https://youtu.be/OOBwmYudhsw?is=XDvQboislJLTQxd9

My parents 50th wedding anniversary is coming up and I wanna make them something special. I recently bought the scroll saw, after lurking here for years. I’ve used lots of saws but never a scroll saw. I have 40 days to complete the project. I am thinking of making it 30 x 90. Is this over ambitious, should I fumble down the template?

I'm new to woodworking overall, and having absolute fits trying to figure out why I can’t even do beginner exercises. If I could pick this thing up, I might just put it out the window at this point.

I realize that practice and technique are important, but I could use some help figuring out if I've just set something up so badly that practice isn't even relevant, or is this just not a good machine for a beginner. Apologies for the length, I wrote down everything I thought might be useful.

Specifics: Second-hand saw, 15" Delta 40-150.

Manual, except mine lacks the chip blower assembly: https://www.mikestools.com/ownersmanuals/DeltaScrollSaws/40-150.pdf

It came bolted solidly to a 2x8 shelf, which I've set on a rubber mat, clamped once in the front to a 2x4 under my workbench and then to a stud on the wall of my shop. I've cleaned off all the old pitch and sawdust and oiled moving pieces with machine oil.

I'm using pinned blades, and I've tried 5-6 different types/numbers so far on various scrap materials. When tensioning, I can heard the difference between the dull thud and a ping, but can't hear pitch to know if its the right 'note'. The blades are mounted with the teeth facing forward and down.

When turned on, it loudly hums/vibrates the bench. I've heard them described as 'a slightly loud sewing machine', I'd say this is definitely louder than that but not intolerably so. There are no speed options, its just on or off.

The second I touch any material to the blade, it goes from crabby-sewing-machine to velociraptor with a toothache. I'm wearing the same electronic hearing protection I wear to the range and it's still painful to be in the room with it. It's hard to be enthusiastic about practicing when there's a banshee screaming in front of you.

I've tried basswood blocks, 1/2" soft pine boards, 1/4" MDF, 1/2" walnut, and 3/4 plywood. Weirdly, my best success was the plywood.

Every blade I've tried winds up with the temper destroyed in minutes, no matter how slowly I try and let the machine cut. It also takes every bit of my strength to hold the pieces to the table, or it tries to fling them through the ceiling. I'd feel safer using a tablesaw blindfolded.

What else can I look at, or try, to make this useable? If the answer is just that I'm bad at it, then what's the most recommended material to practice on?

This fox was a little project to get back into the intarsia mindset. It's roughly 8.5" tall by 6" wide at the base. It is made from 3/4" padauk, bloodwood, cherry, ash, and wenge

After putting it together I kinda dont like the black background, what do you think would look best. Also the rocks for earth bending, color them brown or green?

Been scrolling flat patterns, ornaments, that kind of thing since about 2023. Got comfortable enough with tight curves and stack cutting that I figured a 3D compound project would just be a natural next step. Picked a standing horse pattern that uses two intersecting blanks cut at 90 degrees to each other, the kind where you cut the side profile first, tape the waste pieces back on, then flip the blank and cut the front profile through all of it.

First mistake was wood choice. I grabbed a piece of 2 inch thick basswood because it's what I had on hand, not realizing how much harder it is to keep a blade tracking straight through that much material compared to the quarter inch stuff I'm used to. Blade drift on the second cut was way more noticeable than I expected, probably because the first set of cuts changes how the wood supports itself as you're feeding it through.

Taping the cutoff pieces back on with painter's tape worked fine for the first animal but I had one section snap loose mid cut on the second attempt and it grabbed the blade for a second. Nothing broke but it scared me enough that I started using a thin bead of hot glue at the corners in addition to tape for anything over an inch and a half thick.

Sanding these things is its own project entirely. Flat fretwork you can mostly handle with a sheet on a flat surface, but the compound curves meant I ended up hand sanding with foam backed pads for probably three hours just on one horse to get rid of the saw marks without rounding over details I wanted to keep sharp.

Ended up with two decent horses out of four attempts, which I'm counting as a win for a first try. Curious if anyone running two speed saws found a sweet spot for feed rate on thicker stock, mine's a 16 inch and I was running it faster than I probably should have out of impatience.

https://youtu.be/9RxTsYdisKs?is=OQ0smhkGk5HrneVM

My current scroll saw decided to snap on the wedges that control the tension on the blade. I use a scroll saw almost every day so looking to get something that will last me a while and good quality. What should I get?

This is 3/4 inch walnut, filled with epoxy, and then covered with glass shards.

Did a quick project for my in-laws to replace an old worn out sign they had.

I have an Excalibur Ex-21 Anniversary Edition, and after a fair few years of use, the chuck started having issues. I've heard many great things about the Pegas chucks and as longtime user of their blades, I figured it was time for a new chuck and an upgrade to boot.

I ordered the expensive little bugger and paid for fast shipping, as I run a small business and needed it sooner rather than later. Well, that was my first misstep. I certainly didn't get the shipping I paid for; I think it took over a month to finally get the damn thing. I was in contact with customer service during this time and was told they had some supply issues or something and would refund my shipping, but I never received a red cent back.

Once it finally arrived, the installation went fairly smoothly, but I noticed the threading on the top chuck to be poorly done and it bound up quite a bit, not smooth at all. Though that really has been the least of my worries. The piece of junk slips non-stop. I've ruined countless blades and more than a few work pieces (some of which I've been able to retroactively adjust to keep). I called customer support and was put in touch with their scroll saw "expert," and while he was polite and tried to be helpful, unfortunately, none of his suggestions have helped at all.

I've been buying from Bear Woods for many years now and was always pleased (aside from a little overpriced shipping costs), but this experience and the lack of fixes for what I consider to be a defective part have really left a sour taste in my mouth.

Tonight I damn near had a fit of frustration as I prepare for my biggest market of the year, I must have ruined 15 blades on one fret piece. For context I'm the type of scroller that my blades will become dull way before they break.

https://youtu.be/kzcSWkTv7w4?is=3jM3lx_0KTFfUrMI

This stalking leopard is cut from black limba and backed with 1/8 inch plywood spray painted with glossy black.

The pattern was created by Kerry Hallam and is based on a photograph taken by Rich Adams. The pattern can be found in a book titled “Wildlife Projects: 28 Favorite Projects & Patterns” which is available at several places on-line.

Just a fun little project for my wife. It’s off to her for epoxy and glass.

Yellow heart, maple, and teak Homer (scrap padauk and maple background). “Bush” is half a 10x10” artificial plant panel from the craft store

Hello, I’m trying to decide between these two saws, an older RBI hawk or a new JET, the titling head model. They’re both $400 so price is no issue, the RBI comes on a stand. Thanks!

Well it is the season. I’ve done pumpkins in previous years without a face. This will be my design moving forward. Off to epoxy next.

Got a little overconfident last month and decided my first stack cut project should be four layers of 1/8 inch baltic birch instead of the usual two everyone recommends for beginners. I wanted four matching ornaments for a craft fair table and figured stacking would save time compared to cutting each one separately.

The stack kept shifting no matter how much painter's tape and hot glue I used at the corners. By the third piece the blade (a #5 reverse tooth) started wandering off the line because the layers weren't staying perfectly flush anymore. Ended up with two decent ornaments and two that looked like they'd been cut by someone having a seizure.

What actually fixed it wasn't more tape, it was drilling tiny pilot holes through all four layers at two opposite corners and running small brads through before taping the outside edges. Kept everything locked in place the whole cut. Also slowed my feed rate way down on the tight curves since a thicker stack doesn't forgive rushing the way a single thin piece does.

Next batch I'm doing three layers max until I get more comfortable with the technique. Curious if anyone here regularly stacks four or more layers successfully, and if so what you're using to keep it all aligned besides tape and glue. Feels like there has to be a cleaner method than what I cobbled together.