Bit of advice wanted for cutting internal letters

[martinka]

I've just been messing about cutting a chopper pattern that was a Steve Good email last week. Pixchure below.
How do I get nice square corners in the letters, especially the small bits that make the top of the letters, which are only about 4mm square? I suppose it comes with practice as much as anything else and I could always finish off with a small file, but are there any tips?
Martin.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Martin. Getting the corners nice and square on internal cuts is quite easy to achieve. With very small letters it is a little trickier but with a bit of practice is is quite straight forward. I will start at the beginning with drilling the workpiece. First of all decide what blades you are going to use on the various parts, some of my patterns I use 3 different sizes of blades. Drill pilot holes accordingly. Once all the holes are drilled sand the back, the bits of wood left sticking out of the back can cause the wood to bounce when it in on the saw table. Once you have sanded the back you can enlarge the holes on the back slightly with a bradawl, it makes threading the blade in a lot easier, especially with number 3 blades or smaller.

When you start your first cut, and there is a tight corner, run the blade right up to the corner and then back it up along the cut you have just made. Next, turn the workpiece so the blade is facing the opposite way and make sure when you turn the blade the teeth turn into the waste area, with the teeth facing the cut you have just made. Next you back the blade up again so the the back of the blade ends up butted against the wood at the end of the cut. It is then a simple matter of turning the work piece until the blade is facing the next line you wish to cut. I hope I have explained this. If you want more clarity on this then watch my video I have posted on here a few times and you will see exactly what I mean. Cutting this way you will get very nice neat corners that are nice and crisp.

 

[powertools]

Just to add that Chippygeoff's video is well worth the watch I think he should produce more.

 

[martinka]

Cheers Geoff, I'll give that a go. I've actually seen your video a couple of times but had forgotten about it.
Bradawl? I'll grind a point on a 2mm welding rod

 

[ChrisR]

Martin.

I cut into the corner, stop forward pressure on work piece, the blade is now idling (not cutting), holding the work piece down with my left hand, I quickly turn the work piece the 90deg, or what ever the angle required with my right hand, using my left hand as the pivot point, also maintaining downward pressure with left hand to stop the work piece table slapping.
Sorry that’s not very well explained, but doing it and explaining it are very different.

I think you may find that Chippygeoff’s method is better, but its one that I find difficult to use, I think it’s a case of old dog new tricks, and this is one very old dog set in his ways.


Take care.

Chris R.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Its like all things really when we try them for the first time, it takes a bit of getting used to. I watched Sheila Langdry and she does it different to me by nibbling away at the corner to make the cut bigger before turning the blade and I could never do it her way as I felt it to time consuming. I had a lady come to me on a weeks course to learn all about scroll saw work and she really struggled to do it my way but she got there eventually and several months down the line its second nature to her now.

I will be making another video in a couple of weeks or so, its a matter of waiting for my son to come and hold the camera. I thought I might cover the preperation of the wood and then cut a few things showing the various ways it can be done. If there is room on the memory card I will cover some finishing techniques otherwise will make it a seperate video.

 

[martinka]

I do it the same way as Chris usually but tried it Geoff's way yesterday. Before long I had slipped back to doing it my original way without even noticing, though I think that says more about my lack of concentration than anything else. It looks like I had improved a little by the time I reached the end of more than 60 internal cuts on that bike. Mind you a days break from scrolling and I'll be back to my usual rough as a bears behind. :mrgreen:

 

[mac1012]

I do it same way as chris but I just move back and then come in again this makes the slot slightly wider before turning , I can see the logic in geoffs method as your turning 90 degrees if you happen to move you cut into the waste rather than cutting your corner.

but either way most of the time what determines how good the corner is how you start the second line after you have turned 90 degrees and start cutting away from the corner and how you have got the work piece angled to the blade will determine what the corner angle will be , if correct then you will follow the line , if slightly out them the corner angle will look a bit narrower or bigger than needs to be

its just practice to make sure the worked piece lined up correctly as you come away from the corner on the cut out from the corner

top tip a small needle file with teeth on both faces but none on the sides can cover a multitude of corner cutting sins !!



mark