how serious are you about your scrolling hobby?

[Jim McDonald]

Both of my grandfathers were carpenters and my father was talented at working with wood, but I helped in the basement as needed for a third hand or a strong back.

 

Flash forward a few decades and I have a son wanting a Pinewood Derby car.  First year I cut with a jigsaw (HUGE mistake) and then heard about scroll saws.  Found one in a pawn shop and taught myself with the help of some great mentors over on the Fox Chapel board.

 

Tried a couple of craft shows, but mainly make stuff as gifts and charity fund raisers.  My saw is my mental therapy.  Everyone knows not to talk to me as long as the saw is running and my wife and the kids will wait patiently until I get off the foot pedal to ask a question.

 

Because I cut on the patio, I am weather dependent and if I am in the middle of something and can't get outside to finish it, I get a little perturbed--so I guess I take it a little too seriously at times.  (I have worn a sweatshirt and gloves to finish projects before in the late fall!)

[Bpardue]

I started scrolling about 5 years ago. My family and i went through a horrific event and because of the event, we needed to get some kind of sanity back. I had always had a shop until moving to NC. 5years ago when i starting setting up my shop i did not have the room to build furniture, don't like turning; so i had to find something to do that would be both interesting & challenging. Both my 1st saw about 5 years ago and have not looked back. What I like is if I have had a bad or stressful day at work, I just go home and work in the shop a few hours in the evening whether it is cutting on the scroll saw or shaping intarsia and the stress just goes away. 

5years ago the doctors put me on so many different meds it was unreal. Meds to sleep, meds to wake up, meds to function. Through the enjoyment for scrolling I am no longer on the meds

[SCROLLSAW703]

This has turned out to be out to be an interesting & cooperative thread. I think we all have different views of our hobby, & plans for the future of it. No matter what your situation, your input has interested me. Whether it be health reasons, a mental release after work, whatever the reason, it keeps our sanity & gives us something we can do still involving woodworking. 

 

There are days I don't go to the shop for various reasons, but other times, if I can't sleep, I'll go to the shop awhile. I think in one way or another, most of us that've posted are on the same page as far as having been thru some sort of life changing event, or some of our abilities lost. This is where the scroll saw becomes therapeutic for us, imo. It gives us a way to still use our hands & minds for creativity in our own way. It gives us a form of release we can get nowhere else but from the company of our tools & shop. And it also allows us to use our artistic abilities to put together a scroll saw project only we can design. 

 

No matter what type of saw you use, nor how many you own, the scroll saw never ceases to amaze folks at what we can do with it. Intarsia, puzzles, flowers, Native American art, whatever it is, if you are willing to learn & have the patience to keep practicing, you're doing what you love to do. Keep makin' sawdust, & thank you for all your input. God bless!

[RangerJay]

My Grandfather and my Father always enjoyed a workshop.  Following in their footsteps I think I can recall that my first "commissioned" piece was when I was somewhere in the vicinity of 12 years old (a dog house).  A really neat memory resurrected itself just last week at a family funeral when a niece of ours told me she had come into a coffee table I had made in high school (and long since forgotten) - haven't seen the pictures yet but am looking forward to getting them. Long story short is that, since marriage, some kind of outside "Shed" has always been a part of my life .....

 

.... somehow I evolved into clocks - specifically reproductions of antique mantel and wall clocks - not sure how many I have made over the years - but every single one of them has turned into a family heirloom - even been at least one family dispute ...... kinda neat ....

 

..... but .....

 

..... clocks are expensive to make .....

 

...... really expensive.

 

Hence the scrollsaw .....

 

.... after retirement I was keen on maintaining my relationship with the Shed - but doing something a little more practical in terms of economics.

 

The scrollsaw is pretty much a natural pick .....

• it doesn't take a lot of wood (compared to clocks) - in fact is real good at using up waste wood from other projects.
• it is labour intensive NOT pocketbook intensive
• the rythym of the saw is therapeutic.
• there is an incredible variety of patterns - some superb pattern-makers out there - from easy folk-art, crafty patterns to complex works of art.
• patterns are always cheap - usually free, sometimes paid for or hired - always surprised that I don't pay more for a great pattern.

So how serious am I about the scroll saw?

 

Well .....

• I don't look at scrollsaw work as a money-maker
• most of my stuff gets given away - friends, family, charity - that is quite OK
• still kinda like one-of-a-kind projects - the heirloom projects are still really neat
• usually spend at least 2 hours a day out in the Shed - often 3 or 4 if nothing else is going on.
• my Shed is really a shed in name only - actually it's kinda nice ...... even has a TV .... bar fridge is on Santa's list ....

So what else is there to say??

 

Is there another genuine alternative to the Scrollsaw?? ......

 

.... not that I know of.

 

Great thread.

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

Jay

Edited March 15, 2017 by RangerJay

[David Lehner]

And to further this discussion ..... I am getting lose to retiring. Scroll sawing is going to be my"thing" to do. I keep finishing projects and my inventory is growing again.... I may have to consider doing shows again just to make some room for more inventory.... 

I have all displays and tables .....

[125 CSL]

 Scrolling time only a little more then a year. Started as a stress reliever. Cheaper then wrenching on cars. On top of that bending over a motor for hours on end is a young guys game,....my back can no longer take doing it for more then half an hour or so. Golfing is also out, bad shoulder from years of lifting other humans.

 Not sure I look at scrolling as a hobby. It is also not a job. I am only happy with what I do if it is appealing to me. Which is good enough that other people also like and I sell some things from time to time. I still spend more time sanding then I would like to be doing. That all may change with more time cutting. If I look at the time i put into an item I sure as heck do not make any money at scrolling.

 As odd as it may seem, this forum and in a round about way talking with and reading about others works has an influence on keeping going and mastering the craft.  How can one not be inspired by that dome clock build done by tomsteve? Bpardue's intarsia might have one thinking I really need to put my saw on craigslist, but sooner or later, time and practice everyone can reach that level. I will tell you it grips me that I have not mastered it to the level I want after a year+.

 A better shop space and better saw(I need to go back and do an update on that porter cable) Would also have an effect on my scrolling.

[SCROLLSAW703]

CSL, I understand exactly what you're saying. I started out with a single speed Craftsman saw. I finally wore it completely out, & bought a new shiny CW - 40 Hitachi 20+ years ago. I still have that saw, & use it. But have added & bought other saws to my collection too. My newest saw is a BM-26 Hawk. 

 

Just a word of experience, learn to use what you have before you update, & when you do update, try not to go by what the general crowd says, invest invest in what you can afford & want at the time. You'll use the saw more, & be happier in the end. jmo.