If I had known this earlier...

[Travis]

I was thinking about how overwhelming getting into scrolling can be, especially for someone new to woodworking in general. Sometimes these sites has so much information, it makes your head spin. So I thought I'd throw out this question:

 

 

 

What do you wish you had known earlier with scroll sawing?

 

or in different words:

 

Knowing what you know now - IF you could go back and start over with scroll sawing, what would you skip, change or do differently?

[wood-n-things]

I would have started with the best saw I could afford. I started with a ryobi 16" with pin end blades. I also would have gotten quality blades early on not vermont from local BORG.

[Lakelad]

I agree, would have started with the better saw.

Gary

[Clayton717]

I agree as well better saw than what I started on and blades, gotta have the good blades. and would of got help early on for the new found addiction

[Dan]

Wow, that's a tough one. I started with a cheapo Craftsman and did some good work on it. If I didn't start with that, I wouldn't know how much better my Delta is. I don't regret that. I guess maybe it would have been nice to know more about the selection of blades.

 

Dan

[Kepy]

I really don't know how I could have changed much. For those of us who started back in the dark ages, there wasn't much available. No internet and had not seen any books on scrolling so basically had to learn by trial and error.

[amazingkevin]

i did so much cutting on found plywood 3/4"and kicked up so much dust and mess .If i'd have known that i could do the same thing on thin wood and have a little dust that would be great.My favorite blade to use on the plywood was a .016,16 teeth per ".I had no uses for the tiny blades that came in the variety pacs at home depot.I had no idea what someone would use them for either.Now thats all i want to use.Finding ssv by accident proved to be the best thing that ever happened.The magazines are limited to a few ideas and forte's, here at ssv the pattern library has exactly what you need when you need it all in a click.Finding out about scrolling has helped me make money when there was no other way of making money,especially at home at your leisure.SSV and the rapid resizer by patrick have been the biggest help for me to make money.I found SSV thru steve good.But the best part is if i knew how much fun all this is ,thats the thing i would have changed along time ago.!

[jarruda144]

Yeah, a better saw, started with a master craft saw from Canadian Tire, you needee an allen key to change the blade very frustrating, anyway

something snapped when I was tensioning the blade I probably could have fixed it but I had my eye on the dewalt so I gave it some thought about 1.5 seconds and got the dewalt and I love it.

[scrollermark]

I agree 100%,

I have been scrolling for about three years now, and like most people I bought a cheap saw to see if I would like it. Well I liked it a lot but was frustrated with the vibration (low end Delta 16") so I built a sand box base for it and it helped, but still could not do fine scroll work. I finally decided to go ahead and spend more than I really should have, but researched and my choice was between a DW788 and an Eclipse. I decided on the Eclipse it is supposed to have low vibration and because it has a feature where when the blade breaks the saw stops. I finally ordered an Eclipse in Oct. 2009. So far I am disappointed, with the wait for the saw, I still have not received my saw, but they charged my credit card in Nov. of 2009. I call every week and I get the same answer you are at the top of the list. It will be sent soon. I am wondering now if I should have tried the Dewalt. I am nervous now about support for this saw, does anyone here own an Eclipse saw and if so is the wait normal, and is the saw worth the wait, and how is the support for the saw. I know a lot of questions, any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks Mark

[Christina]

I agree........I would have bought the best saw I could afford. I use a Ridgid 16" and the vibration is just terrible no matter what you do. Mine is bolted down and has an anti-vibration pad under it. Still terrible. I would have liked to be able to take classes on fretwork too. I've stumbled along and I do okay.....but I think I would do better had I had classes.

Christina

[Barry5180]

I don't really think I would have changed anything, short of which scrollsaw message board to be a member of, then again, SSV wasn't around then.

 

I started on a $69.00 Harbor Freight saw and turned out some great stuff on it. Like many, didn't want to spend a ton of money on it if I was bad at it. Turns out I'm pretty good at it and so I upgraded to a Craftsman 21". By the end of February I'll have my DW788.

 

Mark, the Eclipse is supposed to be an awesome saw. Not too many of us have them because of the cost. You could buy 3 DW788's for the price of the Eclipse. I believe the Eclipse is all hand built as well as opposed to the assembly line built saws. This could be what's adding to the long delivery time. I've heard good reviews about the saw and about their customer service. I would try and find out from them exactly what "top of the list" means from a time standpoint. I would also ask them what happens if they can't deliver by that date. To keep a customer waiting that long isn't cool. You should get something for your extra long wait time.

 

Barry

[Dan-Woodman]

I started out with an AMT 14" ( which I still have). Anyone remember American Machine and Tool?

After I found out I liked it and could make a little money, I stepped up to a Sakura. Anyone remember them? I bought the last one from a company that only had there floor model left. I really like it.

As for the AMT, I had to tear it completely apart and rework it , and added variable speed, dust blower, quick tension release, quick blade change, on and on . Now it's a good little saw for thin work.

Then I also have a Hawk 20' Variable speed with quick change blade . I'm running out of space and I'd be willing to sell the Hawk if anyone is interested.

The point here is , when your first starting out,you don't know if your going to like scrolling or not, so I think it's OK to by a cheap saw and see if it's anything close to what you might be interseted in , then move up as you budgit allows.

later Daniel

[frieke]

19 years ago I started with a Ferm scrollsaw, very cheap and noisy... Because of the noise i didn't saw a lot and i bought a Proxon (in Belgium there wasn't much choise.) It has variable speed and quick blade change. Last year I got a Hegner 2SE variable speed from my friend, and that is for me the best saw ever! If I had the money before I was started with a good saw.

In that time there was no internet or forums, but in the craft books there were patterns to make everything yourself. Now in the most craftmagazines they tell you have to buy everything in a craftstore and then they tell you how to assemble it!

And what I would do when I could restart? Keeping all the patterns I ever drawed. Mostly I made things for others so I didn't think about to keep them. Only the last few years I did.

In Belgium Dremel did stop to sell scrollsaws, Proxon you can find if you search good and Hegner in a few shops. Here and there you can buy some of those cheap scrollsaws, so you're lucky guys there in USA and Canada. I even tried to order a Dewalt by a store and I can't get it.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I agree 100%,

I have been scrolling for about three years now, and like most people I bought a cheap saw to see if I would like it. Well I liked it a lot but was frustrated with the vibration (low end Delta 16") so I built a sand box base for it and it helped, but still could not do fine scroll work. I finally decided to go ahead and spend more than I really should have, but researched and my choice was between a DW788 and an Eclipse. I decided on the Eclipse it is supposed to have low vibration and because it has a feature where when the blade breaks the saw stops. I finally ordered an Eclipse in Oct. 2009. So far I am disappointed, with the wait for the saw, I still have not received my saw, but they charged my credit card in Nov. of 2009. I call every week and I get the same answer you are at the top of the list. It will be sent soon. I am wondering now if I should have tried the Dewalt. I am nervous now about support for this saw, does anyone here own an Eclipse saw and if so is the wait normal, and is the saw worth the wait, and how is the support for the saw. I know a lot of questions, any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks Mark

 

 

Mark

 

I do not own an eclippse but I have cut on them and yes they are a great saw. To me overpriced but that is another story for another day. They are all hand made so that is why the long wait. Ernie is a good man and will tell it like it is. You should in my opinion not have been charged for the saw untill it was made. Now of course the other side of that is he needs the money to get the parts. But that is business. Again another story for another day.

 

The saw is a tremendous upgrade from what you are using. There is no and I mean no vibration in that saw. The saw does cut a little differently than other saws that are parallel arms in that it is a true perpendicular cutting saw and the blade goes truely up and down as with a parallel arm saw it has an arc to it thus making it a faster cutting saw. The eclippse is a slower cutting saw and will take a short bit of getting used to. You won't be disappointed though. Good luck with it.

 

Boy I just wrote this whole big lecture about buying the right saw and had to delete after I reread it because it might have been offensive to some. My thoughts are just buy the best saw you can afford and I think we should even take it to the next level. You will always be able to get your money back for the saw if you decide to sell , they keep their value unlike the cheap saws and you can also earn a few dollars selling your wares to pay for it. That is all and happy scrolling

[jowshu]

I'm with woodnthings, get the best saw you can it really makes a difference! I made the same mistake he did with the Ryobi and it's still sitting in my shop reminding me every time I look at it! I struggled with that piece of $%#@$ for about a year before I broke down and got a used Dewalt 788, and the whole time thought it was me doing something wrong. Try different saws out if you can and you'll see the difference which also goes for blades.

 

Don

[gonefishing]

Wish i had found this site sooner lol And hey look at it this way all of us that are learning on cheap saws just think how good well be when we do get a high quailty saw to work with lol

[toolbeltman]

Hi Guys, I started scrolling back in the 70's with a Dremel..How did we ever get anything done back then with those tools?..I cut 1/16"stainless steel with the pin top blades that came with the saw.. I was surprised how well they cut..I kept them lubed up with tallow... I recently bought a AMT 14"from a garage sale ... have not used it yet as a part was broken..It looks a lot like.. a dare I say it a "Hegner"...lol ...Glad I found you guys keep up he good work...Doug

[Dan-Woodman]

Toolbeltman

I started with a 14" AMT. The saw cuts really good NOW!!!! .

If you rotate the motor by hand you will see that the blade actually moves to the rear of the saw on the downstroke. I tore mine completely apart and fixed and added a lot of features that all the new ones have nowdays. Now I use it as my fine cutting saw (2nd. saw).

later Daniel

[r6239cleo]

I guess better saw like most of you have said. One of the biggest things is blades, takes a while to get to the right blade, for me that is FD blades.

[Marshall]

I wish in starting out that for no.1 that I had just brought the best scrollsaw like the Dewalt and also someone would have told me of the Flying Dutchman blades , and no. 2 had known about sites like this one with all the free patterns and no. 3 just knew people like are on this site for all the tips and helpful knowledge that they had to offer . ....this would had a big help .........Marshall