artmill Posted September 28, 2012 Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 Hi All, I am new to scrolling and not sure if I am doing this wrong or what. The problem that I am having is controlling the cut. I am finding that when I am cutting a single piece of 1/4" BB it is difficult to control small kerf cuts, I tried to slow the cutting speed on my dewalt but still same problem. I am using Fd sr5 blade and cutting a clock pattern from Scroller LTD (if that helps). Is it just me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben12 Posted September 28, 2012 Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 I'm not sure what BB is but it appears you are using too big of a blade for 1/4" material.. Try using a 3 or even a 1 reverse tooth and slow down your feed rate. Feed rate is just as important as scroll saw speed. Try slowing down your feed rate. I have found over the years that slowing down the feed rated and using a slower speed on my saw makes for a nice clean cut. But hey, that's just me. Just keep at it, you'll figure what works for you. You may end up with a few pieces of scrap but that's all part of learning. We all did it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmill Posted September 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 Actually it was a #3 blade, sorry. I will try a smaller blade and slow feed and speed. BB is baltic birch, I didn't know if the type of wood made a difference or if I should stack cut. Thanks for the reply. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted September 28, 2012 Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 I find the smaller the blade, the more it has a tendency to wander and harder to control. But, with a bigger blade, it is harder to make tighter turns. You can try a #5 and see if that helps. I personally like a #3 for 1/4 Baltic Birch. Works well for me. One thing to watch is if you're putting too much pressure on the side of the blade. Try this exercise next time you're cutting. Every once in awhile, loosen up on your workpiece and see if it bounces back a little. If so, you're putting sideways pressure on the blade. I do this exercise quite often when I'm cutting and usually surprised that I'm putting pressure on the side of the blade. One thing many new scrollers worry about is trying to stay perfectly on the line. That comes with experience, sure. But it's not normally a big deal if you wander off the line a bit. A mistake that new scrollers will do is over correct. This will create wavy and irregular lines. Instead, gradually adjust so you eventually come back to the line. The gradual correction will make it less obvious. And remember, when you pull off the pattern, nobody will know if you stayed on the lines or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmill Posted September 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 Thanks Travis, I think that over correction is an issue. I will try that exercise too. I also found that this problem is not as noticable when stack cutting, I think that it has to do with resistance (thick vs thin) but I could be wrong. Thanks again. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD Mike Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 This tread was on Steve Goods forum: http://stevedgood.com/community/index.php?topic=11229.0 Maybe might also help. FD Mke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmill Posted September 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Thanks Mike, interesting thread. I will check out the video...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Jay Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 I cut a lot of things in stacks, in fact almost everything is stacked to around 3/4" or more. I am usually cutting as many as 5 or 6 copies of the same thing. I have found that cutting 1/8" and 1/4" decreases my control because there is not enough resistance and the blade can go flying off if I make the least little adjustment improperly. So I use stacks as a defensive measure. Try taping up two and three layers of 1/4" into a 1/2" stack and a 3/4" stack and cut a pattern on each. Just wrap a stack in painters tape and glue the pattern on top. You may find one or the other easier to cut. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmill Posted October 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Thanks Terry, I find that I have more control while stack cutting especially with a new blade. I guess I will learn as I go along. Thanks all for the input...art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davisjr Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Same here. I have control issues when cutting. My biggest issue is cutting a curve or a circle. I am trying slowing down my feed and letting the blade do the cutting. Still can not get a hang of it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amazingkevin Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 On all my cuttings it's neccessary to press down on your pivot point ,mine is my left index finger.This give you absolute controll of where and how fast the blade moves around.It all comes with the more projects you do and you automatically learn what to do unknowingly.. Travis 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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