A plea to all UK scrollers

[Claymore]

You were very unlucky to get a duff Axminster saw, I have 2 of them one like you bought and a EX30 and both run like clockwork so surprised your was faulty, I have quite a few Axminster machines and love them all apart from the bandsaw which is not the most reliable saw and has got through 4 on/off NVR switches in 5 years its powerful enough but the dust extraction is crap and dust escapes around the edges of the two doors and also the frame so bad designing BUT have heard other say the same about their other brand saws. Axminster are also very good customer service and if i need a part it arrives the next day and free every time for the switches. Don't be put off by your first saw experience as you were genuinely unlucky with that one. Maybe i am Mr Axminster? :lol: regarding plywood I use it for the backboards on my Intarsias and buy it cheap from Home Hardware stores (in Scotland) its usually pretty good finish but i don't do scrolling work so cannot say how good it would be for that. I have used some MDF at times and no voids and fluffys come off with my Sand-Flee mop (diy version) as your just starting out in scrolling you do lots of trial and error and i am still learning how to use my kit but you will get hooked by it. What are you doing about dust extraction? something to sort out as early as you can before you manage to get a build up of it, i make LOADS of dust sanding hardwoods and have made a cyclone using a bouncy castle blower which sounds like a jumbo jet taking off but sucks the dust away perfect and again its trial and error until you find a piece of kit that suits yourself. There's loads of people on here who have spent years sorting their workshops out so before you start throwing your money about do plenty of research and ask as many questions as you want and hopefully it will stop you from making same mistakes many of us have done in the past. Right best shut my trap......I do tend to waffle away on subjects i am interested in so feel free to tell me to shut up i won't be offended :lol:
Cheers
Brian (or is it Mr Axminster?) lol

 

[powertools]

Good afternoon everyone,
Thanks very much for all your replies.
Just another couple of points........
Good afternoon power tools.
I assume with a name like that you are in reality Mr Axminster.
May I humbly request that you go back and re-read my first post.
With reference the return of my AWSF18 I did acknowledge the fact that I was given a full refund.
Yes, I did put that refund to the most overpriced saw “on the planet” but that overpriced saw has not been back to the supplier.
Try to use the cheapest plywood on the planet will not give results. If you re-read I was asking for a source for better plywood. Baltic Birch! I now find I don’t need to buy better ply.
This morning I carried out a suggestion I referred to, that is coating the ply with shellac. Would you believe it actually worked. That is on the Wickes “cheapest plywood on the planet”.
I am sorry if I offended you Mr Axminster? I did state, once again, on my original post that I was relatively new to scrolling. I am trying to learn.
Today I did learn something. Shellac both sides of the ply and that will stop tear off of the plys?
I have just found out how to see posters name.....you are not Mr Axminster. My apologies.
My comments however remain the same.

I have reread your original post and my reply and I am sorry that I seem to have to offended you.
The point I was trying to make is that it does not matter how good your tools are you will struggle to get good results with poor quality materials.
Scroll sawing is just a part of my woodworking but I have to say I have never tried to spend a long time making something from construction grade ply wood it is not just the surface finish that is the problem but the voids in it.
I would be interested to know what you are using the masking tape for.
Regards
Not Mr Axminster

 

[whatknot]

Personally I do not subscribe to the notion that you can only produce something of reasonable quality if you buy the most expensive materials

Give a shoddy workman the very best of materials with the top grade tools and they will more than likely turn out shoddy goods

But a reasonable workman can produce perfectly acceptable items with budget tools and free or budget materials

Granted a reasonable workman (or woman) is likely to produce better results and easier with better quality tools/materials but its not the be all and end all

Some of us lesser mortals don't have the money to buy what has been suggested ;-)

 

[powertools]

Personally I do not subscribe to the notion that you can only produce something of reasonable quality if you buy the most expensive materials

Give a shoddy workman the very best of materials with the top grade tools and they will more than likely turn out shoddy goods

But a reasonable workman can produce perfectly acceptable items with budget tools and free or budget materials

Granted a reasonable workman (or woman) is likely to produce better results and easier with better quality tools/materials but its not the be all and end all

Some of us lesser mortals don't have the money to buy what has been suggested ;-)

I think you may have misunderstood my post.
I own 6 scroll saws two of them are electric powered and 4 of them are old Hobbies treadle powered saws, I think that my total investment in all of them is less £150 all being sourced second hand.
I think that skill can over come the failings of lower end tools but nothing can compensate for materials that are full of defects.
I was recently given an old sideboard that cost me nothing but had very good plywood and hard wood in it that cost me nothing.
I am in no way suggesting that anybody spends large amounts of money on their scroll saw hobby it is one part of woodworking that can be enjoyed with very little expense,

 

[Claymore]

Never tried a treadle scroll saw always wondered how smooth they are cutting, do you have to peddle like buggery or just press to cut if that makes much sense to ya? I saw one in a old house a few years ago and fancied having a go but they wouldn't let me the miserable sods lol. I got a lovely very old wardrobe last year for a tenner and the back panel was made up of 1/4" thick panels of solid wood.....not sure what type but looks like mahogany like the rest of the wardrobe.....it had some lovely fancy handles and matching feet which i stuck on ebay and sold them for £30 lol......best thing with old furniture is you don't need to season it and once its been sanded/planed up its brand new great quality wood at a fraction of the price from timber yards.
Cheers
Brian

 

[powertools]

Never tried a treadle scroll saw always wondered how smooth they are cutting, do you have to peddle like buggery or just press to cut if that makes much sense to ya? I saw one in a old house a few years ago and fancied having a go but they wouldn't let me the miserable sods lol. I got a lovely very old wardrobe last year for a tenner and the back panel was made up of 1/4" thick panels of solid wood.....not sure what type but looks like mahogany like the rest of the wardrobe.....it had some lovely fancy handles and matching feet which i stuck on ebay and sold them for £30 lol......best thing with old furniture is you don't need to season it and once its been sanded/planed up its brand new great quality wood at a fraction of the price from timber yards.
Cheers
Brian

I like to enjoy my woodworking along with a passion for old machines and that gives me an insight on how people used to do things before it became fashionable to only have the best machines.
Using a treadle scroll saw is a bit like the old joke can you rub your head with one hand and your stomach with the other, your feet are going up and down your hands are trying to follow a line and the saw is wobbling all over the place.
Scroll sawing is not something I take seriously I just like to make things that amuse the grand kids with little or no cost.
I think that if scrolling was my only hobby I would buy the ex saw but that wont happen.

 

[Claymore]

Same here i like messing with allsorts of machines and a treadle would be great up here for the power cuts lol I do have a generator incase but maybe i could power one with a treadmill and let my Rory power it lol. I was cutting up a coffee table i got a couple of years ago for £3.00 at a charity shop and remember the day i bought it the granny said who i can't sell you this as its got loads of scratches on the top....when i told her i only wanted to cut it up she gave me a right mucky look and said we aren't a scrap yard LOL and charged me £3.00 lol well its turned out to be a bargain as its got walnut frame/legs and the top looks like Mahogany which is an odd mixture but it could be a foreign one either way its nice bit of wood and will form part of a new Squirrel project.
Cheers
Brian

 

[Alkeen]

I make a tour of my local wood shops asking for any off cuts, I called in one I went to before and he told me Health and Safety had stopped outsiders climbing over the discarded wood pile. I asked him how much a 4ft by 4ft sheet 3/4 sheet would cost. £15 + vat. He said he only had a 4 by 3 which he would cost for me I saw a smaller off cut of the same thickness and asked him how much that was. He said zero put it in your car quick. He then cut the 4 x 3 in half to fit in the car. I showed him a picture of a bowl with deer on the top handle I had scrolled, which he liked. I said I would make him one as a thank you and bring it in. He was pleased and said let's call it quits then you can have this wood also free providing you bring in the bowl. We shook hands on it and I am pleased with my first commission which hopefully will open the door for more off cuts of wood of various thicknesses.
Some of you may think why bother making it and going back as he does not know where I live. We shook hands and I reckon this Family run business could be a good source of timber and also if I give him my name and phone number to ring if he has anymore off cuts, plus people will see what I have made him and if they like it I could get people ringing me to do a project for them.

 

[Honest John]

I have bought “Baltic Birch” off the bay for reasonable cost. No idea if it is true slow grown Baltic birch, but it has been good stuff with no voids or splintering. I buy it in A5 a4 and a3 size which seems to suit any use I have for it. As others have suggested, spray mount fix for attaching paper printed patterns, and I usually use clear packing tape as a “lubricant”. I have printed onto A4 or A5 labels but it’s not really necessary, and plain paper spray mounted is my preferred pattern. Paper usually lifts off easily at the end but if required white spirit or isopropanol cleans up any paper or glue lines. If you use plywood for scrolling, then I would certainly pay more and get good stuff. It really is a game changer. You will soon forget the cost of the good stuff, but you’ll remember the problems with the carp stuff forever!

 

[ScaredyCat]

Some of you may think why bother making it and going back as he does not know where I live.

I suspect it's because you have some integrity.

 

[whatknot]

And common sense ;-)