want something for nothing and I'd only be able to sell at a loss. Still, it's fun making this sort of stuff  .

I'm flattered that you should think so highly of it, but once a few simple techniques have been mastered (and I _do_ mean 'simple') most people should be able to produce practically everything I've shown in this post. The exception would be the fine compound cutting which takes a while to master, but even that isn't particularly difficult.

As I've already mentioned, I would opt for the best saw you can afford. Nowadays that seems to be a Hegner but the cheaper AWFS16 is also highly regarded. I've heard rumours that the Excalibur is not as well engineered as it could be, although I've no personal experience of either the Excalibur or AWFS16. It's worth watching online auctions for old Deltas and Diamonds too; they were good saws in their day but, sadly, are no longer in production.


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## boysie39 (22 Jul 2012)

Thanks for your reply Gill, sadly simple and me were never good bedfellows . I can make simple the most complicated thing you will ever come across :roll: 
I know how you feel about selling your work ,I never sold anything of mine when I was turning because I never offered it for sale . I could turn to a pretty 
decent standard but it was a hobby to me . Around where I live within a thirty mile radius there are maybe 15 of the top turners you could find anywhere in the world.
They mostly have contracts to sell to USA or somewhere outside Irl. A few do very well most have to work very hard to earn a living.They give classes and teach and 
do demonstrations to keep going.
I have no idea what the situation is in Scrolling but if there are lots selling and the standards are high it will be difficult .
I wish well and great good luck in the future. 

PS. my children make raids every couple of months and clear out my stock . :lol: :lol:


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## mac1012 (10 Aug 2012)

hi dont be down hearted !! i make ansd sell crafts and make a good bit of spare cash mine are mainly simple designs from soft wood like angels wooden words toddlers rocking horses (which are not complex just time and patience) love hearts crosses, holding crosses , my price range is between 4 pounds sterling and 12 pounds my qaulity is high but straight forward designs and i dont lose money i dont make a huge profit but i cover my labour time and running costs i set to make a 1000 pounds this year just from weekend work , i sell on ebay and a friend sells me some stuff at craft fairs i sold 6 rocking horses this year that with a liitle practice and patience anyone could make.

so you dont just have to make for your own pleasure ! it gives me great joy when someone wants to buy my stuff , i had some angels at my friends craft fair on show and all 11 sold quite quickly .

the key points are if you gonna sell to the average public is simple and effective designs , price not too high and good quality control


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