I’m thinking about buying a scroll saw. I would like to introduce my son to woodworking. He’s 13 y/o. I thought I could start him on a intarsia projects. I’ve never done it myself, but I’ve done a lot of stained glass. Looks pretty similar.
Just wondering which scroll saw would work. Also, are there any other tools I’ll need?
Replies
Hi Firewood, what fun! I did quite a bit of scrollsawing last Christmas, so I'll try to help. First of all, there are lots of saws out there that "will work" but only a very few that you and he will enjoy using, the others being extremely frustrating.
The key is to have a saw that has a quality "quick change" blade system and doesn't vibrate too much, and has a quick tension release. You can spent over $1000 to get these characteristics, but for getting started, you'd do great with either of Delta's 16" scrollsaws that have the quick-change system on bottom and top, I'd strongly advise you walk right past any Dremel saws you see. The Craftsman saw isn't bad.
I got the Delta SS250 on sale for just a little over $100 (Yikes!) and couldn't believe how much better it was than the Dremel I had. If you want to go just a little better, you could get the SS350LS. Not that much more expensive. Be careful you don't get the old 16" that's not produced anymore. No quick-change on it. If you want more than an introductory machine, the Delta 22" or DeWalt are good, though the DeWalt has had its issues.
Next key to happiness: Quality blades. The only kind of blade most of the scrollers I know use are Flying Dutchman. I can provide the link whenever you need it. They are superb blades, and I've tried many, many different brands.
You really don't need too many gizmos to do scrolling. A can of spray-on adhesive, some packing tape, for holding the patterns to the wood (packing tape lubes the blade, reallllllly makes a difference), sandpaper and such. Oh, and miniature drill bits (#65 and such). The FD site shows which drills are used for which size blades. Don't tell Mike I said so, but don't bother with his miniature drill chuck. It's a waste of money, and not designed for what he's trying to use it for. My cordless drill works fine, and there are speciality holders if you need them.
I have books by Patrick Spielman, but there is a new book on the shelves that's supposed to be at least as good, and maybe better, than his. I'm going to Barnes and Noble tonight, I'll see if I can get a title and author for you. A good book is important, because scroll just isn't intuitive!
There are a couple good scrolling sites/forums on the internet. I've gotta run to get ahead of the next wave of ferry traffic, but I'll check in tomorrow, maybe find a couple of them for you. I lost those bookmarks on another computer.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Forest,
Which Dremel are you referring to, the 1680?
I probably don't know of any better, but have no complaints about mine.
What did you find wrong?
Please give us your link.
Edited 1/11/2005 4:40 pm ET by Jellyrug
My Dremel was an older model, horrendous vibration was the main problem. But I looked at the 1680 while shopping around and it just didn't stack up. The quick tension release is in the rear of the saw, and adjusts rather awkwardly I thought, the quick change blade holders didn't seem as user friendly as the Delta's, that small slot in the table was just plain weird (I prefer a bigger, round slot, that can accomodate a zero-clearance insert when needed). I like the type of blower it has on it, but it's not long enough, IMO.
I also followed one of the forums and saw a couple reports of dissatisfaction. Not overwhelming, but reassured me I could safely ignore the Dremel. Since then, I've seen reports of burned out motors after light use, and the variable speed being subject to burn-out from static because Dremel didn't give it enough protection from such a source.
It's all relative -- if you're happy with it, that's great! I simply wasn't willing to toss another $150 their way and end up dissatisfied.
Links: There is an active***see footnot*** scroll saw section at http://www.justwoodworking.com with several professionals who participate. If you look through the archives, or just post a question, you can also get a couple other links to other sites that have even more professionals who participate. I relied on these folks quite a bit when I was getting started and making Christmas ornaments that year.
***Well, not so active anymore I guess. The magazine went belly-up last year, and the scroll saw forum has really slowed down. Still you can search the archives and get lots of into. Maybe Google on "scroll saw forums" and find the others. One of the big ones is a MSN group I think.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Edited 1/12/2005 3:06 am ET by forestgirl
I just realized I'm not sure which link you wanted. If it was for the Flying Dutchman blades, here it is:http://www.mikesworkshop.com/
At the bottom of the page, amongst the personal stuff, you'll see blades for sale. For those of you who get dizzy looking at the array available, call Mike and talk to him about what kind of sawing your doing. He'll put together a package for you. I think he also has a sample mix that he can send out.
He's quite used to giving advice over the phone, so don't hesitate! Once you figure out what works for your projects, it's easy to order from him.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Forestgirl,
Always nice to have your input!I am also interested in getting into scrolling. I was trying to decide between the Delta and the DeWalt a few weeks ago, then I saw the Hawk at a woodworking show. What is your opinion of the hawk? Do you think it has a lot more to offer?For anyone interested, here's the link for the Hawk site:
http://www.hawkwoodworking.com/
a few years back i saw an article where a guy used a DeWalt scroll saw to make baltic birch plywood jigsaw puzzles.
that was his job, in his basement shop, 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week. he kept a second DeWalt scrollsaw new in the box just in case the first went bad. he had so much work line up or backed up he couldn't afford the down time to get the original saw to a repair shop and wait and then pick it up again.
people would send him pictures, old scrapbook kinda stuff and he use one of those heat pressing machines to glue the stuff to the BBPW. and then he'd start a-sawing.
no laying out, no patterns, just go to town. one puzzle he made was for a guy to propose to his girlfriend. it had pics of them together and somewhere in the middle it had the words " will you marry me?" artisticly written across the front. so one rainy weekend the guy tells his future girlfriend he has a jigsaw puzzle for them to do. when they get it done she's all excited.
sorry, for the story, but ever since i read that i've had my mind set on a DeWalt. Haven't bought one yet, but one day....
The woodcraft store only uses DeWalt saws in its scroll sawing classes, too.
what did you write?
(your type was too large to read)-- Steve
Enjoy life & do well by it;
http://www.ApacheTrail.com/ww/
The Hawk and the Haegner are the two professional models I see mentioned the most at the other forum. I can't expound on any pros and cons between the two of them, but as far as I know they're both head and shoulders above anything Delta or DeWalt produces. Pretty pricey, eh? But well worth it if you're scrolling on a regular and "intricate" basis.
Take a look at the Scroll Saw section ofhttp://www.justwoodworking.com
You can get info on them there, and if you post a question, they'll be more than glad to help.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Firewood,
I got the DeWalt DW788 a few weeks ago based on recommendations from the folks here on Knots. It's already proven to be a great machine. I had wanted to stay in the under $200 range, but decided to spend the extra to get a better quality unit. The DW788 is easy to setup and blade changes are a snap.
As others have said, get your blades at http://www.mikesworkshop.com. I e-mailed Mike, told him my application and he made recommendations on blades. I ended up ordering something like 228 blades and the total cost was $40.
Regards,
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting
Click Here if you're interested in a good,inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Bill, did you have any problems at all with the DeWalt?? I'd love to know that they fixed things up. I guess the big one was some kind of problem with the upper arm being stiff and not moving correctly. Also, did they include instructions about lubricating the bearings?
228 blades? Wow. That's a fair amount of scrolling to be done. Post some to the gallery, hint, hint?!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Jamie,
I haven't had any problem with the saw itself. FedEx damaged the first one that was shipped, so delivery was delayed a couple of weeks while that was straightened out. When the second unit arrived, the box looked fine so I accepted it. As I took it out of the box, I noticed a scratch (actually a small gouge) on the edge of the motor. I set up the saw, had to tweak the alignment of the upper arm a bit but it worked fine. I reported the minor damage to Amazon just in case something happened after I ran the saw a while. Amazon offered to ship another unit or to give me a 20% discount on this one. Since this saw is working perfectly, I took the $78 credit. See photo below.
There is no information in the manual about lubricating the bearings. Most of the upper arm is stationary. The moving parts are the last few inches only.
The amount of blades does sound like a lot, doesn't it? I got a few dozen of various types of blades since I'll be doing items ranging from the 3/8" thick wenge accents for a side table to a stack of tiny leaves and a 3/4" thick walnut piece for a quilt rack. Mike's pricing includes a break when you buy a gross within a blade type regardless of how many dozen of each tpi you get.
I attached photos of the side table with the wenge accents, one photo before stain and another with stain and the first oil coat. The little leaves will be a decorative item on a quilt rack I designed.
Regards,
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting Click Here if you're interested in a good,inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
hey putzger,
i basically said go with the DeWalt scroll saw.
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