The creative possibilities you can achieve with a scroll saw are endless. Jigsaw, pictures, marquetry inlays are just a few of the projects you can make with the best scroll saw, even with odd off-cuts.
Scroll saws are quiet and don’t produce a lot of dust. With a scroll saw, you can make small delicate pieces with a beautiful smooth finish that requires minimal sanding. You can also cut thicker pieces with this type of saw.
Scroll saws have tiny blades that help you to get into tight spots.
Scroll saws with varying speeds provide you more control over your cuts, depending on the type of cuts you want to make. You can create intricate right-angled corner cuts and different freeform cuts with an excellent surface finish, even if you’re using a rougher cut of wood. The finish that a scroll saw cut provides means less sanding.
You can make stunning marquetry work with a band saw. Marquetry is various shaped pieces of thin veneer that fit together to create beautiful designs. The band saw enables you to angle the head for brilliant angled cuts that fit together accurately.
A pierce cut is an internal cut. To make a pierce cut, start by drilling holes in the marked areas that you want to cut out. Then, remove the thin blade of the scroll saw from the head and thread it through the hole, before putting it back together. A footswitch is a great accessory to have for your scroll saw so that you can switch it on while holding the piece of wood with both hands. Even with thicker sections, the scroll saw is ideal for intricate work as you don’t have to sand the inner edges.
You can use different types of blades with your scroll saw, depending on the kind of cuts you want to make. Smaller blades (number 3 and less) are ideal for thinner pieces of wood that measure a quarter of an inch or less. A number two blade has 20 teeth per inch. This blade is perfect for creating jigsaws. Just glue a picture to a piece of board and cut the jigsaw pieces out.
Number 5 blades have 12 teeth per inch and are best for three-quarter-inch softwoods.
Number 7 blades have 11 and a half teeth per inch and can cut hard words measuring between three-quarter of an inch and one and a half-inch. The number 9 blade also has 11 and a half teeth per inch but is a little wider than the number 7 for harder and thicker wood measuring one and a half to two and a half thick lumber. The number 12 blade has nine teeth per inch for straight lines.
When your blades wear down, you won’t need to replace them immediately if you use a piece of MDF as a table. This way, you can raise the level of the wood to use the teeth higher up the blade.
When you first start using a scroll saw you’ll probably break your blades. After a while, you’ll get the feel of the blades and stop breaking them. The main reason that scroll saw blades break is heat. Excessive heat weakens the metal, so the first step is making sure you have proper tension on the blade. When tensioning your blade make sure it’s not too loose. If the blade’s too loose, it’ll shift around on the plate, and you’ll snap it. When you’ve tightened it, you can pluck it like a guitar string. If it produces a high pitched ping sound, you’ve got a well-tensioned blade.
Your technique will also prevent blade breakage. By keeping relaxed and holding the wood without too much pressure, you’ll save your blade. With practice, you'll be producing beautiful creative designs.