How to Get Started on the Scroll Saw

hi thanks for visiting my page wendell woodworks i'm danielle and today i'm going to show you how to get started on the scroll saw whether you have your setup already or you're just contemplating buying one i want to help you get started i love the scroll saw because you can make unique one-of-a-kind special pieces by hand and you don't need to spend thousands of dollars on a laser machine or an expensive computer this what i have is actually one of the cheapest scroll saws on the market this is a porter cable it's an 18 inch it's usually on a stand however we're in between houses so i've just got it parked on my table saw for today but it is important that you have it on something stable there are much more expensive scroll saws on the market if you're looking that are going to be higher quality um they'll give you less vibration but in my opinion when it comes down to it at the end of the day it has mostly to do with the blades that you use and your skill which comes with practice no matter what kind of scroll saw you have you're not going to make the perfect cut the first time or even the first 10 times but every time you cut something you're going to get a little better you'll cut a little bit straighter and smoother until you can start doing more complex items today we're just going to start with something very simple the heart cut out so i'll get you started on that whenever you start a scroll saw project the first decision you have to make is what material to use when i was starting out i got a lot of advice to try poplar wood because it's soft it's easy to use it's consistent but it's expensive and i did not want to spend money on something that was going to be ruined that i thought i was just going to practice on so today i'm going to use pine that's what i use to start out you probably have some scrap pine in your house i always have scrap pine it's cheap it's easy to find so that's what we're going to use today the second decision you have to make is what type of blade you're going to use this is a matter of preference and with some experimentation and practice you'll kind of get your own favorite the brand that i almost always use is the olsen brand because it's the most accessible accessible normally the most affordable and i always use the double reverse tooth the reason i use double reverse tooth is because it cuts going down and up if you don't use a double reverse tooth or a spiral blade then the bottom of your piece is going to be really messy and you're going to have to do a lot of sanding when you're done i almost always use the number five for this thickness that i'm using today i'm using a number five if you're cutting with a harder wood or you feel like it's not cutting smoothly enough or quick enough you can bump it up to a number seven and see how that does for you then once you get it out of the package something you can do if you have trouble with your blades slipping is just to take some sandpaper and lightly sand just the tops and the bottoms and this helps get rid of that factory oil and maybe you rough it up just enough so that it sticks better then when you're ready to put it in make sure the teeth are facing you pop it in the bottom first and tighten it up you might feel like you need to over tighten but don't over tighten because this can actually be bad for your scroll saw so just make sure it's nice and snug and the same with the top stick it in the top tighten it up and then comes your tension mine's at the top you can actually lower the tension by going left and tighten it by turning it right but set your tension so that it's nice and tight because if it's loose it's not going to cut straight it's going to vibrate too much so you want to make it nice and tight you can kind of hear the tension there then you should also have a hose on your scroll saw to blow away the dust and a speed setting my speed setting is on top and when you're getting started i would just start it in the middle and see how that feels if you feel like it's going too fast and you want to slow it down go ahead and move it down if you want to speed it up then you can turn it up to the higher speed just place it in the middle and see how that feels for you and then you're ready to go so what i did for our template today i just printed off a heart and i stuck it to the piece of wood that i was using which was a scrap piece of pine like i said you can use contact paper for this but something i do often is just apply painters tape because it's normally on hand and then glue your template to the painters tape i like to use a spray adhesive to do that with get it on your board and then we are ready to start scrolling when scrolling the heart i decided to start at the point this way when i finish at the end coming from the other direction the point will be nice and sharp simply move the wood against the blade trying to follow the line on your template if you find yourself veering off you can simply move the blade backwards and start cutting the area again in the right spot should also point out here that you should always wear a mask to prevent dust inhalation and safety glasses never hurt either how to give a safety shout out when you reach points or tight corners such as the dip of the heart you can simply spin the wood quickly to stay on track but if your blade doesn't allow for quick movement like this then just take the blade back and come back at the same point from the opposite direction all right so now we've scrolled out our heart you can go ahead and take the template off the painters tape off you sand her up paint her however you want maybe gift it for valentine's day um so this was just a fun little practice piece experiment make whatever you want you're going to get better and i can't wait to show you guys some more videos so share with me in the comments what you liked maybe what you would like to learn from my channel and i will love to respond to you i'm also going to place the links to my blades and the stuff that i use in the description so thank you all have a good day and have fun with your scroll saw

Channel: Wendell Woodworks

Views: 813

Rating: 4.9215684 out of 5

Keywords: scroll saw, scrollsaw, beginner scrollsaw, how to get started on the scroll saw, scrolling for beginners, scroll saw tutorial, how to use scroll saw, scroll saw for beginners, woodworking tutorial, wendell woodworks, girl woodworker, porter cable scroll saw, getting started on the scroll saw

Id: YkYzYFcVR8Y

Length: 6min 31sec (391 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 15 2021