The beginning of my scroll saw journey

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Why Scroll Saw?

About 10 years ago, I decided I needed a new hobby. One of the places I found in my search, was the Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts forums. I looked through the amazing things people were creating with a scroll saw, and in piqued my interest. 

What drew me to scroll saw work most, was the detailed work you could do with it.  When I drew as a kid, my drawings were all very detailed. It also took me many weeks to finish just one drawing to do my obsession with detail. 

Unfinished drawing from high school

I wanted something that would allow to create small woodworking projects, with high detail. Space was also a factor as I only had one side of the garage to work with. I continued to research options for about six months (I don’t make decisions quickly), and finally committed to buying a DeWalt 788 scroll saw. 

My first scroll saw

I found some beginner patterns in the Big Book of Scroll Saw Woodworking, bought some pine wood from Lowes, and then gave it a go. The results… were rather awful.

My very first scroll saw cuts

I went to bed after that first day thinking that a made a huge mistake, and I may not ever be able to create anything decent with a scroll saw. It was way more difficult than I thought it would be. 

There were a lot of reasons for that. Firstly, a scroll saw rarely cuts straight. The is an offset when the blade cuts do to the way they are manufactured. Different blades have different offsets. Even using the same brand of blades, the offset can be quite different for different sized blades, or different types of blades. I find it easier to cut curved shapes than straight lines. Cutting a straight line can feel similar to backing a trailer.

Secondly, I chose the wrong wood. Pine is a softwood, and it isn’t great to cut on a scroll saw. Hardwoods are much better and consistent to cut. Finally, I had the blade speed too fast (oh, that is what the knob is for). Oh, and I used the blades that came with the saw, which were low quality.

The second day I cut two more beginner patterns, mainly just slowing down the blade speed (but still with wrong wood and blades), and the results, were slightly better.

Second day cuts on scroll saw

I ordered some better blades, and bought some true hardwood (oak), hoping to improve more, but still worrying in the back of my mind if I would ever be able to tame the scroll saw. I was excited though, and still determined to improve. Stay tuned.


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