Thank you. And I agree that I am far too much of a newbie to entertain the idea of a router. I will look into a dremel as an alternative. As I mentioned originally it would only be for little people toys and to round over would make it look a lot nicer and be more friendly to little hands.
Aldi scroll saw
- Thread starter Drifter
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whatknot
Established Member
I hope I didn't put you off the idea of a router at some stage but did want to emphasise the dangers
They are extremely useful but do need great care in their use
They are extremely useful but do need great care in their use
Of course not, I'd still love one but space is an issue as is time and therefore ability to learn and use it to its full potential. Dremels are also a bit overwhelming to me purely due to terminology and being self taught. But I appreciate your advice, thank you! There's only so much googling and you tubing you can do before you just need to ask a human some questions, haha.
whatknot
Established Member
Yes quite right, you need to use things to be able to get experience of them
You will be pleasantly surprised at how useful a dremel is I suspect
You will be pleasantly surprised at how useful a dremel is I suspect
whatknot
Established Member
PS you can pick them up quite cheaply second hand often with a lot of accessories
AES
Established Member
I agree with all the above about routers - mainly they need EXTREME care in use (free hand that is). Also the "average" router used by many here for all sorts of shop work are much too big for rounding off the usually pretty small parts of toys.
My own solution (which I do NOT recommend) happened by accident, but that does lead on to another possibility which I think could help you. First the "accident":
Dremel used to make a tool called the Trio. (At least I think they've stopped, if not they should have done, 'cos IMO it's a pretty poor tool). My accident happened when I was browsing in a quite good local DIY shed where they had a Trio demo model. The carrying case was broken and half the bits and pieces and all the cutters were missing and it was on sale for about 50 quid equivalent. I offered the bloke 25% of the new price (that came down to about 20 quid equivalent) and to my surprise, after checking with the manager he OK'd it.
As said, the motor unit is OK, and quite fast (32,000 rpm if I remember) but the bits are a silly size (about 4.2 mm shank dia if I remember), and the depth adjustment is useless - no accuracy at all. The tool is, IMO, a lousy thing and not at all up to usual Dremel standards.
BUT on Amazon I did find a set of bearing-guided cutters with that silly shank size (useless for anything else) which are excellent cutters, AND ideal for the small parts of toys. Also a very kind member here gave me some other Trio cutters (without bearings) which he's bought by mistake and found the shanks too small for anything else - a BIG advantage of this Forum)!
Added to a very simple (ply) "router table" held with the tool upside down in the vice, I have a very useable round over or angled chamfering tool for toy parts - BUT using it I MUST be careful with my fingers, it's highly dangerous.
The solution to that is to use double-sided carpet tape to stick the parts to a piece of thick Perspex so rounding over then becomes a quite safe proposition.
As said, I think the Trio is a very poor tool (I think they don't even make it any more) but I've seen a "router base" which will fit my "proper" Dremel drill.
I THINK that would work on many similar drills as well as Dremel's own, and provided the drill has a collet of the right size, OR the variable chuck which many drills do have, then those Trio bearing guided bits could be used in the drill, mounted inverted on a simple ply "router table" held in the vice.
BTW, last time I looked on Amazon those bearing-guided Trio router bits are still available.
HTH
My own solution (which I do NOT recommend) happened by accident, but that does lead on to another possibility which I think could help you. First the "accident":
Dremel used to make a tool called the Trio. (At least I think they've stopped, if not they should have done, 'cos IMO it's a pretty poor tool). My accident happened when I was browsing in a quite good local DIY shed where they had a Trio demo model. The carrying case was broken and half the bits and pieces and all the cutters were missing and it was on sale for about 50 quid equivalent. I offered the bloke 25% of the new price (that came down to about 20 quid equivalent) and to my surprise, after checking with the manager he OK'd it.
As said, the motor unit is OK, and quite fast (32,000 rpm if I remember) but the bits are a silly size (about 4.2 mm shank dia if I remember), and the depth adjustment is useless - no accuracy at all. The tool is, IMO, a lousy thing and not at all up to usual Dremel standards.
BUT on Amazon I did find a set of bearing-guided cutters with that silly shank size (useless for anything else) which are excellent cutters, AND ideal for the small parts of toys. Also a very kind member here gave me some other Trio cutters (without bearings) which he's bought by mistake and found the shanks too small for anything else - a BIG advantage of this Forum)!
Added to a very simple (ply) "router table" held with the tool upside down in the vice, I have a very useable round over or angled chamfering tool for toy parts - BUT using it I MUST be careful with my fingers, it's highly dangerous.
The solution to that is to use double-sided carpet tape to stick the parts to a piece of thick Perspex so rounding over then becomes a quite safe proposition.
As said, I think the Trio is a very poor tool (I think they don't even make it any more) but I've seen a "router base" which will fit my "proper" Dremel drill.
I THINK that would work on many similar drills as well as Dremel's own, and provided the drill has a collet of the right size, OR the variable chuck which many drills do have, then those Trio bearing guided bits could be used in the drill, mounted inverted on a simple ply "router table" held in the vice.
BTW, last time I looked on Amazon those bearing-guided Trio router bits are still available.
HTH
Wow, thank you. That is a lot of information and terminology I will have to decipher but I appreciate the advice!
IYO do you think a simple sanding attachment on a dremel wouldn't be sufficient? I'm imagining it wouldn't give the consistent result I'm looking for?
Maybe I just need to accept that I am too much of a newbie and just get the best result I can by hand sanding for now...
IYO do you think a simple sanding attachment on a dremel wouldn't be sufficient? I'm imagining it wouldn't give the consistent result I'm looking for?
Maybe I just need to accept that I am too much of a newbie and just get the best result I can by hand sanding for now...
AES
Established Member
My pleasure Sir. As my wife always says "nobody fell down out of the sky already knowing how to do ........."! So if you have any questions re terminology, just ask, there's plenty of real experts on here, not just "newbees" like me.
Re hand sanding, it has it's place of course, and for final finishing before painting/oiling/varnishing, it can't be beaten IMO. But it's also quite slow, and I find, rather boring!
The previous poster was dead right - having the right blade will go a LONG way towards reducing the amount of sanding needed. But it won't help much with "proper" regular shape/size round overs or chamfers.
Hand sanding is OK for that, but personally I find it difficult to achieve real consistency (the radius of the round over). I don't know the sanding attachment on the Dremel, sorry, so can't comment.
But I would GUESS that with the small sizes of a lot of toy parts, it would be difficult to get the radii regular, and to get into all the nooks and crannies. Whatknot's advice about emery boards (the things ladies use to shape their fingers nails) works well, and with practice should produce the consistency you're looking for. I use them quite a lot, along with "custom-made sanding boards" - i.e. odd scraps of flat, round, half-round, etc off cuts with suitable grit sand paper glued on to them. And (shocking to purists no doubt) I use small metal workers warding and needle files sometimes.
But again that can be quite slow, and for me anyway, somewhat boring, hence my use of the Trio "router" and bearing-guided round over or chamfer bits. I find that method fast and consistent.
HTH
Re hand sanding, it has it's place of course, and for final finishing before painting/oiling/varnishing, it can't be beaten IMO. But it's also quite slow, and I find, rather boring!
The previous poster was dead right - having the right blade will go a LONG way towards reducing the amount of sanding needed. But it won't help much with "proper" regular shape/size round overs or chamfers.
Hand sanding is OK for that, but personally I find it difficult to achieve real consistency (the radius of the round over). I don't know the sanding attachment on the Dremel, sorry, so can't comment.
But I would GUESS that with the small sizes of a lot of toy parts, it would be difficult to get the radii regular, and to get into all the nooks and crannies. Whatknot's advice about emery boards (the things ladies use to shape their fingers nails) works well, and with practice should produce the consistency you're looking for. I use them quite a lot, along with "custom-made sanding boards" - i.e. odd scraps of flat, round, half-round, etc off cuts with suitable grit sand paper glued on to them. And (shocking to purists no doubt) I use small metal workers warding and needle files sometimes.
But again that can be quite slow, and for me anyway, somewhat boring, hence my use of the Trio "router" and bearing-guided round over or chamfer bits. I find that method fast and consistent.
HTH
Drifter
Member
Ciao to all. I have watched some YouTube video about scroll saw, it all looks so easy but I am not able to turn the wood on a tight bend without twisting the blade, I am afraid it will snap. It seems impossible to create a clean cut without moving the wood back and forth on order to make the blade take the corner. I hope it makes sense. Thanks, Gino
whatknot
Established Member
Most things that take a little skill and experience, look very easy ;-)
You will learn as you go along and gain experience, choosing the right blade for the job (and good quality blades, not the agricultural ones you get with the saw) will make all the difference
It depends on the corner, the wood you are cutting etc, you can with a little practice turn on a pin head
There are scroll saw practice patterns out there (more youtube videos I am afraid) with zig zag lines and curves to follow and practice on, but don't be afraid of trying it out on simple projects until you get the hand of it
Start with some 4mm or 6mm plywood and cut a few things, don't expect to create a superb masterpiece after one go, it takes practice, the more you do the better you get at it
You will learn as you go along and gain experience, choosing the right blade for the job (and good quality blades, not the agricultural ones you get with the saw) will make all the difference
It depends on the corner, the wood you are cutting etc, you can with a little practice turn on a pin head
There are scroll saw practice patterns out there (more youtube videos I am afraid) with zig zag lines and curves to follow and practice on, but don't be afraid of trying it out on simple projects until you get the hand of it
Start with some 4mm or 6mm plywood and cut a few things, don't expect to create a superb masterpiece after one go, it takes practice, the more you do the better you get at it
AES
Established Member
Hullo again Drifter. Once again I agree with everything Whatknot has written. To his first sentence I would add, "the more skilful someone is, the easier whatever they're doing seems to be" (!)
Just as he says, most likely the blades that came with the saw will not allow you to "turn corners on a sixpence" - most likely if you look at the width of those blades (distance from the teeth to the back of the blade) they'll be much wider than decent blades. They'll also much likely be made from thicker and softer flat wire. So decent blades will make a big difference. BUT again, just as he says "you gotta practice"! So Google up Mike's Workshop who has a set of FOC downloadable practice patterns which consist of cuts exactly as Whatknot has described. With good blades and some practice you'll be amazed at how tight you can turn, AND (I think I've written this before) don't worry about breaking blades at first, it's a bit of a shock when the blade goes "BANG" but it's not at all dangerous. That's how everyone learns, AND BTW, if the blades that came with the saw are rubbish (most likely) you've got to get rid of them somehow anyway!!!!
Finally, bear in mind that a scroll saw is unlike any other power tool you've used. Once fitted with decent blades you really CAN pivot on the spot (in most woods and most thicknesses) and although it goes against the normal feeling anyone will have for such a "titchy bit of wire", you'll be amazed at how tough they really are and how well they accept 90 and 180 degree (and more) turns.
And BTW, when you've found Mike Good's web site (sorry I can't find the link) you'll find he even has a tutorial on how to turn tight corners with the "agricultural blades" you've probably got now.
HTH - it's very well worth while practising. You'll be amazed at how good you become after a while.
Just as he says, most likely the blades that came with the saw will not allow you to "turn corners on a sixpence" - most likely if you look at the width of those blades (distance from the teeth to the back of the blade) they'll be much wider than decent blades. They'll also much likely be made from thicker and softer flat wire. So decent blades will make a big difference. BUT again, just as he says "you gotta practice"! So Google up Mike's Workshop who has a set of FOC downloadable practice patterns which consist of cuts exactly as Whatknot has described. With good blades and some practice you'll be amazed at how tight you can turn, AND (I think I've written this before) don't worry about breaking blades at first, it's a bit of a shock when the blade goes "BANG" but it's not at all dangerous. That's how everyone learns, AND BTW, if the blades that came with the saw are rubbish (most likely) you've got to get rid of them somehow anyway!!!!
Finally, bear in mind that a scroll saw is unlike any other power tool you've used. Once fitted with decent blades you really CAN pivot on the spot (in most woods and most thicknesses) and although it goes against the normal feeling anyone will have for such a "titchy bit of wire", you'll be amazed at how tough they really are and how well they accept 90 and 180 degree (and more) turns.
And BTW, when you've found Mike Good's web site (sorry I can't find the link) you'll find he even has a tutorial on how to turn tight corners with the "agricultural blades" you've probably got now.
HTH - it's very well worth while practising. You'll be amazed at how good you become after a while.
whatknot
Established Member
AES
Established Member
Thanks whatknot. That's exactly who I meant. Perhaps that's why I couldn't find the link in my list!!!!
Here it is:
Edit for the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=e ... TJMqzOnWjQ
That's a youtube vid which is very helpful. But it also has a link in it where you can go to his website and get all sorts of goodies, including that practice pattern I mentioned.
Edit for another P.S. Here's a link to a 1 hour+ vid which I found helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIuF5O7SfCQ
Plus the web site (it's a blog actually) where you'll find the practice patterns (amongst a lotof other useful stuff):
http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/
That should keep you going!
Here it is:
Edit for the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=e ... TJMqzOnWjQ
That's a youtube vid which is very helpful. But it also has a link in it where you can go to his website and get all sorts of goodies, including that practice pattern I mentioned.
Edit for another P.S. Here's a link to a 1 hour+ vid which I found helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIuF5O7SfCQ
Plus the web site (it's a blog actually) where you'll find the practice patterns (amongst a lotof other useful stuff):
http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/
That should keep you going!
AES
Established Member
Hullo again Drifter. While looking for something completely different on my hard drive, I found this:
View attachment 5. Cutting With Maximum Control.pdf
HTH
View attachment 5. Cutting With Maximum Control.pdf
HTH
whatknot
Established Member
I wouldn't argue with anything in that pdf
AES
Established Member
Right whatknot - it works for me 
Drifter
Member
Many thanks, practising as much as possible, great hobby, always liked woodwork. One thing not easy is to use the provided attachment for pinless blades, the lower clamp is not easy at all to install, I have been thinking of exposing the lower part by removing the side panel it will also facilitate the blade xgange,I think, any advise please. Ciao, Gino
whatknot
Established Member
The Aldi saw is a Scheppach rebadged (or at least those I have seen are)
Most saws below £150 have the same type of "hanger" type blade clamps for pinless, which although they work are a pain to use
What you can do is to change the flat bent metal part at the end of the top and bottom arms, to a different blade clamp available from Axminster
They cost £5 each plus £3 postage, unless you can collect
They are not perfect but a lot better than the hanger type as they are fixed
Attachments
Drifter
Member
Ciao to all, I am really glad I have ventured into the world of scrolling, you learn as you go along and I have learned that the aldi saw is not bad at all, the almost impossible thing is to use the pinless blades with the supplied adaptors...... It takes too long to change or unclip the blade, I tried projects with many interior cut....... No more, it is better and faster with the pinned blade. I will attempt to design parts for this machine to be able to change pinless blade quickly. Does anyone feels the same? Buongiorno, Gino TV la
whatknot
Established Member
If you have the capability, it shouldn't be to hard to make some, I know others who have, otherwise the clamps as posted previously from Axminster might be an alternative
