How Did You Get Here???

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

  Sorry if there is any confusion, I am not talking about this site, I am talking scrolling in general. As the title says. Like to hear the stories of how did you get here?? What was the deciding factor to make you do what you are doing in the scrolling world??  Was there one particular person, event, project you saw, craft show you visited, got hit in the head with a piece of wood. What made you get behind a very boring, time consuming,  labor intensive, slow cutting, piece of equipment such as a scrollsaw? When you did, what were your expectations and have you reached the goals you set out when you first started this journey?? Did you plan on making money, just take up a hobby, or glutton for punishment and you enjoy that. Do you feel you have improved much over the time you have been at it. Are you proud and happy when someone offers you money for your work??  Are you having as much fun as when you started and is this something you plan on continuing?? Did scrolling lead you into other areas or hobbies such as collecting tools??

 

I hope you take some time and read the different parts of the questions and answer truthfully and lets see where we go as we travel this journey together. Maybe we can learn a little more about each other. I will put my replys off so that this is just the question post. Lets have some fun. 

Edited April 5, 2018 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[Lucky2]

I was severely injured in an accident, and I was going crazy with nothing to do. My wife at that time, bought me a Delta 2000 model 16"scroll saw. Up to that point, I didn't have any idea of what scroll sawing was. I got into the hobby back then,and I have been enjoying it ever since. Since the accident,I have not been without severe pain in my back and legs. Everything I do causes pain, and I was going insane before I got the scroll saw. There was nothing I could do, and I mean nothing that didn't worsen the pain. I worked with wood for years before getting injured, but had never heard of a scroll saw. Surprisingly the scroll saw cutting didn't cause me more pain, it actually took my mind off of the pain because of concentrating on the pattern I was cutting. Once I realized that I was cutting without as much pain as I normally was, I got into scrolling like crazy. I read everything I could about the hobby, and I talked to people like Mike Moorland of Flying Dutchman fame. He taught me a lot, we talked once or twice each week, sometimes we talked for over an hour. I miss Mike, he was a great mentor who taught me mos of what I know about scrolling. He even allowed me to sell Flying Dutchman blades to Canadian buyers, I still have over two thousand dollars worth of blades I bought  from him at wholesale prices. I will never have to purchase another scroll saw blade for as long as I live, I have lots of blades I didn't sell. I am no longer interested in selling any blades, I will use most of them over time.  And seeing as how I can no longer buy blades at the wholesale price, I decided to keep them for my own use. 

 

Len

Edited April 5, 2018 by Lucky2
because of title clarification by O.P.

[Rockytime]

I started scrolling a couple of years ago. I look at a lot of you tube and sow some videos. I had a Ryobi scroll saw I used to cut off small pieces of wood used for model railroad structures. It did not work out well. A few years ago I purchased a scroll saw from Grizzly to try cutting out brass clock plates. It was fairly robust but was so poorly made I gave it away. After viewing several scrolling videos I purchased a 14" Hawk. I knew nothing about Hawk except it was purported to be good quality. It was made to be used on a ShopSmith. It had no motor of course so I provided a motor with a two step sheave. It worked beautifully. I then saw a 216VS Hawk which I am using now. I also have a 220VS Hawk ultra which is waiting a controller and motor repair from Bushton which I should receive soon. I do not scroll for profit. In fact most of what I cut just stacks up in a corner. I have neither the strength or interest in selling. I enjoy sitting at the saw listening to it, relaxed with not a care in the world. I've also done a lot of pen making but find scrolling much more relaxing. Finding SSV has been the highlight of scrolling. What a fabulous community. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Probably more than you want to know.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

24 minutes ago, Lucky2 said:

I found this site through info from another site, I was looking for a specific pattern and it was only offered here.

Len

Sorry Len not talking about this site. I mean scrolling in general. I will correct that.

[kmmcrafts]

Rather than type it all up again I have my story on my blog.. But to add a little to the beginning of the story.. I never even knew what a scroll saw was until my dad retired in the mid - late 80's.. and I was just about to graduate high school... I'd seen much of the work he did with his saw and really thought it was cool..  Anyway this is a little bit of a read but gives an idea of how I got started sawing.. and what kind of pushed me to use a scroll saw.. I knew of the many things that could be made.. just never really sat down and "tried"

https://www.kevskrafts.com/post/266174035886/my-scroll-sawing-story

[kywoodmaster]

Well long story but I will try to shorten it down. I came into contact with a gentleman from Yakima Washington that thought he was one of the last members of his family. Little did he know that there were many members of his family in KY my ex wife being one of them. Jon was a scroller and sent her a beautiful carousel horse made of walnut. My ex decided that she wanted to try her hand with the scroll saw so I purchased a Delta that I still have. She tried the saw decapitated an angle and decided that it was a sign from God and never tried again. The saw sat for several months until one day I thought I would give it a try. Well I fell in love with the saw and the relaxation that it brought. That was in 1998 or 99 and the rest is history. I don't get to saw much any more, Life has gotten in the way. I keep holding out for retirement to come around and hopefully give me some scrolling time. I did try selling some in the early 2000's but not since. I hope to try again after retirement. I have always been a tool junkie so I cant say that this caused it. I feel that I have greatly improved over the years but have gotten rusty again. There I go waiting for retirement again to get back in shape. I really enjoy anything to do with wood. I want to someday try turning but other than that I have done most of the other. Not great at it but decent.

[JimErn]

Many years ago, my ex-wifes son in law gave us a fretwork duck oval trivet he purchased at a craft show.  It was so nice I hung it on the wall.  I got it in the divorce - :-).   Over the years I kept looking at it, and two years ago home depot or lowes (can't remember which one) has a sale on a porter cable saw.  Thought I would try my hand at it - turns out I like it.  Found an EX-21 on craigs list and have been enjoying it ever since

[Sycamore67]

I have always been into woodworking and have a fully equipped shop and have made cabinets, furniture and lots of other things.  I also have had serious back problems (screws, links, wires, computer, etc in my back) and needed something I could do in my shop sitting down.  I was given a cheap pin end saw and tried it.  I liked it but the saw was terrible.  I looked on Craigslist and found a Hegner and have been happy since then.   My shop has expanded with other tools to support the scroll saw.

[Bpardue]

I grow-up having access to a large woodworking shop and had a large shop till I moved to NC. My shop here is small and I needed to find something to do in a small shop in order to keep my sanity. I mainly do intarsia because I enjoy making the wood come to life in pieces. I do sell but only to support my hobby or addiction whichever you want to call it. 

[Scrolling Steve]

I retired seven years ago and the first year went by very fast , filled with projects and honey do's......into the 2nd yr. of retirement i needed a hobby.....I saw some very nice scroll work others had done and decided i would like to try it...Steve good's site and you tube videos helped me along.....I bought a EX21 an the rest , as they say, is history !...I think i am addicted and love hearing people say "you did that" ?!?.....Scroll On !

[DWSUDEKUM]

I have always loved to craft things.  While in high school I was constantly in the wood shop.  From High School 1977 until 1995 I did other things such as electronics, aviation, IT and the like all the while I carved things. Then in early 2004 I became medially disabled and was not able to work at what I was doing and like a lot of the other folks was going stir crazy with sheer boredom so I purchased a cheap one speed no name scroll saw for $35 and made some things with it.  It worked but it was mechanically sloppy, it vibrated badly however it showed me that I wanted a better machine.  I purchased a Hitachi CW40

 

This was a huge upgrade from my first machine.  It could do the standing nickle test with no problem.  I quickly became addicted and wore the machine out.  I decided to bite the bullet and buy a Dewalt.  I have been scrolling with it, keeping it well lubed and operating since 2005.  It is, at least for me very fun to create and invent using the saw..  Currently I make coin banks and sell them on ETSY.  My Shop   I make just about anything I can think of, if it can be made from wood, Boxes, Bowls, 3d figures, puzzles, the sky is the limit only your imagination limits what can be made.   Well that's my story an I'm stickin to it.

 

DW

[Falcon]

I retired 3 years ago and my son bought me a craftsman 18" scroll saw that looked like it had been left in the weather for a while. I knew nothing of scrolling. Spent a day cleaning the saw table from rust and stepped back when I turned it on. To my surprise it ran well so off to school I went (youtube). My first project was done with a spiral blade and it was a snowman. Turned out well. It was latter I learned spirals were not the go to blade but being new and unknowing that is what I learned with. Bought a excalibur and got to use it a week. My wife tried it and liked it so much I am still using the craftsman lol.

[new2woodwrk]

I've never been very good at woodworking - in fact I still am not. I took woodworking in grammar school but wasn't permitted to take it in H.S. (long story about student prejudice during the 70's).

I needed something to do in spare time rather than spend money endlessly with nothing to show.

I had purchased a table saw quite a few years ago, on a whim I dusted it off and tried to make a workbench for the wife's planting since wanted to grow vegies.

I found a bunch of a websites/forums and joined a few, asked a boat load of questions and eventually was able to make a work bench with wheels (I still have and use the first 3 I made). One of the was a 8' x 3' table I made because I didn't think I would be able to measure and cut anything to size.

As time went on, I started to make jigs for the shop practicing skills etc.and decided my old craftsman table saw was not cutting it - literally! So, after a bunch of research I bought a Delta 36-725! And things started to turn around - I was able to actually cut straight, learned how to measure and cut and started to learn a bunch of things about woodworking. I was really getting excited and found an incredible online woodworking course by Steve Ramsey!

The course was cheap, and I had been watching his videos for several weeks and enjoyed his style, so i took the class. It was an incredible experience!

With his guidance, I started to make actual furniture which looked really decent! I started to think maybe I could make stuff and sell it. One problem started to plague me though as I thought more about this... I didn't have the room to make a bunch of furniture and store it while I waited for it to sell.

I mentioned this to someone on the woodworking forum I was visiting and they suggested I come here and have a look around - which I did. Once I got here, I started to look at all the great works and researched and questioned the members and eventually bought my Wen.

Wow what a difference! Not only was I able to make something within minutes and know exactly what it was, but it was also small and easily able to be stored in one of the  cabinets I had made.

That was all it took - I now really enjoy scrolling, hoping to one day sell a few items - if not I'll just give them away to anyone who will take them.

[Bill WIlson]

I've been butchering wood, in one way or another for 40 years.  I started out working in construction & carpentry.  Using the basic skills, tools and knowledge I gained from that, I gradually started making stuff for around the house.  After a while, woodworking became my principle hobby, borne more out of necessity and saving money than anything else.  Many years ago, when my kids were in grade school, the wife & I were shopping for Christmas gifts for them to give to all of the various teachers/instructors/busdrivers, etc in their life.  Being on a limited budget, it was always a challenge finding stuff that was cheap, but didn't look cheap.  I decided to try making some Christmas ornaments.  I had seen some neat ones at a craft show and figured I could make something similar.  I didn't own a scroll saw, (didn't even really know what one was) and for the first couple years I made do without, but it limited my ability to make the kind of ornaments I wanted to make.  So, I did a little research and decided to invest in a scroll saw.  This was in the early 90's, before I had access to the internet.  I didn't even know anyone who owned a scroll saw, so I had to teach myself how to use the thing and come up with my own designs for ornaments.  After quickly running out of my own ideas, I started looking for commercial sources for patterns.  When I found a couple pattern books by Patrick Spielman, a whole new world of project possibilities opened up, that I had never considered before.  I began dabbling in scrolling other stuff besides Christmas ornaments.  A few years later I joined a local scroll saw club and discovered yet another level of scrolling and projects.  I also learned about all of the resources available on the internet, so now I had access to patterns & blades I had never even dreamed of.  That was quite the epiphany.  It continues today, as I participate in these forums and see all of the new and exciting ways that folks are using their scroll saw to create unique projects.  I still do other woodworking, but scrolling is generally what I do for "fun".  My Christmas ornament endeavor has become a tradition and I'm up to making about 100 each year to give away.  And my grandkids are now giving them to their teachers, like their mothers did all those years ago.

[ike]

I used a scroll saw in shop classback in the late 50's and didn't go back to it untill the early 60's been doing it ever since Started out with an old saw( brand unknown) it used  a pin type blades only thebn to a 16' Craaftmans for several years then to a 20" Craftman. Then to a Porter Cable which was the worse saw I ever had. Now i use a DW788. That is about 61 years and still learning .

IKE

[stoney]

How did I get here?   To start with I have been working with wood in one way or another most of my life.   I was raised working on my dad's sawmill and logging business.   After high school I got into the electrical trade that I worked in for 45+ years.   In my spare time I built 2 houses and remodeled one.   During this time I acquired quite a few woodworking tools.   When I retired I built a lot of the furnishings for our current home including various types of tables, chests of drawers, a glide rocker etc.  During warm weather I can comfortably build most any project using my whole garage. 

I have a 10'x20' heated workshop in the back of my garage.   Scrolling is a good type of project to work on during our cold winters here as not much room is required.   I have sold some of my work but mostly I give it away as gifts to friends,family, and to charities.   

Yes I am addicted.        

[TripleJScroller]

When I was a boy My Grandfather and I would do a lot of woodworking projects together.  He didn't have a scroll saw, but I did a lot of stuff with a band saw.  Fast forward many years and I found myself battling depression pretty badly.  Not being the type to go talk to doctors or take medications I would find things to take my mind off of things.  First it was video games, but I started to want to do something more productive with my time and have something to show for my efforts.  I wanted to get into wood working, but I didn't have much room to work with and about that time I came across an old Ryobi scroll saw in my Mother in laws garage.  She let me have it and I took it home and looked up some you tube video on how to use it.  Soon I was hooked and upgraded to a Delta.  The past year or so I haven't had much time for the hobby as my Grandkids take up a lot of my free time, but I'm hoping to find time to dive back in soon.  Mostly do it for fun and relaxation, but I've sold a few items here and there.  I absolutely love the hobby and never find it boring or anything like that.  I hope to be scrolling well into old age.  As far as goals, well I'd love to make one of those fancy clocks one day, but will probably have to wait for retirement for that.  Other than that I'm hoping to upgrade my (shed) workshop soon to one that is climate controlled since I live in Florida and the summer heat is brutal. 

[3Dface]

i have spent my whole life doing different "arts". i did lights , sound, and makeup for plays in my youth. in my 20 i learned how to make life casts and masks and have made maybe 60 over the years.

 

 

i lived in the house my wife and mother-in-law (yes, and i'm glad she lives with us) for 10 years. without a long story it had structural problems that would cost to much to repair. so we put a house on the property right next to it. with almost no woodworking experience and knowing the house would have to be torn down i began removing the 80yo trim and doors to allow it to live on. SOOO i began building my shop to make t hings for my for my family to honor that home. this is my wife's favorite. she has it full of heirlooms. 

well sitting at the computer one night i saw some scroll saw portraits and said to my wife "that is so cool. i would love to try that but i bet i couldn't do it". well 2 weeks later a box with my name on it arrived. yep! my wife bought me a WEN. i did lots of outside cuts, became board and wanted to try a portrait. well using the #%!* adapters on the WEN i cut one. i was hooked. here is my first ever....

 

the hand i made reaching out of the frame is what i am trying now.

 

that baby was 8 months ago. this month makes 1 year behind the saw. in that time i started with a 16" WEN and am now cutting on a 26" Hawk.

i scroll because i amaze myself. i still can't believe i can do this. i need to know how far i can take this in both traditional cutting and see how my twisted mind can twist my art.

thank you all for inspiring me and to my wife for knowing more about me than i did.

 

Edited April 5, 2018 by 3Dface
cranial flatulation

[Dan]

16 years ago my wife asked what I wanted for Christmas. I said power tools. She bought me a scroll saw. I said I wonder what this is for. I bought a few book and the rest is history. Short and simple. 

[Rockytime]

Good one Dan!

[Kepy]

Back in the 60's (19 not 18), I went to an auction with my Grandfather.  He purchased a box of what I thought was junk that I gave him a hard time about.  After he got it home and put back together he had an old Delta scrolling jigsaw (the old cast iron floor model).  I had to eat my words but learned a little about running it.  In the 70's, I went to a yard sale and found an identical saw all together and working.  There wasn't much info available back then so I just experimented.  Started designing Christmas ornaments that I painted and included the date.  Gave those out instead of cards and found out that a lot of people collected dated ornaments.  In the 90's I became unemployed due to a hostile takeover of the company so I sold out and moved to the hills of Arkansas.  Bought a company that did wholesale craft supplies from a couple wanting to retire.  Most of the business was mail order but I opened a small store and sold to tourists.  Also built quite a business cutting wood blanks for tole painters.  My old Delta wasn't keeping up so I bought a new Delta Q3 in 94.  Also accumulated 3 Delta 350s and eventually a Hawk 20vs.  I got out of the business and moved to Missouri in 2009 for retirement.  Found a DeWalt which I am still using along with my Q3.  Don't do very much selling now but enjoy making things to give away.

[Sparkey]

I had a friend at work that did fretwork. He brought some in to work to show us. I started asking questions. I had an old Ryobi saw at home. He set me up with some spiral blades and I had some scrap 1/4 inch paneling at home. I cut out a simple rose for my first piece and was hooked. The rest is history.

[Woodmaster1]

I started scrolling about a year ago. I taught industrial arts for forty years but we didn't have a scroll saw where I taught. I joined a woodworking club and one of my first students was a member and he did a lot of scroll work and got me started scrolling. I do a wide variety of woodworking from cabinetry, lathe work, and now scroll saw projects are added to my interest. I find using a scroll saw very relaxing and quiet.

[GrampaJim]

I was in a grocery store (waiting for my wife) and started looking mags.  It was that or sort the apples and oranges but the clerks get mad at me when I do. 

I picked up a copy of  Scroll Saw Woodworking, wondering what it was.  Looking through it, I thought some of the items were really cool (some not so much).  Bought new Craftsman SS, and it broke in the first 4 months.  Found a used Dewalt 788 type ! on CL and here we are.........

I have always appreciated woodworking but seem to have no skill for most of it.  My kids have actually laughed at my efforts to build things like benches and bookshelves.  Now I have found my niche. 

[jbrowning]

I had made a set of reindeer and santa sleigh to put up outside. And my sister said "you know what, you need to make a smaller sleigh for inside". So at the time I was using a jigsaw to cut the outside reindeer and sleigh. Somehow someone said what I needed was a scroll saw. So that's what I got and have been hooked ever since.

Jim