Oh no! Another newbie!

[Arcy]

Hi all,

Absolutely new scroller and fairly new woodworker here. I've toyed with wood turning on and off for the past few years, and decided I wanted to branch out from round things this summer (most of the year I blow glass - more turning and roundness - but I'm going to try to avoid the hot shop during the summer).

I picked up a craigslist special Dremel 1671 to try out scrolling. It's not the fanciest, but it appears to work and it left me with lunch money. I suspect that'll go for wood soon

I'm not sure yet what all I plan to make. I know I prefer dimensional work to flat, but that leaves a lot of room. I'll probably try to make some simple puzzles and toys for my nieces and godson, and possibly some box type things. I'm absolutely enamoured by intarsia and have admired it at local art shows for years without really understanding how it was done. I definitely want to try it, but will need to work up to it.

I have John Nelson's Scroll Saw Workbook on order, but I am way too impatient to wait for instructions I was able to dig up one piece of unclaimed plywood to take a few practice cuts on and ended up losing track of the whole evening. I think that's a good sign .

I did ok on the straights and was able to figure out fairly sharp turns by the end, but keeping consistent curves gave me a lot of trouble. When I tried going fast the wood caught and jumped. When I slowed down my turns would get wider and wider. I think I was pushing laterally rather than rotating, as the blade deflected to the side noticably. Ah well. If it were easy enough to perfect in an evening it probably wouldn't be worth doing!

Attached is my first cutting: an image of the classic Northwestern fable of a boy, a girl, and their slugs. It's probably pretty easy to tell which parts were done first and which last.

Tomorrow I'm going to go get some more (and better) wood to work with and see if I can figure out how to change the blades.
Tra la,
Rob

[Gaia]

Hi Rob, welcome to the group!

"the classic Northwestern fable of a boy, a girl, and their slugs."
This is my favorite fable!

Have fun with your new toy/tool!

Bobbi

[skeeter]

Oh Biy, you got it bad, that's great, enjoy your new found addiction

[Wood Dog]

Welcome Aarcy......ya did good. Watch out though not only the lunch money will go for wood. Keep a tight fist on the mortgage money, scrolling becomes an addiction. When you start thinking about it in bed you are hooked. Come back often and post more pics of your work.........we love project pictures.

[minowevie]

Hi Rob, I am glad you are hear. welcome. looks like you are off to a great start. I love demention also. I know you will get the hang of it all soon , as soon as you get the turns and straight lines down. then you are off and running. then it is the thickness of woods. and what blades to use. it comes very fast. and you will get it. your new friend Evie

[scrolling_grandma]

Welcome. We all started somewhere and looks like you are off to a real good start. Stick around and let us know how you are doing.

[mikej]

Welcome to the group Rob. I've found that there are many talented scrollers here just waiting to share their knowledge. So, any questions or suggestions are always welcome.

Mikej

[Huntter2022]

Rob Welcome to the group!
hang in there you are off to a good start.
David

[rja]

Welcome Arcy - so you are a glass blower, working with hot stuff all day long and need a break once in a while. I am a blacksmith and work with hot stuff all day long and was looking for a break. My father-in law gave me his old single speed scroll saw and I have it set up but have not had a chance to use it so you are one up on me. (We are at the peak of the craft show season so it is hard to get away.) Thanks for posting what you have done so far. If you tune in often you will learn a lot from this group of highly talented people.

[lucky788scroller]

Welcome, being a glass blower, your possibilities are endless with incorporating the blown glass with the scrolling. I may look you up for some special blown pieces for some ornaments.Ive had the idea for quite some time of some small blown glass parts incorporated in some fretwork ornaments.It would look really neat hanging like a chandelier in one of the bigger clocks too, so stick to scrolling, it gets easy with practice, but dont put away the glass stuff either! welcome aboard.