Thread: Starting out

Yep... you can do square, rectangular..... ANY shape at all... that's why I love making boxes on the scroll saw

Another invaluable "tool" = superglue!!!!!! Wouldn't be without it!

Juvy

Judy, I am sure you will agree with my supposition that Juvy needs to use very little wood filler in her work, if any!.........Bill.

Don't know why I never thought of that! Mind you, I had been doing work for a friend who owned a craft shop and she specified jointed boxes, so I guess that's why I never tried.

Superglue! My goodness I never thought of that either. Is that for everything?

Also what type of filler do you use for pine and MDF?

Judy

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree, Bill...very nice work indeed!

ROFL..... oh if you only knew!!!!!!!!! lol
One word of caution..... just because I do something does not mean that's the way to do it... some of the "real" woodies will probably only sit and shake their heads reading what I tell you most of the time!

Woodfiller...... wellllll....... I just dribble a few drops of woodglue/PVA on whatever piece of paper is laying close to where I sit... been known to use a spare piece of tape, wood, old sandpaper... whatever is handy... then get some of the sawdust from under the sawtable from the wood I've just been cutting ( perfect match every time! lol), dab my finger into it until I picked up what I think is the right amount of sawdust/glue mix and push it into the gap.... then wipe the rest off with damp cloth.... done......

Now trying to make my life easier Ken bought me a tub of "real" woodfiller...... you know what? I don't like it.... sure it's less messy.... but the colour doesn't ever match up right and I found it actually shrinks a little and is very powdery when sanding... so the difference is that I get the mess after it's dry. My good old standby sawdust and glue seems to be more pleasant to work with.

Now Judy,
you do realize MDF is sort of a dirty word around woodies? lol It does have it's uses, for templates and anything you totally hide under paint.
It's also great for trying things out, but when you put a lot of effort into making something it really is good to use "real" wood... even pine.... I like pine... but yep... for a lot of the guys even that is a four letter word! oops.... ........ counting..... hmmmm.... seems it IS a four letter word! lol

happy scrolling
Juvy

Y'know over the years I've been using similar methods and came up with the same conclusion..sawdust and glue go well together for a filler! LOL Also found the same with the bought fillers. Never could find a good colour to match.

Just thought by some miracle there would be a product on the market that would be better than our homemade filler! lol

Oh my, I knew I'd said a naughty word! lol I was very hesitant mentioning MDF as I thought there would be a bit of howling from the guys. They'll be pleased to know I do paint over it so it gets well and truly hidden lol

And yes, love p**e like you. See, I didn't REALLY mention it, did I. You were braver than me! lol

Judy

Just ordered a Makita sj401 scroll saw (I'm only a beginner so didn't want to spend $1200 on an Excalibur.)
Now.....
can anybody recommend any decent books for me to learn the basics?
I'll be on my own as there are no groups down here or such so have no one to mentor me.
Ready to put the big toe in the water

A good start!

As I mentioned above, I started on Patrick Spielman's books, because they had many projects across the board from simple to the more complicated, and are readily available.

Hope this helps and have fun!

Judy

Judy..... why don't people like you move into my neighbourhood? I think we could have a lot of fun.....making PINE sawdust and hiding all our mistakes! lol

I really do like pine... it's fantastic for childrens toys. If you plan to make a family heirloom like a lot of the guys do with their model cars , trucks and trains..... of course then they should use the expensive woods... but if you make a toy to be used and enjoyed by the kids ( not on a shelf) then what's wrong with pine? Nobody gets upset if something breaks, you just make a new one. Don't have to tell the kids to be careful... on the contrary... if something breaks it's just a good opportunity to teach them how to fix something

PINE PINE PINE....... P I N E..... there... got that out of my system! lol

Call me..... Mrs Braveheart! lol

Juvy

Sssh Mrs Braveheart! you'll have us exiled for treason and blasphemy mentioning the "p" word! lol

Yes, what fun we could have amongst the PINE sawdust! lol

Seriously, though, like you I do love pine, the smell, the feel and just generally working with it. And yes, for kids toys it's the bees-knees.

By the way, is there any way to stop it yellowing if one just varnishes/lacquers it? It seems to do that over the years but I guess that's just natural aging. Anyway, just thought I'd keep you busy and put another question to you! lol

Nothing to do with the thread is it. Sorry, I should have started a newie lol

Judy

hmmm...... I've recently tried some waterbased finish and it didn't yellow the pine or any of the other wood at all. I was even disappointed that some of it stayed the way it was because the colour was not all that pretty..... sanded again and applied mirrortone after a couple of days and liked that better.... if it weren't so smelly ( and expensive and messy.....) it would be the only thing I use.

The water based seems to leave the wood just like it is... it does say non yellowing... but I don't have anything very old.... so can't say if it really doesn't yellow. I'm sure someone reading this can tell us?????

off to produce a fresh batch of pppp ( caugh caugh) ppppppiiiiiiii ( caugh).... pine sawdust.....

Juvy

Thank you, Juvy

I guess just a bit of experimentation will do the trick in the end. If I find anything miraculous I'll let you know! lol

We've gotten away with mentioning that p word I see! lol

Have fun!

Phoenix, I forgot to put my two cents worth in about the scrolling books.

One I really like is " Scroll Saw Workbook" by John Nelson... it has 25 skill building chapters.... very well explains everything step by step, good patterns. Once you're done with this book all you have to do is practise practise practise

Other then that.... really before buying any books ... go to your local library... I can't stress that enough..... they usually already have some books and if not, they can get some from other libraries. This way you can have a look and only need to spend money for one that you really really like. Saved myself heaps doing it this way.

Juvy

Hi,
I like the two scrollsaw magazines, both USA. Plenty of patterns and advice.
Bob H.

p.s. The remark about the loose pins on the 'Trupro' try a cut down split pin.