During this session we will take a quick look at the features of a basic scroll saw, and walk through the steps to changing your scroll saw blade. The scroll saw shown is a Ryobi 16″ variable speed.
Click on any image for a full-sized picture of that step.
Read Your Manual
Begin by reading the information and instruction manual that came with your particular scroll saw, especially the safety steps.
Wear safety glasses.
Use the correct blades made for your specific scroll saw.
Check the condition of your saw blade before you begin any working session.
Always know where your fingers are in relationship to the saw blade.
Unplug the saw and remove the Child’s Safety Plug when not in use.
Watch for physical and visual fatigue – take frequent breaks.
Scroll Saw Features
The Ryobi features a Tension Knob for quick and easy blade tension adjustments on the top back of the machine. The Sawdust Blower keeps the wood clean of sawdust in front of the saw blade. The Drop Foot holds the wood securely to the work table to reduce vibration and the Throat Plate gives you access to the bottom of the saw blade.
The On/Off Switch is on the lower front of the motor and also contains a Child’s Safety Plug that can be removed to prevent the machine from turning on.
The three pronged knob on the left front controls the tilt angle of the table, called the Bevel Scale. On the right side of the front is your variable speed control. For the Ryobi the speed range is from 550 r/min. to 1,650 r/min.
Scroll Saw Blades
Scroll saws use two styles of blades – pinned and unpinned. Pinned blades have a small metal cross bar at the top and bottom of the blade that slides and locks into the blade holders. This gives a strong, secure anchor for the blades.
Unpinned blades do not have the cross blades, and are simply straight at the top and bottom.
The unpinned blades are used in fretwork where you will be cutting holes into the design. Begin by drilling a small hole, just slightly larger than the width of your saw blade, inside of the shape that you will be cutting. Release the Tension Knob on the top of the machine. Release the top Blade Holder Knob. Remove the top of the blade from the scroll saw. Slide the wood over the top of the blade, threading it through the drilled hole. Secure the top of the blade by tightening the Blade Knob and Tension Knob.
Saw blades are sorted by the number of teeth per inch, TPI. The Ryobi Specialty Scroll Saw Blade Set gives you three sizes – 7 TPI Hook Tooth for thick widths of wood, 15 TPI Regular Tooth for general cutting, and 18.5 TPI Skip Tooth for fine and tight turned cutting. For our projects in this seminar I used the 15 TPI regular tooth, pinned blades.
The tools I am listing are tools that I own and use on a consistent bases. But, of course, you can substitute with the tools you already own. As a teacher I always suggest that you start a new hobby with an entry-level tool set, not a dirt-cheap tool set. Begin with the best set you can easily afford, then if you love the craft as I do you can add new, higher quality tools as you discover what style of carving or pyrography you will be doing.
As example, as a pyrographer I suggest that you start with a basic Walnut Hallow Versa-Tool which will cost you between $25 to $30. This lets you experience wood burning before you decide if you want to invest in higher units as the Colwood or Optima, which can cost around $175 with burning unit and two or three pens.
3/8″ to 1/2″ thick x 3″ wide x 12″ long basswood blanks for shallow, stirring spoons or hair combs 3/4″ to 1″ thick x 3″ wide x 12″ long basswood blanks for deep, dipping spoons
I purchase my basswood off of EBay.com because I can see the actual wood that I am purchasing. Most basswood offerings on EBay are available in multiple packs of boards, all cut to the same dimension. Search under ‘basswood carving wood’. For larger boards search under ‘basswood lumber’.
Set of wood carving tools – straight chisel, skew chisel, v-gouge, large round gouge, small round gouge. Below is a listing of four suggested sets that will not only get you started in wood carving, but will last you for years.
Available on Amazon.com – 8 pc Woodpecker big wood carving tool set This is an excellent beginner’s carving kit with large tools that can be used by hand or with a mallet. For our project it contains a deeply bend round gouge, perfect for deep bowled spoons. Also included is two wide sweep gouges and two tight round gouge.
Available on Aliexpress.com – 8 pc Woodpecker big wood carving tool set This is the same set as described above but through Aliexpress, a selling site based in China. The price is quite different, but you will have to wait up to three weeks for the tools to arrive in the mail.
Available on Aliexpress.com – 8 pc Woodpecker small wood carving tool set Woodpecker also makes a small carving tool set which is perfect for a beginner carving that will be working multiple styles of wood carving.
Available on Amazon.com – Flexcut 11pc interchangeable blade tool set The Flexcut set has one handle and 11 interchangeable blades. The blades are easy to change-out and hold securely in the handle. This is a great set that will last you for many, many years if you have a little extra to invest.
Available on Amazon.com – Ramelson 6 pc palm carving set 117 I have used Ramelson tools for nearly thirty years. They are thin bladed tools that hold a crisp, perfect edge and priced reasonably for the beginning carver. The palm handles are wonderful for those of us that have arthritis as the push of the cutting stroke comes from the center of the palm of the hand instead of from the fingers.
Below each pyrography tool listed is a link to an in-depth seminar that will not only give you a free, step-by-step project you can start today, but also allow you to see each of the three pyrography tools in use to help you decide which unit is the best for you.
These three in-depth tutorials are hosted on a wood carving forum. Unfortunately I am banned/blocked from posting to this forum now because of technical difficulties on this forum. So, if you have questions or comments about these three projects please email me here, through my blog. Do not post to these threads as I can not read, see, or answer your questions there!
Walnut Hollow Versa-Tool Toucan Project – Looking for that first wood burning tool, then take a few moments and read through this tutorial for an in-depth review of the Walnut Hollow Versa-Tool used to wood burn a Toucan Family.
Colwood Winter Birdhouse Wood Burning Tutorial – This in-depth, step-by-step project focuses on a winter bird house wood burning scene. The project takes you from the initial tracing of the design to the final coloring steps.
Irish Optima Pyrography Seminar – This in-depth pyrography project shows over 250 detailed, close-up photos, step-by-step instructions, and in-depth explanations of texturing, shadings, and fine line work used to create the Advertising Barn landscape.
Suggested pyrography tool pens
For more information of pyrography pen tips and what style of burned stroke each creates please download our free PDF on Pyrography Pen Tips, posted on our Wood Carving and Pyrography Pattern website, ArtDesignsStudio.com. Scroll down to the lower portion of the page. Please chose pens that are manufactured by the company that made your wood burning unit.
general writing or fine line tip – ball tip or loop tip pen general shading tip – spear tip or pointed shader tip
General supplies
Sharpening stones, leather strop, and honing compound For more information please read our blog posting on Sharpening Your Carving Tools
Sandpaper – 100-grit to 220-grit sandpaper, sanding blocks in assorted grit sizes, foam-core finger nail files
Carving gloves – Please check what size glove you need before ordering!
Let’s do something just a little different this year for our summer, free, online wood carving seminar. Usually I pick one craft on which to focus – wood carving, wood burning, or chip carving. This year I want show you how easy it is to cross-craft, to incorporate several of your favorite hobbies into creating your art. So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair to my seminar table, and let’s look at the basics to scroll sawing, wood carving, wood burning, and colored pencil work as we put these all together into one craft project.
This year’s project came about because I have a new toy – a Ryobi 16″ Variable Speed Scroll Saw. My Ryobi has a 16″ long throat, and can handle wood up to 2″ thick. The saw blades can be either pinned or non-pinned, something that we will look at during this class session. It is variable speed and has a tilt table that can be moved 45 degrees, plus it is equipped with a dust blower to keep your cutting area free and easy to see. And this little sweet power tool has an iron base that keeps the scroll saw steady on my work table.
My Ryobi cost me around $100. plus I purchased an assorted pack of 36 Ryobi blades at about $5.00. So for under $125. with s/h I now have the ability to quickly, easily, and efficiently create my own basswood, birch, and poplar cut-outs for my wood carving and pyrography projects.
Long background story – which you can skip if you want …
Over my 30 years as a wood crafter, wood carver, and pyrographer I have owned three other scroll saws and I hated everyone of them! I don’t do that much scroll sawing to make it worth the investment of several hundred dollars ($500 – $800) for one of the ‘high end’ machines. I don’t know how often I have commented that I must be the world’s worst scroll sawer because every project just drove me bonkers, crazy, irritable, and someone you just didn’t want to be near when I was working. I thought my problems with scroll sawing was me and unfortunately in my line of work there are times that I must do some scroll sawing.
My experience, to this point, with scroll sawing was fighting broken blades, fussing with tension springs that don’t stay put, and with the entire machine wobbling or walking across that table unless it is bolted down. Changing blades with an Allen wrench deep inside the metal case of the blade is just a nightmare for me. I had one scroll saw, long ago, that literally made me sea sick (car sick) because of the triple vibrations between the blade, moving arm, and wobbling base. Because all of my previous saws were light-weight they did need to be bolted to my work table in the workshop, which meant that just to make a couple of quick cuts was a trip out of the studio to go down to the shop to work.
So a new, large project has hit my work table which will require a fair bit of scroll saw work. After much fussing, much cussing, and a lot of consternation I decides that I really had to purchase a new scroll saw which wouldn’t drive me to exasperation – this is scroll saw number 4! I had just purchased a Ryobi 40v battery-operated chain saw and have been delighted with its performance, so I decided to look at Ryobi’s scroll saw.
For under $125 my Ryobi arrived about three days after I ordered. I am glad I ordered several packs of extra blades because the scroll saw comes with just one blade installed. I set up on the back porch … while the Ryobi is a heavy-weight it is not so heavy that I can’t move it to the work area, do my cutting, and then store it in its box. Instead of a petite portable, the Ryobi is a Lovable Lug-able!
So … two hours later … I had read the instructions, looked the scroll saw over closely, and cut out 12 wood spoon rough-outs from 1″ thick basswood stock, two hand comb rough-outs from 3/8″ basswood stock, and the three spoons that we will be using in this seminar as our sample projects which are also 3/8″ stock. Not once did I break a blade! Not once did the Ryobi vibrate! Not once did I get hung-up inside the cut because the machine didn’t have the power to pull through the curve! I did change the blade once and it was a less than two minute job because of the screw knob system the Ryobi uses! I reset the tension without any fuss and was back in business immediately! When I came back into the studio, searching for more basswood blanks or birch plywood that I could cut-out on my new Ryobi, my beloved hubby asked with great concern, “Are you having problems with that new saw?” I stopped and wondered why he would ask that question. He answered, “I didn’t hear any cussing coming in from the porch, so I thought you hadn’t gotten it started yet!” That’s when I realized I am NOT the world’s worst scroll sawer, I had just always used the world’s worst scroll saws. With my Ryobi I can now proclaim myself, with great pride and satisfaction, a scroll sawer who enjoys the craft.
I am going to take a little break here and go get our supply list ready to post. See you in just a bit!
We will start this projects with the three wooden spoons, shown left in the photo. We will work through the steps of cutting the basswood blanks using the scroll saw, then with a basic set of wood carving tools shape the spoon’s bowl and handle area. Our third section will focus on getting the spoon bowl absolutely smooth and finally we will do a simple wood burning of a henna flower design. So … back soon!
Since Mike and I came to the web in 1997 I have posted a free, online, step-by-step seminar each year. Many of those seminars are posted right here on our blog at LSIrish.com, and some were posted to other wood carving, wood burning community forums. Before I start posting this year’s free seminar – Cross Crafting Wood Carving, Pyrography, and Scroll Saw Project – I thought you would enjoy a list with links to some of our favorite past projects.
Our newest free, online seminar – starting tomorrow, August 4th, 2016 – takes a fun look at scroll sawing, wood carving, and pyrography and how easy it is to cross-craft these hobbies.
Whittle Tiki Chess Set – Wood Carving This beginner’s wood carving project will guide you through the cutting strokes that create those wonderfully expressive Tiki faces. Includes the free patterns to make your own chess set.
Basics to Painting – Painting your Wood Carving and Wood Burning Have fun exploring the numerous techniques you can use to add coloring to your wood burnings, wood carvings, and scroll saw projects.
Postage Stamp Pyrography – Pyrography and wood burning Have a little fun tonight working through how easy it is to wood burning Celtic interlocking lines and knots.
Relief Canada Goose Carving Seminar – Relief wood carving, pyrography, and painting Explore the basic techniques used in relief wood carving, including working in layers and levels, undercutting, and smoothing the background. Then add fine detailing using your wood burning tool. Finish this step-by-step project by creating realistic coloring using the dry brushing technique.
Whittle Fish Seminar – Wood carving Ice fishing decoys are quick, easy, and extremely fun to carve. All you need is a bench knife, a few pieces of basswood, some scrap leather or copper sheeting, and some imagination. Since these are primitive art, anything goes when carving fish decoys.
Chip Carving Seminar – Chip Carving, wood carving Chip carving is a specialty area in wood carving. With the use of a short-bladed chip carving knife, small triangular cuts create intrigue motifs and designs. Includes a full-sized sampler pattern.
Celtic Dragon Plaque – Relief wood carving This is an entry-level carving project for both relief carving and for working the interlocking patterns of the Celtic Knot
Wood Spirit Carving – Wood carving, cane and walking stick carving Carving a human face into your next walking stick or cane is quite easy when you follow the step-by-step cuts shown in Carving the Planes of the Human Face.
Twistie Snake Carving – Wood carving, cane and walking stick carving Not all of us are blessed to have a backyard wood lot where we can cultivate sassafras trees and honeysuckle vines for twistie stick canes. So in this in-depth tutorial learn how to carve that twisted stick pattern using a bench knife, a few small gouges, and basswood.
Pyrography Doodles – Pyrography and wood burning If you have the burning desire to try your hand at the zen doodle craze or modern tribal tattoo look, you will want to read through this step-by-step wood burning project that uses textures, line designs, and fill patterns to create the finished mushroom design.
Pyrography Steps to Portrait Burning – Wood burning and pyrography Learn how to create realistic shadows and highlights in the human face in your next wood burning project.
Cougar Pyrography Project – Wood burning and pyrography Learn how to create the fine fur in an animal portrait that incorporates realistic shading and shape to the animal’s face.
Ceremonial Mask Pyrography – Pyrography and wood burning This step-by-step project uses lots and lots of photos to guide you through an in-depth design created for first-time wood burners.
Pyrography Leather Burning – Leather burning and leather pyrography Want to try your hand at leather burning? Then this tutorial is just what you are looking for. Includes not only the step-by-step photo instructions but also includes the binding steps for making your own leather artist journal.
Posted on Other Message Boards or Forums
Please note that the following free L S Irish seminars and in-depth projects were posted by me, before we opened LSIrish.com, and are hosted on another forum. I am not responsible for this forum nor a member of this forum at this time.
Please note that you will need to sign-up as a member of this forum to have access to the photos included in each of the tutorials.
If you have questions about these projects please contact me directly, here at LSIrish.com or on my Facebook account, as I can not reply to you on this forum. If you do reply of any of these free tutorial, it will bring these threads to the front of the message board where other members may answer you.
Relief Carving Wood Spirit Grape Man WIP – Over 250 detailed, close-up photos with step-by-step instructions of relief carving the wood spirit, green man face. This thread has had over 69,000 views!
Levels in Relief – Learn how to break you carving pattern into levels for easy carving. This project will teach you how to identify the sky, background, mid-ground, and foreground of any design.
Burning your carvings – Pyrography can be an important technique for your wood carving. So learn how to use your wood burner to clean-up fine wood fibers, add detailing, and even add fine shaping to your next wood carving project.
African Mask Low Relief Carving – The African Mask project focuses on how to establish the levels of a relief wood carving during the rough-out stage of work.
Irish Pyrography Seminar – This in-depth pyrography project shows over 250 detailed, close-up photos, step-by-step instructions, and in-depth explanations of texturing, shadings, and fine line work used to create the Advertising Barn landscape.
Walnut Hollow Versa-Tool – Looking for that first wood burning tool, then take a few moments and read through this tutorial for an in-depth review of the Walnut Hollow Versa-Tool used to wood burn a Toucan Family.
Winter Birdhouse Wood Burning Tutorial – This in-depth, step-by-step project focuses on a winter bird house wood burning scene. The project takes you from the initial tracing of the design to the final coloring steps.
Trapped inside because of the heat? Bored with too much time of your hands? Well, grab your carving tools, leather strop, and some basswood blanks and join me in a little carving fun. If you don’t find something below that interests you, check out our Wood Carving Project page for more ideas and for basic instructions to the craft of wood carving.
Learn the easy and fun technique of chip carving with Lora Irish’s free online seminar. Ten full pages, lots of free patterns, step-by-step instructions.
Ready to carve your first walking stick. This ten page, step-by-step free carving project by Lora Irish will teach you everything you need to create your own Snake and Twistie Stick cane.
This indepth step-by-step free relief carving project by Lora Irish includes how to work a relief wood carving, how to use your pyrogrpahy and wood burning in your carvings, and how to add color to your relief carvings.
Fish decoys are fast, easy, and fun. A few hours, a couple of basic carving tools, and a little imagination is all it takes to complete this free online wood carving project by L. S. Irish.
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Visit Lora Irish’ craft, wood carving, and pyrography pattern and e-projects website. ArtDesignsStudio.com
The link above is a Freebie Pattern Package which you can use to learn how to download, extract, and print our patterns.
Click on the link above.
A Window will pop up titled: Opening Irish-Free-2015-Pattern-Pack.zip. In that window select “Save File”, not “Open With”. In the bottom right hand area of the Window select “Save”.
A new Window will pop up that has the directory to your computer. That window will want to save the file in “Your Downloads”. You can select another area in your computer to save the file. In the left nav area of the window, scroll up and click on “My Desktop”. Chose where In the bottom right of the window select “Save”.
Minimize your browser by clicking the line button in the upper right hand corner of the screen. This will drop the browser window down so that you can check your Desktop to see if the zip file is there. Sometimes the icon for a zip file or downloaded PDF file does not show up on your Desktop even though your computer downloaded the file. If you don’t see your zip file move your cursor into any empty space on your Desktop and right-hand click. This will open a small menu Window. From that menu select “Refresh”. This will reload your Desktop view and your icon should appear. If you still don’t see your zip icon then go check “My Downloads” as it may be there.
Place your cursor on the zip icon and right-hand click. A Window will pop up, select “Extract All”.
A new Window will pop up which allows you to decide where to extract the file, I usually chose to extract it as the file tells me in the location portion of this window. Select “Extract”.
After the package is extracted you should have a new Window that shows the opened file folder. You can click on that folder, open the file and begin printing your patterns. You should also have two files on your Desktop now, one is the original zip file, and the other the extracted, open folder. Save the zip file to “My Downloads” or “My Documents”, you can open this file over and over again. Save the opened folder to whatever folder system you use for your craft projects and patterns.
Note – If you double left-hand click on an un-extracted zip file you will see a folder window and you can see the patterns inside that folder. But since the file has not been extracted you can not print. So, if you can’t print you probably have not extracted the zip.
Email me, Contact Us in the top nav bar, and I will help you through the process!
