Scroll Sanding/Finish Tip Trick/Hack Solution

[harpolemond]

First of all I found this so usable when I stumbled upon it today I thought I would share. It may be out there, but I have never seen it.

       For a long time I have looked for any resource to file and sand inside cuts on very small cutouts. 
    I have tried mini files, dental files, hand held scroll saw blades, and even cutting down fingernail files. 
    I am working on a very intense piece with hundreds of very small cut outs. The smallest needle file at any store will not come close to getting in the areas I need to reach.   I do realize that a perfect cut the first time is ideal, but few of us make perfect  cuts every time.
    Now for a long time I have used the opposite side of the scroll blade to "shave" down a slight bow or irregular area. It does work well but when you have say many hundreds of cuts on a single piece, you know you will have irregularities. 

I just don't like them, so I have looked for a long time for a solution.   
    Sandpaper on a scroll saw blade on the saw?  Yes I do that too. Self adhesive works well and is smaller than commercial solutions. But that solution is for somewhat larger areas to sand.
    I needed very very delicate control over the sanding blade.
    Perhaps ten years ago I bought a very used exacto knife set. The blades are now rusted and dull. But in the case there were Three mountable exacto knives in the set in good condition.{ Case had been closed for years. }
     The kind that you screw open and slide the blade into the top of the knife and tighten it down.  So who says an exacto knife blade has to go in there? width size is perfect! See the pics
    I took two sizes of blades from 1/0 to 3/0.  400 grit
     The blades fit perfectly into the knife ends and tighten down nicely.   I use used blades:   Clean them and mount the self adhesive sand paper. [I buy it by the roll]
    The blades are cut in half with a fine cable cutter so as to add stability and less flexibility.  They are sturdy enough to do extreme fine sanding with. 
    And you can even use the knives to put a scroll blade into and "feather" a vein more carefully by hand. Now I can sand the wider areas on my scroll saw, and the most delicate of parts by hand. Sandpaper on only one side of the blade makes it even thinner....
      Not sure if I explained this very well but if you experiment with an exacto you will no longer need to hold onto that tiny blade. Now you will have a handle and more control over your work. Try cutting the blades in half
  Two knives in pics with 400 grit. [One with the Exacto blade still in it.]
 
   NOTE:  Scroll Saw blade edges are stamped left or right, and.... This can break through the paper and damage the work piece. 
     Solution; Simply quick file the full edge of the blade to smooth using a grinder or file. 

Exacto knives can be found on the cheap at Walmart.  Say three bucks?

[Joe W.]

This is timely!  I just finished a piece (I'm a newbie) and there were a few spots that needed touching up, so I went to HF and got a 10 piece Diamond Grit Needle File Set to do the touch up with.  They worked, but your suggestion looks like a much better solution.  And one I will try in future pieces.  Thanks for sharing!

[harpolemond]

48 minutes ago, Joe W. said:

This is timely!  I just finished a piece (I'm a newbie) and there were a few spots that needed touching up, so I went to HF and got a 10 piece Diamond Grit Needle File Set to do the touch up with.  They worked, but your suggestion looks like a much better solution.  And one I will try in future pieces.  Thanks for sharing!

If its a larger area especially on the outside of a piece, tape the sandpaper to it and trim it down. Then mount it in your saw.  Be sure to grind the teeth off the blade first.   I just figured this out this morning by accident. Wanted to post it to see if it would help others. Yep I use the files too. Anything I can use to make the work look better. I have seen so much work that people just don't finish it off. Bought a coo-coo clock in a garage sale last year. It was beautiful, and made on the scroll saw. Turned out the piece when closely looked at,  the maker left every outcrop etc on the inside and out. [Where an inside blade cut is finished...]

The maker was an old man from Indiana. There was a sticker inside. I tried to contact him to see if he wanted it back. He had passed on. So we will keep it. It is quite striking. Beautiful actually,  We were going to return it to him.

     Most likely jr made pieces and sold them in flea markets etc.    I am in Illinois. How it got over here I have no idea. I have considered taking it apart to re create the pattern and try to build my own. 

The sander I showed here, one was less than 1/8 inch thick or wide. Very small.  If you only put sandpaper on one side of the blade it would be one third thinner even.  Hope it helps        harpolemond

[Dan]

Interesting. But what are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to reshape the cut or get rid of "fuzzies"? If you are trying to get rid of fuzzies the quickest way for me is to use a torch and burn them off. Once you get use to it you can burn them quickly without burning your work.

[dgman]

5 minutes ago, Dan said:

Interesting. But what are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to reshape the cut or get rid of "fuzzies"? If you are trying to get rid of fuzzies the quickest way for me is to use a torch and burn them off. Once you get use to it you can burn them quickly without burning your work.

I agree with Dan on his suggestion, but if you are trying to reshape the cut, you do it when you make the cut. I use the burr on the blade to shave the cut till it’s where you want it. Otherwise, there is no need to sand the inside cuts, especially in fine fretwork like you are showing. Once you apply a topcoat, the edges of the inside cuts will never show.

[trackman]

When I first started scrolling I would spend as much time touching up as I did cutting. Now my cutting ability is a lot better. If I cut out a fret an it is a little off I use the side of the blade to trim. Sanding mop to remove fuzzies or torch to burn them off. WE are our worst critics. 

[Rockytime]

I hate finishing and sanding but, I was interested in your exacto knives. When I was just a young fellow I saw a little wooden case with those same knives in a store window. How I wanted that knife set. When I was a kid $5 was a princely amount. Sometime later my father and I walked by the store and low and behold my father turned into the store and bought it for me. I was ecstatic! One day my mom and dad were gone for whatever reason and I was home alone. My dad had a razor strop hanging in the kitchen pantry to be used for disciplinary purposes. I wanted to try out my new knives. Ah, the razor strop, that should work. I sat at the kitchen table and started whittling. I only wanted to just make a few slices but the little knives cut so well I could not stop. Ultimately I had nothing but a pile of tiny little leather chips. Oh my gosh, what to do? I wrapped them up in newspaper and burred them in bottom of our trash barrel. Some time later my dad went looking for the strop and could not find it. Good thing for me. He asked mom where it was and she had no idea. Long after I was an adult I told my folks the story of the missing strop. We all got a good laugh.

[blondewood]

I like your tip.  I don't do fret work, but I have tiny areas to sand or reshape.  I use all the tools you've mentioned, but appreciate this as another tool for my arsenal.  Thanks!