Scroll work on a bangle

[pjm699]

I have a design idea which i would like some assistance with if you fine peoples would be kind enough.

I want to take a plain-ish turned wooden bangle and then scroll-saw out some shapes from it.
I have a much-beloved Axi SFS scroll saw which will scroll happily through a churchill tank but is a bit butch for this job (or I don't have the skill or a combination of the two).

The hand hole in the middle of the bangle is 65mm - therefore the throw on the machine needs to be less than 65mm . I have looked a raising the piece to nearer the top arm of the saw but there is still too much movement. I also tried with a jewellers fret saw but I could not get the tension on the blade good enough to make the cuts I wanted (with a spiral blade in).

Has anyone else tried anything along these lines?
I would be most grateful of any guidance.

 

[Droogs]

Bangles that have any sort of fretwork that I have seen have always had a hinge. I did make one about 20 years ago but that was with a Hobbies handsaw. I made a small frame that could be clamped to the bench and had a drawer slide mounted on it that the saw was attached to to give exactly vertical motion and it then had a curved anvil on the top instead of a flat table. I had the blade pass trough this and was able to do the cutting of the pattern. From what I remember I had to eventually go with the hinge (cut in the wood not attached) as the lateral pressure even with the guide etc went through lots of blades if the piece were whole.
hth

 

[loftyhermes]

I think that the only way to do this is with a Dremel type tool with mill drill bits, working from the outside with something like these.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10Pcs-PCB-Ca ... SwADReAEuu

 

[pjm699]

Thank-you; I did fear that that might be the case - as I could not see anyone else having done similar-it did seem likely.

I am not completely put off though - there must be a cunning solution - I just need to find it.

When I did the hand work, I did it atop a partially open vise so I can replicate that on the scroll saw but the throw of the top arm remains a problem - no issue I shall overcome (or give up - one or the other!)

I wonder if I might be able to remove the table of the saw and make some woojit to go in the space left with the scroll blade passing through both sides of the bangle - it means the design will be rotationally symmetrical but that is no great loss.

 

[RickG]

I'm new to scrolling, so I may be wrong here. If you're working on a bangle with a scroll saw, with the top half of the bangle wood unsupported by the table, isn't it possible the blade snagging on the timber could cause the bangle to shear in half if there are any shakes in the wood?

 

[JimiJimi]

I don't think I really follow the problem, or the explanations, but would it be easier to cut your own bangle? You could cut out whatever designs you want first, then cut the bangle and then sand it to be rounded.