New Woodworker here

[Charles Henry]

Hello, my name is Charles, I'm 29, and have just recently found great pleasure in woodworking. I used to build ramps as a kid, decent ramps, I rode a lot of Street, Dirt, and Park (BMX) when I was younger, so a basic knowledge of how to build a nice ramp was pretty solid, in my head. I had a lot of fun building them, and even more actually doing tricks on them with my bike.

 

About 7 months ago, I decided to build a nice chicken coop for the Wife and I. Her Grandfather helped out a little bit, but it was about 90% my design, ideas, and work. It came together extremely well with only a jig saw and a circular saw, both of which belonged to the Grandfather in law. I enjoyed building it, and kept doing little things here or there to make it just that much better. After a majority of it's completion, I decided that I had earned the right to buy myself a decent Miter Saw, and that's when I REALLY started seeing just how much I liked woodworking. After the Miter, came a Router, then an Orbital sander, then a Kreg Jig, now I'm hording pallets where ever I can find them and it's okay for me to take them, I even asked a buddy of mine to build me an awesome pallet tear down tool.

 

After the Chicken Coop, my Father had to have their white boxer "Kizer" put down, he began having seizures. So I took it upon myself to make them a gift to remember him by. I went out into my Grandfather in laws workshop, where he and his Grandfather in law used to woodwork together, and I started to use his scroll saw. It's old, the air thing doesn't work on it, the blades I had on hand were somewhat large, but I went to work, and I cut out a dog bone, with Kizer's name in it. For the E, I tried my best to incorporate a little white dog into it to hold the center of the E in place. When it was done, I sanded it as best I could, stained it, painted the dog white, and put a hanger on the back of it. I was pretty proud of it, and my Dad and his Wife really appreciated it.

 

Now I'm working on my first REAL woodworking project, again for my Dad, it's going to be a birthday gift, so please, no telling! lol. But it's a Birdhouse. His Father too, (My Grandfather, and the man I was named after) whom passed away before I could meet him, was also a Woodworker, and he used to build Birdhouses with my Dad, when my Dad was a kid. So I really think he's going to enjoy it.

 

Now that I've got my introduction out of the way, I'm wanting to buy a Scroll Saw, but a good one, one that will last me a long time, so long as I keep up with it. The problem is, I've no idea what I'm looking for, or what kind of blades I need, to make some of these amazing things I see. So if you've stuck around this long, and you've got some useful information that you'd be willing to pass along to me, I'd greatly appreciate it

[Scrolling Steve]

Welcome to the Village Charles !....In the forum under Scroll saw reviews there is a lot of good info on different saws....I use  an EX21 and love it!...A lot of folks here use the Dewalt 788...read the reviews and good luck with your choice......Again, welcome aboard.

[Scrappile]

Welcome to the forum.  Your picture of the chicken coop sure brought back memories.  I love chickens and use to keep some.  One day I would like to have some more.

 

If you want a saw that will last forever, check out a Hegner, or a Hawk.  They are spendy but are very well built.  I have a Hegner, love it. The Excalibur, I have an Excalibur also and love it, is also a great but no longer available.  There is a replacement of the design at Seyco.com.  That is the place that many, including myself bought our Excaliburs.  The one they sell now under their name is basically the same saw with some refinements.  Jet has a new saw out that is getting pretty good review, and DeWalt makes a good scroll saw the is less expensive. 

 

When you get a saw, blades are a whole other  subject.  It depends on what you cut, and what works best for you.  There are tons of info and opinions on this forum.  It really boils down to your preference for what your are cutting.

 

Sit back relax and read through the forum.  An abundance of info can be found here. 

Edited February 15, 2017 by Scrappile

[wombatie]

Hi Charles welcome to the Village.  I'm Marg from Australia.  Great looking chicken coop you have made bet the chicken love it.  Oh and the bird house will be fantastic you Dad will be blown away with it.  Keep up the great work, hope to see you around often.

 

Marg

[amazingkevin]

Hello, my name is Charles, I'm 29, and have just recently found great pleasure in woodworking. I used to build ramps as a kid, decent ramps, I rode a lot of Street, Dirt, and Park (BMX) when I was younger, so a basic knowledge of how to build a nice ramp was pretty solid, in my head. I had a lot of fun building them, and even more actually doing tricks on them with my bike.

 

About 7 months ago, I decided to build a nice chicken coop for the Wife and I. Her Grandfather helped out a little bit, but it was about 90% my design, ideas, and work. It came together extremely well with only a jig saw and a circular saw, both of which belonged to the Grandfather in law. I enjoyed building it, and kept doing little things here or there to make it just that much better. After a majority of it's completion, I decided that I had earned the right to buy myself a decent Miter Saw, and that's when I REALLY started seeing just how much I liked woodworking. After the Miter, came a Router, then an Orbital sander, then a Kreg Jig, now I'm hording pallets where ever I can find them and it's okay for me to take them, I even asked a buddy of mine to build me an awesome pallet tear down tool.

 

After the Chicken Coop, my Father had to have their white boxer "Kizer" put down, he began having seizures. So I took it upon myself to make them a gift to remember him by. I went out into my Grandfather in laws workshop, where he and his Grandfather in law used to woodwork together, and I started to use his scroll saw. It's old, the air thing doesn't work on it, the blades I had on hand were somewhat large, but I went to work, and I cut out a dog bone, with Kizer's name in it. For the E, I tried my best to incorporate a little white dog into it to hold the center of the E in place. When it was done, I sanded it as best I could, stained it, painted the dog white, and put a hanger on the back of it. I was pretty proud of it, and my Dad and his Wife really appreciated it.

 

Now I'm working on my first REAL woodworking project, again for my Dad, it's going to be a birthday gift, so please, no telling! lol. But it's a Birdhouse. His Father too, (My Grandfather, and the man I was named after) whom passed away before I could meet him, was also a Woodworker, and he used to build Birdhouses with my Dad, when my Dad was a kid. So I really think he's going to enjoy it.

 

Now that I've got my introduction out of the way, I'm wanting to buy a Scroll Saw, but a good one, one that will last me a long time, so long as I keep up with it. The problem is, I've no idea what I'm looking for, or what kind of blades I need, to make some of these amazing things I see. So if you've stuck around this long, and you've got some useful information that you'd be willing to pass along to me, I'd greatly appreciate it

welcome Charlie.You've got lots of reading ahead of you if you like,On the bottom of each page in the forum are page numbers .you can go back all the way to the beginning of SSV in 2009 if you like.Enjoy.Here's on from feb,2009 Pete the fence peeker

Edited February 15, 2017 by amazingkevin

[stevan]

Your work looks great. I'm sure it will translate well into scrolling. Welcome aboard.

[UncleApple]

Welcome to the village Charles!  I started scrolling with a Craftsman model.  They are basically an "into" unit at low cost.  I'm happy I started with it, but after working on some more detailed projects, and after reading MANY articles...I decided to upgrade to a Dewalt DW788 model.  I felt that it had the things I wanted for the price I was willing to pay. Other than having some re-learning stumbles, I LOVE it.

 

As far as blades go, I prefer the Flying Dutchman brand, but may soon try Pegasus blades. 

 

Happy scrolling!

[daveww1]

nice work, welcome aboard

[meflick]

Hi Charles and welcome to the Village.  You will get lots of great advice and wisdom from the many folks on here.  Lots of great saws out there - really depends on your budget - your ability to "save" a while if needed before committing to a saw, etc.  What one person likes or can afford, may not be what someone else likes or can afford.  There are lots of threads across the forum that discusses the pros and cons of different saws, different blades, etc.  so my best advise is to "explore" the forum throughly and see what information has already been shared here to get a "big picture".  Then, decide your budget, etc. and then look for the best saw that fits your needs and budgets.  Also, don't forget if you have a limited budget to check Craig's List, and other sources for "used saws" that can often be found in good if not great shape (sometimes people buy one or get one as a gift and never use it and then sell it cheap for example.)  If you do buy use, make sure you can try it out before buying though and if in doubt, run it by the folks here to see if it is a good saw and/or buy for the price.

[Denny Knappen]

Welcome to the forum from TN.  I have both a DeWalt 788 and an Excalibur EX21.  As mentioned, the EX21 is out of stock.  There is now a Jet and soon to be (March) Seyco.  As for blades, buy online and not from the big box stores.

[Charles Henry]

Thanks everyone, for the warm welcome! I wasn't sure if my post was going to show up or not lol. Almost thought it was a bit too long at first. I'm really looking forward to this whole idea of Woodworking. As I stated my Dads, Dad was a Woodworker in his time, and I would love to follow in his foot steps. I've seen the DeWalt 788 online and it caught my eye, and I believe I saw an Excalibur at a WoodCraft store in San Antonio yesterday. Seeing both of those mentioned here, only further my want to investigate them further lol. I also saw some Pegasus blades at the same store, but that Flying Dutchman, boy, I bet those must be good, they've got a name to live up to XD.

 

Thanks again everyone, for the very warm welcome, I really appreciate it! A great community is the best form of encouragement!

[Janie]

Hi Charles...... 

Good to see another sawdust sniffer in the wood pile. (lol).   Loved your introduction.   Scrolling is addictive and a very beautiful hobby to have.  I've been doing it for many years and hope I get to bring my saw with me to the nursing home if I ever wind up there.   I have a RBI Hawk 26" and love it.  I wore out two other saws, and this one is the very best.  I've had it for about 10 years and I've never anything to gripe about.  

 

Janie

[Charles Henry]

Hi Charles...... 

Good to see another sawdust sniffer in the wood pile.

 

I like that analogy lol. I'm guessing it means a new person among a crowd of more wise individuals. I'll add the RBI Hawk to my list of Saws I need to investigate

[Phantom Scroller]

 A big WELCOME from me . Roly

[Charles Henry]

So I'm doing a little reading, and I believe a foot switch scroll saw might be something I'd be interested in. I'm guessing the foot switch acts like a speed control, much like that of a sewing machine? That's pretty awesome. After using one for a while I'm sure it'd be natural just like driving a manual transmission!

[Bill WIlson]

Welcome Charlie,

 

I came into woodworking as a hobby that grew out of a background in construction that started when I was a boy, helping my Dad.  I worked as a carpenter, building houses for a couple years, after high school, but when the interest rates hit 20%, the housing market dried up and the outfit I worked for went under.  Since then, I've built my own house and gradually accumulated a shop full of tools and learned to make a little finer sawdust.  I discovered scrolling about 20 years ago and am on my 3rd saw.  The great thing about scrolling is that there are so many different and distinct disciplines that there is something to interest just about everyone.  You can specialize in one area or dabble in several and likely never get bored.  Pattern designers (the lifeblood of scrolling) and the more creative and innovative scrollers are constantly coming up with new ways to use a scrollsaw.  Forums like this offer a great means for sharing experiences, seeking advice and seeing what the newest thing is that people are trying. 

 

 

[Bill WIlson]

Actually a footswitch is just for on/off control.  It's still a great addition to the scrollsaw and I highly recommend getting one, but it doesn't act as a variable speed control. 

[MTCowpoke22]

Howdy and Welcome. For your saw, it probably depends a lot on your budget. I just got the new Jet saw and am really liking it. Like Bill said, the foot switch is simply on and off. I never had one before I got this Jet and now I'm not sure how I cut without it. Its a lot easier/safer to be able to have both hands on your wood when you start and stop the saw. Good luck.

[Charles Henry]

Actually a footswitch is just for on/off control.  It's still a great addition to the scrollsaw and I highly recommend getting one, but it doesn't act as a variable speed control. 

 

Aww man, I was kind of getting excited lol. I didn't read much on the switch it's self, just made an assumption about it. But thanks for clearing that up. I guess it would still be pretty useful, so you don't have to remove one hand and risk the piece turning slightly and milling out a chunk of it by accident. >.<

 

Love the background story, it's interesting to hear how people came to be Woodworkers. I hadn't had much appreciation for hand crafted pieces until I started to build things myself. I've only nicked the surface, but my appreciation has grown tremendously! Peoples lives are in every piece, and I'd like to believe a part of their existence stays with the piece created.

[Bill WIlson]

There are 2 types of footswitches.  One is a deadman type, the other is tap on/tap off.  Based on responses in past threads on the topic, I think most folks prefer the deadman type.  You press down to turn on the saw and it stays on, until you lift your foot.

[Charles Henry]

There are 2 types of footswitches.  One is a deadman type, the other is tap on/tap off.  Based on responses in past threads on the topic, I think most folks prefer the deadman type.  You press down to turn on the saw and it stays on, until you lift your foot.

 

hmmmm. not sure if I'd like the deadman switch or not. When I did make that one scroll saw piece, I was moving about a lot, then again I've never done it before and maybe as my skill progresses, I'll move about less? I found staring at the side of the blade worked best for me, as I was able to see it lol. But maybe that's improper technique, or is there a proper technique.

[Blaughn]

Welcome to the Village, Charlie!

 

Bruce

Minneapolis

[Charles Henry]

Welcome to the Village, Charlie!

 

Bruce

Minneapolis

 

Hello Bruce, and thank you! I saw you in the Chat room, I sent two messages. Were you able to see them? I was reading through the chat room thread and I read quite a few instances where people stated that they didn't get to chat with anyone who was in there. I'm wondering if there's some issue with it to where my messages aren't showing up for other people, and vice versa.

[Bill WIlson]

First thing is to decide if you want to sit or stand.  Both have their advocates.  I started out standing, but now prefer sitting.  I have a swivel stool, that is on wheels and adjustable height.  It's perfect for me, because I can shift my position, without really moving all that much.  My footswitch sits on a platform where I place my right foot, but I can still move around a bit and easily reach the switch.  It sort of becomes natural, once you get used to it.  For me, if you don't have the ability to immediately turn the saw on & off, then there isn't as much benefit to having the switch.  If one uses the tap on/tap off type and moves around while sawing, then you really don't have as much control, because your foot has to find that switch before you can turn it off.  I prefer the immediate response from the deadman type, but that's just me. 

[Charles Henry]

That's some good advice, and I'll definitely take that into consideration. I think being able to wheel ones self around the saw while having the switch fixed to the chair that you're sitting on sounds like a pretty good idea, and makes the deadman switch sound like a pretty good option.