Thread: New Scroller

I've been scrolling for almost two decades now. I took the blower off the saw. It blows dust everywhere. I now run an old vacuum cleaner on the floor. The tube comes up from the rear of the saw, and over the crop along side of the arm. I then with grey tape, fixed in some clear plastic tube and ran that down to the area of the blade. I "tape" fitted a c/right angle piece of black irrigation pipe, using tape once again. I fiddle with a loop made from a zip tie that goes around the old airline tube and the clear vacuum tube. To defeat the fine dust, I wear a slightly expensive dust ask that prevents the smallest of particles from being breathed in. When I finish sawing, I can VAX up the saw and floor.

The above vacuum setup is excellent. I'm also a new scroller and dust is my nemesis... Workshop spic and span at all times. The scroll saw is a messy beast.

I've found, surprisingly, that a vacuum nozzle placed with a small magnetic jig place close to the blade underneath, set to low suck power (also low noise) is fabulous at catching the small stuff. The big stuff is macro and drops fast, but the blade cutting down stroke carries all the fine stuff and that is whisked away.

After a long session the table isnt too bad.

Originally Posted by wodjie

The above vacuum setup is excellent. I'm also a new scroller and dust is my nemesis... Workshop spic and span at all times. The scroll saw is a messy beast.

I've found, surprisingly, that a vacuum nozzle placed with a small magnetic jig place close to the blade underneath, set to low suck power (also low noise) is fabulous at catching the small stuff. The big stuff is macro and drops fast, but the blade cutting down stroke carries all the fine stuff and that is whisked away.

After a long session the table isnt too bad.

If you think scrollsaw is a messy beast.. try using router Scrollsaw dust is my least problem in the shed... routing, tablesaw, and bandsaw are quite bad not to mention sander.. also known as "Fine particle dust generator.. "
thinking of connecting the dust collector to scrollsaw... Difference is dust collector is low pressure high volume (100mm hose usually) If I can make that fit over the head somehow while not reducing visibility that would be ultimate.. Although connecting standard vac with a smaller hose seems more practical, main issue smaller vacuum cleaners are quite noisy little things.. and tend to heat up a bit.. Usually my scrolling sessions tend to go long time... (6 - 9 hours at a time) so that would require lots of breaks in order to let vacuum cleaner cool down...

Welcome to the forum.

Originally Posted by Gerry87

..... So my question is what wood would you recommend and can anyone recommend where to buy it in Perth?....

My wife is the one that uses the scroll saw the most, as it is her scroll saw. She was using pine to start with and then other species that were mainly sourced from your big hardware stores. For some patterns she has used plywood, about 5mm thick. You might consider looking at this if it is going to be painted.

I also use pine from Bunnings & it is usually Quite good as far as warping Etc go ,I sight along the board just to make sure I have a good one. for the portraits I do I use Marine Ply as it is a lot better than the ordinary plywood with less voids & I find the extra cost is well worth it.

What thickness of marine ply do you use for your portraits pawoods?? 4mm, 6mm??

Also - what size and type of blades do you use on your general scrollsaw? Do you use any spiral blades?

I use 6 mm marine ply for the portraits but you could use less especially if you are going to stack cut them. The blades I have been using for the intricate portraits are Flying Dutchman brand 2/0 & 3/0 New Spirals . I have also used Flying Dutchman Spirals with the flat ends ,but are not completely flat and the ends still need slight untwisting to make them hold in the clamps.For my other projects I use all types of skip tooth blades usually in the No3 & No5 sizes & other types depending on the project & buy my blades from Helen Harris she also has a catalogue of blades which lists the uses for different types of blades contact e-mail [email protected] Hope this helps Cheers Peter.