Why won't you follow The Line?!?

[focusonwood]

Good morning everyone.

I'm new to scroll sawing, and this weekend I attempted creating one of those bowls where you cut a wavy circular pattern and then glue it all together.

I'm using a record power scroll saw, and was using a thin blade so that I could poke it through the holes.

My only problem is no matter how carefully I try to follow the line, the blade drifts off and ruins everything!

I suspect I just need to practice, but is there a trick to following the line?

Could it be the speed of the blade? I was cutting pine, so not a particularly tough material.

I'd really like to get better at this...the scroll saw wouldn't make a very good paper weight!

Thanks,

Graham.

 

[marcros]

i know nothing about scroll sawing, but my first questions would be:

how thick was the wood?
what size was the blade?

 

[Aggrajag]

1) Check your blade tension is high enough, but not too high. It should make a nice high-ish ping.
2) If your machine is variable speed, try going slower until you're more confident/proficient.
3) Don't push the wood as hard, take your time.
4) Practice, practice & practice

 

[Claymore]

I have found that when cutting Pine the blades do tend to wander if not correctly tensioned and also the grain in the pine likes to steer the blade unlike when you use a fine grained hardwood which usually follows the line ok.
Don't put too much pressure on the blade when cutting, let the blade do the cutting at its own pace instead of forcing it to cut quickly..... you soon work out just the right amount of pressure to use. For turns slow yourself and the saw down and using minimum pressure steer the blade.

As above practice on scrap wood ....... just draw a squiggly line on the wood and then try and follow it ......then draw around something square etc and try to keep it straight on the line.

 

[NazNomad]

As above, pine is a pig. The blade always wants to follow the soft grain.

Tight blade, slow speed, you'll get there.

 

[focusonwood]

Thanks for your replies.

In answer to the Qs above; the wood was 15mm thick and the blade was the thinnest the shop sold!

I think you're right, I just need to practice!

 

[Claymore]

The thinest blades aren't always the best choice as the thinner they are the easier it is to bend them while cutting, I usually workout what the tightest turn will be in a project and go for a blade that will cut that....... in many cases it could be a number 5 or even upto number 9's, my main blade size i use for my motorcycle intarsias is a number 3 and I cut 40mm hardwood with it with no wandering.
With pine having so much soft sections the blade will go ok and hit a soft spot which nine out of ten times will be on a turn and tends to send it allover the place but I'm sure you will soon get the knack... main thing is to have fun and if you go wrong don't worry (you should see some of my first pieces lol Stevie Wonder could have cut them better)

Cheers
Brian

 

[Aggrajag]

Get yourself some Olson PGT blades, using the chart here http://www2.woodcraft.com/PDF/Olson-scr ... -chart.pdf and cut the dream!

Order from the US in bulk for bargain prices: http://www.woodenteddybearonline.com

(Make sure you get the correct pinned or pinless depending on your machine. If using pinned consider getting the adapters and using pinless anyway.)

 

[focusonwood]

Thanks.

My saw takes pinned and pinless...I was using pinless so that it would go through the holes I drilled. The bowl I was making means that I can't drill big holes to get the blade through.

 

[gilljc]

If you want to cut thicker wood then I would also suggest Olsen pgt blades which will give an almost polished cut edge, or for tighter turns their mach blades cut quickly and with the ability to turn very easily. I regularly use 3mach blades in hardwoods up to 20mm thick. I would also suggest you check your tension is tight enough, or it is entirely possible you had a bad blade, it does happen occasionally that you can get a blade which will not follow the line.
Gill
P.S. when I started I cut mostly pine from b&q and found it fine to work with