Scroll saw virgin

[Dolores]

Ok, so worked through the first few exercises in “The Scrollsaw Workbook” and produced these magnificent works of art....I may take a stall at the next village craft market!

Actually, it was a good learning curve for a complete beginner like myself. Spent way too much time on the butterfly thing, straight lines are never quite straight, corners are the devil’s work...

Also attempted to use plain ended blades but couldn’t seem to get the clamp tight enough to hold them in for more than a few minutes. So switched back to pinned and just made the entrance holes bigger!

I plan on carrying on with more easier stuff and when I get bored (or have enough cat/fish/butterfly things) I’d like to have a go at compound cutting. 

 

Frank

[lawson56]

You did a Fantastic job!!!I have that Butterfly and Cat pattern,I am a Little Concerned about your plain end blade not staying clamped in.I have had several saws over the yrs,and I have never had that problem.What type of saw do you have? We may be able to help you find a solution.A lot of Smart Great Scrollers here in The Village.

[amazingkevin]

53 minutes ago, Dolores said:

Ok, so worked through the first few exercises in “The Scrollsaw Workbook” and produced these magnificent works of art....I may take a stall at the next village craft market!

Actually, it was a good learning curve for a complete beginner like myself. Spent way too much time on the butterfly thing, straight lines are never quite straight, corners are the devil’s work...

Also attempted to use plain ended blades but couldn’t seem to get the clamp tight enough to hold them in for more than a few minutes. So switched back to pinned and just made the entrance holes bigger!

I plan on carrying on with more easier stuff and when I get bored (or have enough cat/fish/butterfly things) I’d like to have a go at compound cutting. 

 

Frank

These are much acclaimable!!!! Works of art ,preciously cut with love  for what your doing I'm very impressed with the speed of your learning curve here.! Keep your work coming!!!

[JimErn]

Great cutting.  Hang on to them, in years to come you can look back on your first cut remembering.

I'll echo lawsons question, what machine are you using?

[daveww1]

very nice

[Dolores]

I have a Record Power SS16V

They are retailing in the UK at around £110 ($140) You can get much cheaper machines, so I thought it would be a reasonable starter saw. 

Pinned blades are a real cinch....plain ended not so.....

Edit: The other thing is that there seems a bit of vibration when compared to the YouTube vids I’ve watched .

Frank

Edited September 15, 2019 by Dolores
Added comment

[Foxfold]

I think you did a grand job with those. !!      I too started with a Pin End machine, however, after a few months on this forum I bought a second hand Axminster LOL,  scrolling gets you like that.  I now have both machines and still use both machines.

[Roberta Moreton]

I clean the ends of my blades with a little thinner. When you wipe them and see the black on your rag you will understand one reason they might be slipping. 

[Scrappile]

Welcome to the village.  Looks like you have it going good. 

[Phantom Scroller]

Yep I had one of those motor burn't out I think it was my second machine and the third was the one I still have Excalibur ex-21 and man that was like going from a Skoda to a Bugatti Veyron (268 MPH) You really need to get away from the pinned blade unless you want to cut outside all the time. The moto is never give up. Roly

[trackman]

Take a piece of fine sandpaper an sand both ends an both sides were the blade goes into the clamp. This will clean factory coating an rough up the metal so the clamp can get a grip. 

[meflick]

Great beginnings. When I was learning, I too got and went through most of the lessons I’m that book.  The Saw you got would be on the low end of a “beginner’s saw” which means you would expect it to have more vibration then higher end saws. However, I have seen people use it to make some Beautiful pieces so it can be done.  As noted, it is best to figure out the issue with your painless blades so you can learn to use those as they really are the preferred blades to use for most Scroll work if it has inside cuts.

for more free patterns to try and great and helpful information on scrolling in general, you might check out Steve Good’s blog if you have not already discovered it. You can find it here: http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/ 

[Hermit]

I fought this same thing for quite some time. This last piece I did I also sanded both ends and haven't had a blade slip out yet. 

[spirithorse]

Very nice work!
As already pointed out, you can sand the ends of the plain end blades or wipe them down with some kind of
solvent. The blades have some type of oil coating to keep them from rusting before they are sold so, getting
that oil off will definitely help your clamps.

Thanks for sharing and God Bless! Spirithorse

[Ron Johnson]

Fine work Frank. If sanding the blades don't help try adjusring the set screws a touch. 

[wombatie]

That is a great start.  I agree with JimErn, hand on to them they are great to look back at.  With every new blade I wipe the ends with rubbing alcohol and then I rub them with heavy duty sandpaper, The blade never slips out.

Marg