Thread: First scrolling attempts

interesting concept using a scrollsaw for boxes

Originally Posted by wheelinround

interesting concept using a scrollsaw for boxes

I actually have two different books on the topic. After I get past the learning curve I'm hoping to do some portrait work.

Nice result mate. Keep 'em coming.

avenger, seems lovely work to an untrained eye. Thanks for pics.

Three questions, if I may? 1. just what do you mean by ''flooded'';
2. are the joins butted;
3. what glue did you use?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Old farmer

avenger, seems lovely work to an untrained eye. Thanks for pics.

Three questions, if I may? 1. just what do you mean by ''flooded'';
2. are the joins butted;
3. what glue did you use?

Thanks.

1. "Flooded" means the surfaces were saturated with the finish, allowed to sit and soak in for 30 minutes, then the excess was wiped off. They were left to sit for +/- 24 hours, then sanded with 400 grit. It's a VERY minimal amount of finish, offering virtually no protection at all. But... I was in a hurry because they were Christmas gifts.

2. If you're referring to the bodies of the boxes, they were scrolled from one piece of wood. There are only two joints on the whole thing: the bottom for the body of the boxes and the lip for the lid.

3. Titebond wood glue.

FWIW: Longhi is pretty easy to work with. It cuts, routs, shapes, and sands like a hot knife through butter. It also has a nice medium olive-tinted yellow color with no distinctive grain that matches up well as a neutral solid for contrast with fancier woods. The only issue is that when it's being worked it smells bad.

VERY nice work Avenger.
You do know you started with the hard part right? Scrolling straight lines is the most difficult thing ..... it's called a s c r o l l saw for a good reason..... it likes to cut curves, balks a bit at straight. The burr on the backside of the pressed blades make it want to go to the side. Some people go as fas as sanding the burr off..... most of us can't be bothered and we just get used to cutting a bit to the side.

Seeing how straight you can cut ..... I'd say there's nothing you can't do on the saw!

Santa brought me the second book of scroll saw boxes.... it's itching to get started... don't think I'll try the checkerboards tho.... can't see myself gluing them up perfectly....

I sure do like the idea of not having to worry about joinery, love the freedom to use any shape imaginable.... got to love the scroll saw

Here are some photos to show different shapes...... the celtic knot was cut by tilting the table and cutting in two different directions. The snowflake ones I cheated on.... didn't do the real inlay, it was one of my first and I just stack cut and then hammer forced them in! lol Naturally I had a few gaps but Ken helped me out by filling them with clear resin and we like the look... gives it the real snowflake lightness, specially since the holes in the middle are filled so the light shows through too.
I did use the scroll saw to make the box with finger joints and found it an easy joint to do with that saw.
The tiny ring box is done just like a bandsaw box.

Juvy

You do know you started with the hard part right?

I do now. These were my first attempt to do anything with it. I'll be honest though: I didn't scroll the outsides, only the insides. For the outside I used a bandsaw to get maybe 1mm from the line, then cleaned it up with the disk of my best sander.

That being said, I now know how hard it is to do a straight line. It really wanted to drift on me until I got more comfortable getting the blade tension up. THEN, after figuring that bit out, I discovered pin-end blades. It's going pretty straight now.

ughhhhh....... blahhhhhhh..... pin end blades...... lol
You don't need them.... you can get big fat pinless ones..... biggest I use is a number 12.... like a hacksaw blade! lol

I still like your boxes..... I'd use a bandsaw myself if I wouldn't be chicken... I like my fingers....

Juvy

keyu, you people are opening my eyes, thanks. May I ask the timber you used, please?

Old Farmer,
the celtic knot box and the finger joint one are both made from birdseye elm. The photos are really bad.... the colour is dark on all of them. The snowflake boxes are claret ash and again the elm... the little tiny box is just pine

I love showing people what can be done on a scroll saw. Always tell them if you can only afford one woodworking machine.... this is the one to get.

Please...don't forget to show us what you'll come up with.....

Juvy

Thank you, Juvy, and I value your recommendation of the scroll saw.
We moved off the farm to Sydney a year ago to be near the hospital and the workshop, when completed!, will be tiny.
With that and a bad back I shall be handling only small things and I have been wondering about a scroll saw.
I am finding that sitting and thinking about a job to be done is very enjoyable nowadays so I do much of that!
I shall look up earlier posts of of yours.
With best wishes and thanks.

If you enjoy sitting and thinking about a job then scroll sawing is really for you.
I spend most of my time going back and forth between the computer and the saw... I have an idea... use a photo/paint program to sketch it out.... print it out.... back to the saw... try it.... if not right... fix it with the saw... or back to the computer to try something else...
There are so many ideas to be had for nothing just looking around the web.... once can never get bored

Juvy

...one can never get bored

Respectfully, I beg to differ. Were I to only make one type of item or only use one type of tool, I'd quickly get bored out of my mind. I've only been in this hobby for a year now, but I've already made boxes using 3 types of corner joints and several different types of lids, scroll saw boxes, an inlaid plaque, assembly-line desk clocks, several electric guitar bodies, coasters with an inset, and some desk-top book racks. Pretty soon I'll be making a series of picture frames, then onto a pair of end tables.

No sir, the same tool over and over would be quite tedious. Variety is the spice of life.

Avenger...... I'd get bored making the same kind of item all the time too...... I do like variety..... and there is plenty of it for the scroll saw.
It's not as simple as you put it tho.... you have to remember that not everyone can afford a fully equipt workshop, some of us have to make do with what we can afford or what we have space for...... or in my case... what we're willing to risk our fingers for.

So get back to the variety of boxes..... did you know you can make fingerjoints and even dovetail joints on the scroll saw? You can make bandsaw boxes in miniature on the scroll saw too? You can make at least 3 different kind of baskets..... even collapsible ones? Then there are the gazillion things you can make in 3D..... from whole chess sets to a zoo for the kids.... etc etc.....

Of course you could always challenge yourself by trying out scroll saw patterns on the bandsaw too.....
Juvy