First proper cut

[karfeef]

Hi all. After having my scroll saw for a few weeks, and only having time to mess about learning some techniques and trying different blades some pine scraps i had knocking about, I've finally managed my first real project.

It's the fairy tree pattern from the excellent scroll saw workshop site. (Thanks Steve!)

I made it for my better halfs birthday, she does like her fairies

It's certainly not 100% perfect to me, but to her - I'm happy to say, it couldn't be more so.

Let me know what you think



Sent from my GT-I9300

 

[Grahamshed]

I like it.

 

[jonluv]

A very nice piece of work --- your wife must be pleased ---good job!!

John

 

[Phoenix7]

Thats really nice well done hope i can make some nice items like that soon.

 

[Roughcut]

Looks good.
Well done.

 

[Bryan Bennett]

Well done Harry very nicely cut out,one to do later.Thank you for sharing.

Bryan

 

[martinka]

Nice first cut. =D>

 

[Dai_The_Eye]

I like that... How tall is it?

 

[karfeef]

Thank you all

Phoenix7 - from my experience, it doesn't take much to go from never having used a scroll saw, to being able to produce something you can be happy with. The 2 biggest things that changed it for me were having patience, using good blades (flying Dutchman ultra reverse for this)

Dai_The-Eye - it's about 7 inches with the base. It's a little too small for the pattern as some of the cuts were very thin and 1 or 2 of the inside cuts were not much bigger than a 1mm drill bit. Would definitely recommend it to be 10 inches +.

Can't wait to get to work on something else, especially as I have some very nice pieces of timber kindly given to me by Bryan Bennett :-D

Sent from my GT-I9300

 

[bodgerbaz]

Great effort for your first attempt. Well done. I'm sure your wife is over the moon.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Really nice for your first project. As you said, having the best blades certainly makes a big difference. I can imagine how you feel now you have your first project under your belt, you are all fired up and ready for the next one, maybe something a little more intricate. Don't be afraid to go for it. Take your time with each cut, form a plan of action on how you will make each cut before starting the saw. When it's all done you can stand back and say to yourself. "I actually made that." it's a wonderful feeling and will give you a great sense of achievement. Well done once again.

 

[bodgerbaz]

That's some good advice there from Geoff and he is perfectly correct.

When you get to a more complex pattern just take your time and make each cut one after another. Don't think about the huge undertaking or the complexity, just take baby steps and take your time. In many ways, the size of the pattern is immaterial as every project you will ever cut will be made up of a series of small cut-out shapes. It's only when you've finished the last cut-one that you step back and see that you've created a picture and think "WOW, look what I've made". Rub some Danish oil into it and you get a nice inner glow of satisfaction . . . . well I do anyway

One tip I would offer with more complex patterns is checking where the tiny entry hole goes to thread the blade through. Sometimes it's not always obvious which bit needs to be cut out so I drill the most obvious ones and leave the ones I can't immediately see until later. After some of the cut-outs have been made the remaining bits to cut out become more obvious so it's back to the drill press to drill some more holes. I hope that makes sense?

Now get yourself on the internet and download some new patterns, the weekend is just around the corner :wink:

Barry

 

[karfeef]

Thanks for the advice. I take point of the smaller internal cuts. When drilling the entry holes, the paper would kind of mask where the lines were, so it was hard to see exactly what the shape was supposed to be.

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[bodgerbaz]

. . . When drilling the entry holes, the paper would kind of mask where the lines were, so it was hard to see exactly what the shape was supposed to be.

I'm not sure I followed that. When you stick the pattern to the wood you drill through the patterns/wood sandwich. The lines aren't masked as you're looking at the full pattern . . . . unless I've read your query wrong?

 

[karfeef]

Wasn't explained well lol

There were a couple of very small internal cuts, almost as small as the drill bit used for the entry hole, but as the hole isn't super clean, the edges of the paper would kind of chew up a bit, obliterating the lines.

Think I might try spray mount next time, as I didn't quite get full adhesion across the pattern with the glue stick I used.

Sent from my GT-I9300

 

[bodgerbaz]

Ah, with you. It's best to drill a hole just big enough to thread the blade through for those really small bits.

 

[ChrisR]

Great work. =D>

Take care.

Chris R.

 

[toesy]

I would be very proud of that for your first cut...

Well done