First post and hooked.

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Hi everyone, well to start with Ive just started scroll sawing after my sister gave me her saw, brand new used once bought from axminster tools, its a cheapie (perfect tools) never heard of them myself but it works. Ive downloaded a few patterns from the scrollsawblogspot website (American) having fun doing the simple ones, Ive done three and this is only my second day with the saw running haha.
What Ive got to try and teach myself is the correct feed rate when doing curves, at the moment i,m going abit wide although I am only using 4mm thick wood, so i,m wondering if it is the thickness of the wood and or my lack of experience. I,m on the look out for some 6mm birch as reccomended on this site, hopefully I will have the courage to spin the wood around without fear of another blade snapping.

 

[Mike M]

You might find some help here:

http://www.mikesworkshop.com/Q&A-FP.htm

http://www.mikesworkshop.com/Tips.htm

Have good tension, good speed and don't push too hard into the blade, let the blade do the cutting.

Mike

 

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Mike M, many thanks for the links had a good read through them, all helpful, getting into this hobby now, feed speed and corners are getting better although the old eyes are having fun trying to concentrate on the cut line what with the moving blade etc taking the line of sight away from the job in hand so to speak.

 

[Carter Johnson]

My advice to a new scroller is always to not get locked in to patterns. Cut some things without them. It'll greatly help with your hand/eye coordination and get your creative juices flowing. Cut a giraffe, an elephant, an arrow, some letters, an umbrella, anything with a distinctive, well-known shape. Believe me, anything you produce will gain "oooohhs" and "aaahhhs".

Good luck and have phun..... Carter

 

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cheers for the hints, they work, i had a go at cutting a few 3D reindeer that i saw on the scroll saw blog website and turned out quite a few using just my eye and am well pleased with the results, i enjoy the patterns and am getting better and faster with each one although circles are still an effort, but coming on.

 

[loftyhermes]

When I first started scrolling an old guy (sadly no longer with us) offered to teach me and started me practising on 3/4inch (19mm to you young 'uns) pine till I could follow a line drawn randomly on the wood. His reasoning was that the blade cut slower in thick wood so I wouldn't stray far off line and it would be easier to keep to the line, when I could follow the line or a pattern to his satisfaction he then gave me thinner wood to use. I thank him most dearly for all the advice that he gave me. So my advise to you would be start with some thicker wood and work down to the thin stuff.