I just got my first scroll saw.
What blades would you recommend? Should I use
hard wood or plywood? What can I expect for
money to make with scroll sawing? Can I make
a living?
First, about the numbers used for
identifying blades. The numbers 2/0, 1, 3 etc. up to 12 do not mean much. It just tells
you that the lower number is the smallest and the higher number the biggest. The numbers
with a slash are just the opposite. A # 2/0 is larger than a # 3/0. For wood, the # 12 is the highest and largest.
The most common blades are the skip tooth with or without reverse teeth and the blades
with double teeth, also with or without reverse teeth. When there is an “R”
after the number it means Reverse Teeth. One more item you maybe want to know is what does
t.p.i. mean? It means Teeth per Inch. A Gross
of blades is 12 Dozen or 144 blades. On reverse teeth blades, the bottom 3/4” of
teeth point upwards.
Remember that most of the teeth have to point downwards when sawing, with the reverse
teeth pointing up. Don’t feel bad if you have it wrong or with the teeth in the back,
we all have done that. If your eyes aren’t good enough to see which way the teeth
face, slide the blade gently across a finger and you’ll be able to tell.
My skip tooth blades (the FD-SR) are a little more aggressive than most other blades. The
double teeth blades do not cut as aggressivly and some people like that. They feel that
they have better control over the blade because they cut slower.
Some people are more comfortable using blades without the reverse teeth, they feel it
keeps the wood from jumping. However, with a little pressure you will have no problem with
a blade that has reverse teeth. The reason I mention this, is that most people take the
hold-down foot off. It is in the way to see the pattern lines clearly. Only scroll saws
sold in the USA have this, no other country requires it.
The blades with reverse teeth will leave almost no fuzz on the bottom, eliminating
sanding.
My recommendation would be to start with a # 5 double teeth, like the FD-PSR and try the
FD-SR # 5 and 7. You can ask 3 or 4 scrollers about what blade they like to use and most
likely they all use a different blade. The best way for a beginner is, to buy a few
different sizes and in different makes. Experiment with them and find what you like best.
Hardwood is the nicest and most
attractive wood to use. Oak in 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4” thickness is usually available from
large hardware stores or catalog companies like Heritage Building Specialties.
www.heritagewood.com. 1-800-524-4184. Many
people like to use walnut and mahogany for special projects. Purple heart and other exotic woods are used
mainly for trim.
Inexpensive plywood like luan and fir are not good for most projects. Howeve, high quality Baltic birch is often used
for plaques and jig saw puzzles. Some use it for making clocks and boxes. Two reasons to
use Baltic birch are that it is less expensive and it is much less likely to break.
The big disadvantage of using plywood is that the edges aren’t very attractive but
that isn’t a problem for plaques and puzzles. Be aware that the glue layers in
plywood will dull your blade faster than sawing the same thickness in solid wood.
When painting, I recommend plywood, it saves a lot of money over using hard wood.
This will happen more in thin
(1/4”) than thicker wood (3/4”). The
reason is moisture. One side dries more than
the other side. You can keep turning it every
few days or you could try to use a hair dryer or heat gun to dry one side. Put the thin wood under some heavier wood with
spacers between the thin wood, for air drying. Still
you will have some cupping left when you are ready to scroll saw. When stack cutting I put the pieces together
opposite from each other. When cutting out
inside pieces, it will release the stretch in the wood.
Don’t start with a spiral blade.
They are very hard to control. They leave a
lot of fuzz and leave a very wide kerf. The spiral blade is a regular blade with no
reverse teeth that has been twisted around with teeth in all directions. This makes the
blade go in any direction. When cutting hardwood it wants to follow the grain and go to
the soft spots in the wood making it very hard to control and stay on the line of the
pattern. Most spiral blades are used for
cutting plywood. Plywood has no soft spots.
They are good to cut faces of people and for free hand cutting, like cutting wild life.
One more place people like to use them is for making a veining line wider. Veining is just
a line, like the “veins” in leaves. First cut the line with a regular blade to
give the spiral blade a “path” to follow and then widening it with a spiral
blade.
Don’t start with intricate
patterns. The best way to start is to take some scrap pieces of wood and draw some lines,
steps, sharp angels and curving lines. Try to stay on the line. If you get off, don’t
try to rush back. Take it easy and slowly merge back to the line. On most patterns, if you
get off the pattern line, nobody will notice and you are the only one that knows.
Most scroll saw blades will not cut a straight line, like you do on a band saw. The blade
wants to go to the right, therefore you will notice that you have to push your wood to the
left to stay on the line.
Tension is very important. When the
blade is in the saw, ping it with your finger, (saw not running) it should give a nice
high pitch, like a high “C”. It is
better to have too much tension than not enough. You will break more blades with not
enough than too much tension. With not enough tension, you will push too hard into the
blade. This makes the blade get hot, lose its “temper” and dull faster. It is
easy to put side pressure on the blade, which will also make the blade get hot and then
the blade will get dull faster. Pushing sideways might also give a slight bevel cut, when
stack cutting. The bottom might be different from the top. Also, with a loose blade you
have less control over were the blade goes, just like with a spiral blade. With enough
tension you will not have this problem and even with very tiny blades you are in control.
Sometimes you might have trouble with
the blade slipping out of the blade clamp. This happens mostly with the upper blade clamp.
You can take a little piece of fine sand paper and sand the inside of the clamp, just to
make it a little rough. Also you can clean the clamp with alcohol. There are two reasons
the clamp will not hold the blade. One is that the inside gets very smooth and the other
is that there might be a little oil on the clamping surfaces. New blades often have oil on
them to eliminate getting rusty. When this oil gets on the clamp it will make the clamp
slippery.
Blades for Corian® and Plexiglas?
Most like to use blades without the
reverse teeth. The best blades to use for this are the Corian blades, numbers 3, 5,
7 and 9, depending on how thick the material is. Most use Plexiglas 1/8” to 1/4”
and Corian mainly ½” to 3/4”. When cutting these materials, make sure you use
the 2” clear package tape. Put it on the material, top and bottom and then glue the
pattern on top of that. Some people use other tape, like masking tape, but most use the
2” package tape.
The tape helps to keep the plastic bits from going back in the kerf and melting behind the
blade.
Corian blades have no reverse teeth and some people prefer them. They feel that they have better control and
don’t mind the sanding. People with
arthritis have trouble holding the wood down and the Corian blades stay on the table
better.
What adhesive or glue to use for
attaching the pattern?
I use the 3M 77 adhesive. So do most people.
Spray only the back of the pattern, very little. Wait till it is a little
sticky and put it on the wood or tape. If the
pattern comes loose while cutting, take a little piece of Scotch Tape and put it right
next to the blade. It will hold down the pattern long enough for you to finish the
cutting. If you have too much adhesive, it
will be hard to get the pattern off the wood. When
using tape this is not a problem. There are different ways of removing the pattern. You
can sand it off but a lot of fine paper dust will get in the pores of the wood. I would
not recommend sanding. I use paint thinner. Some
use rubbing alcohol. Don’t pour it on,
just slightly moisten the pattern with paint thinner using a little ball of cotton or
paper towel. You can try using a hair dryer to soften the adhesive, but if you used too
much adhesive this might take a long time.
By using the 2" clear
package tape you will eliminate most of the burning. Especially in wood
with oil, like Purple Heart etc. and very hard wood. I like to first put
the pattern on the wood and than putting the tape over the pattern. Some
like to put it on the wood first. It is all up to the individual. Some
might even use a different tape but most like to use the package tape.
It is almost like the tape lubricates the blade. Not quite. The tape
has a chemical that is like a Silicone and releases friction. If this
chemical would not be on top of the tape, you never would be able to un-roll the
tape from it self.
Every time you have to make more then
one piece, stack them together 3/4” to one inch thick total. This can be done by
putting tape around the pieces, or just on the sides. Some use double stick carpet tape. I
don’t like this because it leaves a little bit of room between the pieces and is
likely to leave fuzz in the gap left by the carpet tape.
The easiest way is to use an air brad nailer but hammering brads will also work. You put
the brads in the waste areas. You can even
put some in the areas that have to be cut out. You cut them out the last of all inside
cuts. Then you do the outside.
To keep the points of the brads from scratching and catching on the scroll saw table, put
the wood on a piece of iron and tap the brad with a hammer.
I use a short piece of railroad rail, but any scrap of iron will do to
flatten the point. You can also use a nail set to flatten the point. If you have to put
the brads in by hand, get a “brad starter”.
If using oak or other brittle woods, you may have to frill a very small
starter hole.
Drilling holes for your blade to go
through?
For thin wood (1/4 to 1/2”) you
can use a hand drill. When the wood or stack is more than 1/2” thick, a drill press
will help to make sure that the drill bit doesn’t wander to the side. A Dremel with a
stand works very well. Some have a little free-standing drill press close by the saw. I
like it away from the saw, this gives me time to get away from the saw, to rest my back
and walk. The most common drill size to use
is a 1/16” bit. For veining you want to use smaller bits, they come in numbers like
64 etc. You might need a special chuck to hold them. Most catalogs or wood working stores
sell them. Craft stores that cater to model builders, like railroading, have these tiny
drill bits.
It is also handy to have a sander, I like a palm finishing sander, you don’t have to
go with the grain of the wood.
One very important item is, having
the blade square to the table. It is very easy to have the table tilt a little without
knowing it. You might lean on it or you might have held onto the table when moving your
saw or you might have done some bevel cutting and forgot to put the table back in the
right position. The best way is to use a little square. You can make one yourself from a
piece of hardwood or you can get a small protractor. The fastest and most accurate way is
to make a cut of about 1/16” deep in a scrap of 3/4” wood. Then turn the wood
around and bring it against the back of the blade. The blade should fit perfectly in the
kerf. If not, adjust the table a little, and then do it over again. Some say to cut a
circle and if the table is square to the blade, the round piece should come out of both
ends. This takes too much time and is not always accurate.
If you use a # 9 blade, the table can be off one degree and the piece still
will come out. Also, when having a “C” arm scroll saw, the bottom is different
from the top.
Some people just spin the blade
around, this will leave a round corner. I don’t like that. If you do spin the wood,
make sure you stop cutting, but keep the saw running.
Then, turn the wood with pressure on the back of the blade so it won’t
remove any wood while turning.
I like to do it different. There are two lines: line “A” going into the corner,
and line “B” going away. Cut on
line A all the way to the corner. Then, back out about a 1/4” and turn the blade with
the teeth into the waste, start cutting a curve towards line B and then to the corner. A
small piece will fall out. This gives you room to turn the blade, put the back of the
blade in the corner and start cutting on line B. Try to have the open space to the left of
the blade. The right side of the blade has this little burr and will grab faster into the
wood. Be careful that it does not get off the line. With some experience you can even
utilize this burr to do some sanding if you have a little bump. Some people like to round the back of the blade. This is done by running the saw while holding a
wet-stone against the back of the blade.
A magnifying glass with light?
Very helpful. For a magnifier light, you can find them at
about any office equipment store or Home Depot etc. One with a florescent bulb is best.
Very Helpful. If a blade breaks or any other emergency, you don’t have to look for the on and off switch. Some switches are not dust proof and might just quit after turning off and on many times. A foot switch will eliminate this problem Many catalogs have the foot switch for sale. There is sometimes quite a difference in price. Check around. You shouldn’t have to pay more than $25 to $30.
If you have a computer go to a search
engine and just look for scroll saw patterns. You have many companies who have catalogs
with patterns for sale. You can find them on my web site under “Links”. Some catalogs will buy the patterns from designers
like Dirk Boelman and John Nelson just to name two. More
and more are getting into designing, like Liz from Carolinas Scroll works.
There are now two scroll saw magazines with a lot of free patterns. Scroll Saw Workshop, call them at: 1-800-457-9112 and Creative Woodworks and Crafts at: 1-800-877-5527. I know that Dirk Boelman at: 1-800-566-6394 and John Nelson will even make a pattern for you but expect to pay for it.
The scroll saw is, I would say, the
safest wood working tool you will find. However,
care has to be taken. You can get cut with a
blade. Not like with a table saw but it can
hurt. When a blade breaks, one end can hit your finger. You don’t lose a finger, but
it hurts and might get blood on some nice wood. It
is not that a blade will break in hundreds of pieces, but some safety glasses might be
good. I use my regular glasses but have them
with hardened glass, or you can have them with plastic. A broken blade might hit your eye
only once in a hundred years, but who wants to take a chance? Don’t have lose cords laying around. The end might be one of your new sanders and you
hate to see it fall on the floor.
Saw dust might be one of the greatest hazards in wood working. Many scroll saw companies are now changing the
flow of air that blows away the dust. A good
mask would be the best. I have an air
filtration system hanging from the ceiling. This
exchanges the air about 5 to 6 times per hour. Then
there’s repetitive motion injury, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Spending hour after hour holding down the wood on
the table will eventually result in carpal tunnel syndrome and might require surgery. I have it in my right hand thumb. I recommend that
you stop frequently for a minute and stretch and rest your hands and wrist.
Counting and Timing?
One example of what I did when doing
a big project, was to drill exactly 20 holes and then cut them out. I have my saw at one end and the little drill
press on the other end in my shop. This is also a way to keep track of how many holes you
have in a project. You can time yourself by
how long it takes to cut the 20 holes and
then multiply that by how many times you drilled 20 holes.
People always want to know how long it took to make that particular item. Make sure you add some extra time for attaching
the pattern, sanding and finishing when you set your price. Cutting is only part of a
final product. How about light and heat?
Some people might ask if the item was
done with a laser? Feel very proud of that.
It means that you have done a very good job of cutting your project. You can usually
identify work made with a laser. The edges are normally brown because a laser works by
burning.
This is one of the hardest things to
figure out. The common saying is, “If it does not sell it might be over priced. But, if you can’t keep enough on hand, you
are under priced”. Don’t believe most people who say that they make a living at
scroll sawing. It might be there full time
job, but making a living is something else. When
going to a craft show, it is was usually assumed that you should do at least 10 times your
booth cost. So, if the cost of a booth is
$50.00, you should expect to sell at least $500.00 worth of projects. You might have made
some nice money, not counting your hours. If you stay over night, consider a motel room,
meals, travel etc. Do you pay your spouse for helping you?
Many people make things to sell and do craft shows because it is fun. They hope to make
enough to cover their cost and maybe a little more.
Enjoy yourself doing scroll sawing. Buy a new
tool from time to time, and go out for a nice dinner from the money you made. But a living?
Acknowledgment
Special thanks to Tom Sevy
&
Bill Miller, Web Master,
Return to:
|| Home Page || Top
of Page ||