A Little Terrified - I've Never Worked in Wood

[Barb]

Hi all!

OK, well here I am, taking the plunge, as it were. I'm Barb. I live in Washington, DC with my Husband of 23 years, three deaf dogs, a 17 year old onery cat, an Eclectus parrot (that's her in my avatar) and two Parrotlets.

I recently got a steal on a DeWalt 788 scroll saw that the guy had bought, never touched and left in his garage to rot for 8 months. I've always wanted a scroll saw, but have never worked, for even one minute, with wood. I'm a pretty creative person, so I don't think I'll have a problem with a learning curve, but I could really use someplace to start. Beginning books? Practice patterns? Wood to start with? Source for safety information? The saw came with a bunch of DeWalt blades to play with, but is there someplace that runs down which blade is best for which woods (in hardness and thickness)? My eventual goal is to use the saw on non-ferous metal and incorporate it into my jewelry work, but I'd like to start in wood, just to get a hang for it. Yeah, I do realize that the learning curve will pretty much start from scratch when I switch.

I think I will find a wealth of information on this site and am forever grateful for it. I also appreciate any sage advice you kind folks can pass on.

Barb

[DWSudekum]

Barb,

Welcome to the forum 1st of all ... here you will find all manner of advise and plenty of help. There are indeed several books and sites for the beginning scroller.

Over all though the thing is to do... take it slow, experiment do not be afraid to make "designer firefirewood" we all have done it.

There has been recently several good discussions on things like blade breakage and blade usage. Olsen, they are one of the scroll saw blade manufacturers, has put out a very good chart on what size and kind of blades to use for what you are cutting. I saw it posted here on the boards the other day. can;t seem to find it when I wanted to link to it ... go figure.... the same goes for the books and websites for the beginning scroller... they are posed many times here on the site but I can't seem to located them.

Anyway Welcome!


DW

[CanadianScroller]

Welcome to our favorite place online.There are lots of great booksand tips listed on here.
There are a couple of people who do work in metal. I have cut aluminum before but not brass yet. There are some blades which are designed specifically for cutting metals. Some of our members have cut coins before and they may be able to help.

Ask any questions you care to, there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.
Have fun Carl

[SNAPPER]

Welcome and congrats on your saw. Lots of helpful friends here.
Dean

[GrayBeard Phil]

Barb:

Based solely on your post I offer the following suggestions:

#1:
Find your local Woodcraft store:
Woodcraft Store Locator - Woodcraft.com

Woodcraft stores sometimes offer classes, and have a large woodworking book selection. (Warning, Warning, ask someone else hold your credit cards when you visit that store--Usually the best choice of holder would not be your husband, or most males, for obvious reasons.)

A long Saturday class would get you started off on the right foot. All you seem to need is a few hours of "just doing it" to get you going in the right direction.

There might be Rockler woodworking store near you also. Rocker sells lots of woodworking books also.

#2
Fox chapel (owner of this forum) has published some very good beginner / starter books. I recommend Scroll Saw Workbook (2nd ed) by John Nelson. Amazon.com and Border's books carry the book as well as this web site.
( Scroll Saw Workbook 2nd Edition: <span class="subtitle">Learn to Use Your Scroll Saw in 25 Skill-Building Chapters </span> )

#3
Any rainy day, visit Rick's place
Rick's Scrollsaw
Enormous amount of reading at his site, plus some videos to watch. Be aware some of his info is aimed at the skill level you will aquire very shortly so don't get overwhelmed.

Welcome to our (and your's too) forum.

Phil

[Rolf]

Barb,
Welcome. Regarding the learning curve. once you have gotten comfortable with your saw all you will need to do to transition to metal will different blades (somtimes you can use the wood blades) and a bit slowere speed and feed.

[JustMe1954]

Barb try this, get you a lot of scrap wood thickness, anything draw pencil lines everywhere and see what blades do what for you. it all comes down to you how hard you push how fast you go speed of saw everything is you. blade tightness? I work with sound once I set the blade I push it then let go to see if I get a good twang sound, like a saw blade making music. I biggest problem I found is the sawdust the blade makes while cutting, I hooked an air line from my compressor to a small regulator that I turn on and off while cutting. that way I can see my line better, or you can just keep blowing it away, makes you dizzy though. NOTE" once you start scrolling you cant stop.L.O.L

[Pajaro]

Welcome Barb and Hello DC!!! From Big D Dallas. You have a great start with wood working a De Walt 788. As you see from my signature below. I'm an EX-21 fanatic. But you have come to the right place for information and great people to talk to. Who (whom) are all more than willing to help you. Play around with the saw for a while, get use to how it operates. And in no time you will be addicted to saw dust just like most of us are..... Again Welcome.



PS Love your bird

[Mike Crosa]

Just want to add my welcome to the group. It's a fun hobby and you will learn a lot.

[Ramjet]

Hi Barb . Here is a small list of sites you may want to google to see what types of patterns are out there . They also send out free catalogues upon request .The Winfield Collection , Scroller Ltd. ,Sherwood Creations, Meisel Wood Hobby ,The Wooden Teddy Bear and Scrollsaw Association Of America .Berry Basket just started up again and has a nice pattern offering .Those are all that come to mind . A couple of books ,Scroll Sawing Coins , Glass , Metal and More by Freeman and Scroll Sawing in Metal : Patterns and Techniques by Pozsgai & Downing .I haven't read them but hope to add them to my collection one day . Lots of books by Patrick Spielman . Lots of books and advice out there .I should also mention a lot of the members have their own sites and are well worth looking at . Knock yourself out and welcome .
Cheers . Roger