My first thing...

[ScaredyCat]

Ordered one of those Aldi scroll saws which arrived Friday but only just had a chance to play with it. So I made (not sure if that's right, I cut out seems more appropriate) my first thing... (hammer)

It's about the size of my thumb

Presumably the 'ribbing' is due to the blade I used (7 tpi) ? More teeth, less ribbing? Or is it just 'technique' ?

 

[Stanleymonkey]

I don't know much about scrollsaws, but 7tpi does seem a little coarse. It's not a bad attempt for straight of the box - first time cutting with a coarse blade.

Try the same piece again and see if your technique improves. I have seen practice sheets on line with lines and curves and spirals to follow if you want to practice.

 

[AES]

Pretty good for a 1st try, but FWIW, I agree, the "hairies" (around the ears for example) show that A) the blade is a bit too coarse, and B) most probably, you could do with a "reverse tooth" blade (that's a blade where the first 3 or 4 teeth appearing up from underneath the saw table face UP, not DOWN, as all the rest of the teeth do. The idea of that is to prevent/reduce those hairies).

You don't say how thick your wood is, but if the OA height of the piece is thumb height as you say, then I'd guess the piece is not much more than 5 or 6 mm thick, right? If so I'd suggest a No 3 or perhaps a No 5 blade as good for that job (the smaller the number of the blade then the finer the cut, so little or no sanding is needed after cutting, BUT the actual cutting will go slower - the higher the number the faster the cut, but the "rougher" it will be).

I've attached here a .pdf of a couple of blade selection charts. One is for Pegas blades (which I think are good, but there ARE other good ones too), the other is a more general-non-specific chart which just talks about TPI basically. FWIW, most of the time, unless cutting thin stock, I'll be using No 5, 7, and sometimes 9 blades.

HTH

View attachment No_Fail_Blade_Chart_206122387.pdf

View attachment Pegas Multi-Scroll Blades.pdf

 

[whatknot]

Were you using the blades that came with the saw?

As they tend to be rather industrial

I would try some Pegas blades and you will see the difference, both in the look and feel of the blade but mostly in the use

 

[ScaredyCat]

Were you using the blades that came with the saw?

No, I used a Pegas one that I got from Axminster. Just starting out so I picked one that I suspected would be rough, but easy to get me started. Still trying to work out how much pressure to apply to the wood. Given that it took quite a long time to cut this, I'm guessing proper scroll saw types have the patience of a saint, what with the slow progress

.

 

[whatknot]

You appear to have started with a thickish hardwood by the looks of it, perhaps try some softwood or something thinner

Try some 3mm or 6mm plywood for a few things to get used to how the saw reacts, blade choice might also be something you will get more accustomed to over time

 

[novocaine]

Pegas only make 1 blade in 7tpi and it's a hook toothed, pinned blade so I'm assuming you haven't tried it with a pinless blade as yet.
slow cut because of the tooth profile, try it with a regular or skip tooth and up the tooth count to more like 15-20, with 7 teeth per inch you are only cutting with 2-3 teeth on 1/4", the stroke of the saw will let you work with 5-7 teeth and still clear the gullet quick enough. 7 tpi would be something like a number 14 and would be very thick (which the pegas range doesn't reach), try a 5 or 7 which are 15-18 tpi and considerable thinner.