First Projects, and a Tale of Three Saws

Last year I started scroll sawing. I was bored and needed something new to do, not just in general, but with my life overall, it turned out. I was in a car with my husband; it was dark and I was staring out the window and suddenly I asked, "Do you think i'ts possible to make a clock entirely out of wood?" Tom said I should look it up on my phone, so I did, and by the time we got home I had determined that it was possible but you needed something called a scroll saw. I ended up buying a Dremel motosaw. It was the cheapest scroll type saw I could find at $79 on Amazon. The first thing I cut on it was my signature, drawn on a piece of poplar. And I was hooked. I was also terrible at it. This car that I cut out for Tom is still hanging in our garage but it makes me cringe every time I see it, it is so bad.

First car cut-out

I experimented with 3-dimensional objects like vases:

With a fake orchid, in my bathroom

I practiced a lot, so much that I burned out the motor of the Dremel. This was a blessing in disguise. The Dremel had a lot of limitations; it wasn't really a scroll saw and it only used pin-end blades, which meant I couldn't cut anything with fine details because I needed to be able to drill holes large enough to fit the pins. I did some research online but I wanted to keep it cheap so I ended up buying the newest Porter Cable scroll saw at Lowes.

At first, I was really happy with this saw; it cost $199 and it had a lot of features that the Dremel lacked. The table tilted so I could make bevel cuts. I could use pin or pinless blades. It was a lot quieter and had a lot more power, as well as a deeper throat so I could make bigger projects. Over the next few months, I made a lot of things with it, and got better and better at scrolling.

Butterfly coasters, wood burned and colored with pencils

Wood-burned skeleton

Skeleton hanging on porch

Sammy's blue castl

I learned how to burn wood and decorated the butterfly coasters and skeletons that way. The blue castle I made for my husband's granddaughter, Sammy. I started planning Christmas gifts. I wanted to make another castle for my niece Makenzie, and a fairy night light for my niece Rachel, as well as a sign for my nephew Max. I was well into all three projects when my saw decided to quit in the first week of December. I took it to a repair shop an hour away and they replaced a set screw that was missing altogether and a week later I was back in business.

Z's pink castle

Rachel's nightlight

Rachel's night light lit up

Rachel's night light in the dark

Max's sign: Max on a mission to rock

Napkin holder for Mom and Dad

Luke's mobile

I also made a napkin holder for my parents and a dinosaur mobile for Sammy's baby brother Luke. Christmas came and everyone liked their presents. I got to work on making things just for fun.

a 3-d head

pendants filled with polymer clay

poplar segmented butterflies

Butterfly

Gold painted silhouettes

Soap dish, vase, Eiffel Tower

Cut-out silhouettes

A scrolled bowl

Elk, a scene from a Berry Basket collection book

Desert scene from a pattern book by Patrick Spielman

Another Berry Basket pattern, herons in a marsh

A segmented castle from a book by Frank Droege

Duck from pattern book by Lora Irish

Sign for Mark's garage, from a pattern by "Grampa"at Scroll Saw Village

Meanwhile the saw had already been back to the repair shop because it was squeaking and knocking. Turned out a screw was loose, that was all, but the way the saw was constructed it was difficult for me to repair on my own. I learned that replacement parts, when needed, would be hard to get. I tried to keep it in good shape but it was not built to last, and it was certainly not built to withstand the punishment I was putting it through. I was also becoming aware of its own limitations compared to more expensive saws. I started thinking about getting a better one... In the beginning of March, my saw started acting up again. I tightened every screw I could access and I lubed everything I could possibly lube, and it kept on knocking and squeaking. I knew that scroll sawing was something I wanted to keep doing. My friends thought I should start selling my stuff at craft shows. I had just finished these coasters for some friends:

They were such a hit that I started thinking, maybe I really could make money off this. So I took the plunge, for $899 from Seyco.

Tom trying out my saw

It was way better than the Porter Cable in every way. Another friend requested two sets of coasters and I got to work.