Seminar on Scrolling - London Woodshow

[Toni Burghout]

It's that time of year... woodshows.

Sue Chrestensen and I will be hosting a seminar at the London (Ontario) Woodshow in February and are planning for the event.

The show is three days and we will be working along side a tool company and demonstrating scrolling for the three days. We also have this "center stage" event where we get to put on the seminar.

The event hosts would like us to "let people know what they can do with a scrollsaw".

This leads me to ask some questions here - hoping you all can give me some insight what I should be outlining for Sue to talk about. Giggle. See that, I am shy... so she gets to talk in public.

How many of us have had a scrollsaw and then thought of creating something with it? Did you know about scrolling before the saw was available to you? What was the first thing you cut? How long did it take you? What materials do you prefer? Well the list goes on...

Is there anything you'd like to see or have seen in a scrolling demonstration/seminar that would have been helpful to you? The first thing that comes to my mind in pivoting.... I am never able to really describe that well and feel it is something you simply have to see.

So far we have been asked to show compound cutting and that a scrollsaw may be used from beginning to end in a project.... not simply to make some decorative inside cuts.

Look forward to hearing from everyone, beginner to advanced.

Take care
Toni

[Pete in Milton]

Hi Toni,
I think that someone just getting in to scrolling would like info on what kind of equipment they should look at. I have a Delta 40-570C still in the box that I bought a couple years ago (No room in the shop for it yet) some one told me it was an excellent machine and it was a great deal with a lifetime warranty,
What kind of blade assortment should you have?
What is the best quick release blade holding and tensioning mechanism , can they be retrofitted to other saws.
Is it preferable to mount the saw on a stand so that the saw tilts towards the operator(I've seen some stands like that but I've seen others just mounted horizontally,or flat).
These are some of the questions that I would ask.
Hope that helps you prepare!

[Paul O'H Ingersoll]

Pete
I prefer the saw mounted on an angle on the stand. The visibility is much better, There is a pic of mine on this page.http://frontpage.execulink.com/pohallor/tool_cabinet.htm

I just finished a 2nd one of these stands for the local senior's centre workshop.

I use the Flying Dutchman blades. The Canadian supplier is http://www.islandchimes.ca/

Paul

[Lloyd in Mississauga]

Toni,

Maybe some suggestions on using color pencils or colored ink for patterns so that you can see the cut lines better.

I would add in comments about good lighting and why you want have the air blowing on the pattern infront of the blade.

suggestions on packing tape to help hold together the pattern after it is glued down as it stiffens it up a bit, as well as well as lubricates the blade a bit.

some idea of how long between maintenance and greasing of the arms.

maybe some idea of how high your seat should be below the table surface so that you do not kink you back cutting for hours. For lathes they suggest the center line should be about elbow height, but I have not seen much on a reasonable chair height. My stool has me about mid chest, near the bottom of my breast bone, and it is too high. I need to hunch over too much to clearly see the lines to cut.

some strong suggestions that they sell blades by the dozen for a reason. don't be affraid to put in a new blade. If it does not cut any better, you can put the original back in, but blades tend to hang around too long for beginners.

the difference between a 1/4" baltic birch ply and regular HD 1/4" ply to the quality of your project.

explain that it is not that dusty, and can be done in a spare room or corner of the basement during the winter months if the garage is not heated.

Maybe relate scrolling to the feeling of running a sewing machine to give women a better idea that just because it is a tool, it should not be scary. My wife tends to use my saw now more than I do after she got past the that initial fear.

I am sure you fill another 20-30 minutes talking about the creative side of designing and cutting out your own designs and the emotional feeling of accomplishment as well.

Those would be a few of my ideas to think about passing along.

Lloyd

[Toni Burghout]

Thanks Pete and Lloyd for your suggestions.

This promises to be fun. :) I have learned over the years, that blades and saws are something I simply touch on in seminars and workshops. When I do workshops, I try to offer all the participants a couple different saws to choose test drive, usually delta, king, dewalt, and excaliber..... and blades as well. These things always depend on our sponsours though.

We have been foruntate to have some good people backing our workshops and seminars, whether they are magazines, tool suppliers or blade suppliers.

I don't want to say one is better than the other simply because it is my preference. What works for me, may not work for others. So I simply let the participants know what would be "features" to look for and why I feel they are important... ie, doesn't matter what brand of saw if you like the throat size, the table, the blower, the blade system etc.....

I like the idea of relating the scrollsaw to a sewing machine, and it is very important (in my opinion) to let people know they don't need a huge amount of space to participate in this type of woodworking.

Again, thanks for your feedback.

Take care
Toni