Scroll Saw Art

Scroll Saw Basics

by

Lee Bowman

If you are eager to try your hand at scroll work, and have not yet bought a saw, I hope that these guidelines will help.

I like at least a 16 "saw because it gives you more workspace.

The saw should be a variable speed saw. different species of wood cut better at different speeds.

The controls on / off and adjust the speed must be from the beginning.

Then check to see if it comes with adapters so you can use pin-less blades and pinned blades.

Some jigsaws come with a light mounted near the front to make it easy to see your line model.

In speaking of templates, DO NOT use carbon paper to transfer patterns to your room you will be working on because the carbon paper stain the wood.

The best way to transfer your models is to use graphite on paper without wax. Graphite is not in the wood grain. You can get graphite wax paper in art supply stores and most stores stationers.

Before mounting the saw on your bench, get good carpet padding 1 / 2 "thick enough to cover the bottom of the saw 2 times. The padding is to eliminate most noise and vibration of the saw.

Then set the saw on your bench where you want to mount and mark the four bolt holes in the corner saw. After drilling the holes, take the two pieces of stuffing and mounting them on the holes.

To create holes in the upholstery, take a ball-REP hammer and tap on the filling holes. Leave the stuffing and secure the saw to match the bolt holes and the saw in place. Make sure the bolts are long enough that you can put a washer and nut on the bottom.

Now, talk about blades. There are many different blades, some are singled out and some are without PIN. Favorites blades have a pin on each end that holds the blade in place. Pin-blades less need for support at each end that comes with the saw if the saw is designed to use both types of blades.

I use 1 / 8 "cutting blades flat overall. The round blades are great if you have a design with right angles. With blade round you do not have to go back when you come to a right angle . You just turn the material around a quarter and keep the cup.