Thread: Scrollers in Castlemaine - newbie needs help

Hi Debbie welcome to the wonderful world of scrolling
First of.... what kind of saw do you have? Does it use pinless or pin blades?
Second.... since you're one of "us" ( ladies that is ) can you sew? If so.... you're 75% there... you already know how to line up to push something towards a certain point ( needle) ... now you do something alike.... push towards the blade.....
Keep your fingers to the side of the blade and there's no way you'll hurt yourself. I've let 6 and 7 year olds use the saw and never drew blood!
The blade goes up and down.... not round and round like a bandsaw or circular saw.... if you accidently hit the blade you take your finger away and you're fine.... you can even touch it on purpose ( lightly of course) and nothing happens.... so once the fear of it is gone... you can have fun...

Now.... what I do with first time scrollers here at home is to make something really easy that I prepared..... where people just have to make a few straight cuts and have a finished project... great for that " oh I can do that moment" lol.... since I'm not there....

I'd start with very simple kids puzzles..... you can even use ( nobody groan now...) MDF..... just make sure you wear a mask.. you should do that anyway .. with any wood.... good habit to get into.
Some folks might tell you to start with practise cuts .... wavy lines, straight lines... etc... but that gets old quick and the only way to get good at it is cut cut cut.... soooooo........ I did puzzles.... using 3/4" wood. There are free patterns on line, but I find the best ones are simple pictures of animals and people drawn by kids you may know... just cut the outline then lightly draw interlocking pieces... cut them out.. done.
Kids love seeing their artwork come to live.

One lesson you'll learn real quick is that sometimes the pieces don't come out right.. that means that either the table wasn't square or you pushed too hard.... always let the blade do the work... don't push hard.... if it's too hard you may need a coarser blade or you are using an old dull one.

There's soooooo much to tell you.... too much really.... if you have access to your local library... they have books on scrolling.... if not... they can get them from other libraries.... it's a cheap way to get heaps of information....

If you have any specific questions , feel free to contact me. Just put "scroll saw" in the subject line and send to "kejuvy @ gmail.com" leave the spaces out.

Happy Scrolling
Juvy

Dear Juvy,

Thankyou sooo much for your generous, thoughtful response to my cry for help!

I have a Hegner scroll saw which takes pinless blades.

After reading some internet articles on using a scroll saw i felt confident till i sat down to use my saw and found it hard to relate that info to the practical. (eg. the tension adjuster doesnt click and also getting the blade square with table has perplexed me a bit)

I do sew! When you compare it to to machine sewing i feel hope for myself as a scroll sawer!

I need to cut out some largish letters out of thin ply stuck to polystyrene very soon for a sign so ive been practising on some thin scrap MDF. My problem was that the blade seemed to be bending too much (friction) whilst cutting.

Today i bought some 11.5 and 12.5 TPI (or 7R and 5R ) blades so i hope just changing the type of blade will help. They all seem to look so similar!!!! argh!!!!

Thankyou for your reassuring info regarding safety! This helps immensely!

Take care,
Deb xxx

There are lots of Hegner users here, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding help for it. I myself use a Delta.... so can't help you with the machine, but I can help you with other scrolling stuff.
Specially since I'm a woman...... ( I'm ducking under the desk now.. just in case someone wants to clobber me) serious so... sometimes we explain things differently... simply because we relate to things in a different way then the guys do.

Tension.... yes... no good if it's loose.... There needs to be a nice little, musical "ping" to it ( female explanation) or no more then 1/8" give ( guys way! lol)

Squaring the blade.... I use a square block of wood... gently cut into it, then slide the block to the back and see if the back of the blades slides easily into the cut I just made..... if it does... it's square... if not it shows you which direction to straighten the table out..... move it about half the distance the cut is out..... then try again.

Now for thin mdf.... you need a thin blade.... I'd take about a # 3...... not all blades from all manufacturers match up tho.... a lot of this is trial and error. I get all my blades from Harris Traders..... They have the best prices and fastest, friendliest service. She can also answer all and any questions you have about blades....
[email protected]

To get more control over thin MDF it's really easier to stack cut them... put 2-3 pieces on top of each other and tape around them to hold them together. Also.... if your blade still looks like it's bending too much.... you're still pushing too hard! Let the blade to the work...

For your letters... I'd think you need to put thin MDF under the polystyrene to keep it from breaking.... make a sandwich like I told you about the stack cutting... you also get an extra set of letters that way

I'm attaching a drawing of different blades so you get a better idea what they look like.

Feel free to ask any questions..... even if it seems a repeat.... some things need explaining more then once

Juvy

Hi Brainspace
I have just shared three months or so of the learning curve of adapting to a Hegner. I bought the LOML a Hegner. Congratulations to you, you have chosen to start with the best machine, and that's always a plus with any machine for a newcomer. You will at least know that the machine is capable of producing brilliant results, and that any shortcomings are due most likely to your inexperience. Believe me, results will improve dramatically with more exposure to scrolling.

When I purchased the machine, I purchased two basic texts. The first is the Scrollsaw Handbook by Patrick Spielman which is regarded as the best basic information for a newbie on the various factors you need to understand when you buy a saw. It talks, for example, about blades, how they work, how they differ in structure and quality and how they are applied to scrolling.

It's the kind of book you can go back to when you have general questions that will naturally occur over time with more scrolling.

The second is the Scrollsaw Workbook, by John A Nelson. This comprises 25 graded skill-building exercises that teaches you the fundamentals of all aspects of scrolling.
It is graduated, sensibly explained (I'm an old chalkie, and look with a very critical eye at teaching texts), and gives you experience at all manner of tasks and materials.

As far as the blade tension goes, I have watched David with his Hegner, and it is to be tight enough to give a slightly musical note when plucked. From my observation, tensioning correctly comes quickly. The more difficult aspect can be choice of blade, and this is where your experiece comes in from your skill building exercises. If your blade is bending, then it's probably not tensioned correctly.

Try to guitar string test and pluck it. The Scrollsaw Handbook has good explanations and photos of what is involved in set up. Remember, your machine is the Rolls Royce and set up is not a big deal. Vibration, however, can be if your machine is not well bolted down. If everything is correct, your Hegner, in action will sing like a Swiss sewing machine.

If you did a course at say a local TAFE, the tasks you would be given would be comparable to what you do in the workbook. The tricks of the trade will come naturally to you, having already observed David's progress, as he has made many original experiments to improve his results. I have found, also, that what works for one scroller doesn't work for another, and that you will most likely solve lots of problems yourself by experimentation.

Compound (3D) cuts, for example, can be a problem, which people solve in different ways. You have to remove work in progress to turn it, and most people tape it up again to stop the article from moving. Any movement can destroy the finished product. David uses mini clamps to hold the piece together, and he gradually releases the clamps, having taped the pieces progressively. Others do it differently, so there's no one correct way.

If you can be specific about what you need to know, I'd be happy to get David to explain in laymen's terms what you need to understand. Believe me, it's not rocket science!! Anyway, as a mere woman, without much technical background, I find most things fairly logical.

Regards
LiliB
From the stormy Riverina

Debbie,

Grab some ply and practise. I stole my wifes GMC on Friday (Never used it before) and made up a celtic cross (See the thread I posted yesterday) in a couple of days.

Dont fear the saw, I poked the blade with my fingers a couple of time (Bad technique on my behalf), didn't draw blood, barely even scrached me, from this soft handed office worker. So get out there and practice.


PS. will be up your way soon, going to the Bendigo Swap meeting

I totally agree...... practise practise.... best way to learn. It can be boring to just do the practise cut from the books..... so I got some 3/4" pine and did kids puzzles.... lots of them... kids love them no matter what and when you're done you've gained heaps of experience.
I don't like cutting the cheap ply from Bunnings.. it splinters and also the glue dulls the blades pretty quick.

Also found that reading the books before starting did help some.... but a lot of things said didn't make much sense until I actually used the saw.... when I re read the books a couple months later lightbulbs flashed on! lol Lot's of " aha" moments!

After 3 years I still have those moments...... lol

Had an 8 and a 11 year old here week before Halloween ... they cut all sorts of spooky stuff from MDF ( yes they wore masks and yes... I have dust extraction in the room) and had an absolute ball.

Juvy