scroll saw info

[Woodman2k]

I'm not a scroller so I figured this was the place to ask. At a realistic price, what saw is the best investment to cut thick rings out of hard wood? Also was curious what the max cut thickness might be ? Been looking for a used dewalt from my experience using the club saws at Rick Dinardo's. Am I on the right track? I'm hoping for a 2" to 3" thick cutting capacity. Any and all info will be much appreciated.
Greg B

 

[gmakra]

While you could cut thicker wood that with a scroll saw, I think it would take you quite a bit of time since the scroll saw is typically used for fine detail work and the blades are not that aggresive.
Think of it as a dentist drill compared to a regular drill.
You might be better served with a smaller band saw.

 

[ScottM]

Even with blades designed to cut thick wood a Dewalt will effectively max out at about 1 3/8". With a Hawk or Excalibur you can get up to 1 3/4". For the wood you are describing a band saw is the way to go.

 

[Berta]

Even with blades designed to cut thick wood a Dewalt will effectively max out at about 1 3/8". With a Hawk or Excalibur you can get up to 1 3/4". For the wood you are describing a band saw is the way to go.

Yep, you need a band saw.

 

[Woodman2k]

A Bandsaw is not an option on this project. It has an inside cut that needs to be as close to a 1/16 kerf. I have three very capable band saws and would use them if it was even possible. I'm going to find out what the max cut is on a dewalt scroll and will report back.

Greg

 

[Berta]

Ok, then it will need to be a glue up. Cut the block so you can do this in 2 identical parts, a top and bottom part. Make them slightly oversized because you will need to sand to get perfect results. Oversized outside diameter, undersized inside diameter. Glue as perfect as possible. Sand to perfection. That will work.

 

[JohnnyR]

There may be a way to create a jig for a jig saw where the saw is held captive and the wood swivels around on a pivot. Challenge will be maintaining downward pressure while still allowing wood to rotate. A lot cheaper than a scroll saw. Also, rout with a 1/16 bit for a clean entry and follow that with a jig saw. It would help if you describe your project and whether you just need one cut out or many.

 

[ScottM]

A Bandsaw is not an option on this project. It has an inside cut that needs to be as close to a 1/16 kerf. I have three very capable band saws and would use them if it was even possible. I'm going to find out what the max cut is on a dewalt scroll and will report back.

Greg

Greg can you post a picture of what one looks like?

 

[Danny Batchelor]

How about a bow saw?

 

[Raymond]

Greg, how small is the diameter of the piece you want to make? If this is really small, then I think Berta's idea of multiple pieces laminated together makes the most sense.

 

[Woodman2k]

This is a turning project that will be done with a scroll saw. I have exhausted every sensible approach to doing it differently. My stock needs to be very close to 2" thick for efficiency sake . Outer diameter varies from around 4" to around 16" and will be cut with my 16" Laguna bandsaw and a circle jig. It is the ID cut that has to be accurate for chucking on lathe. I must be able to use what gets cut out elseware.
Thanx

 

[bob vaughan]

The old Delta 24" scroll saws (40-440 is my favorite) can be made to do 2". The old Boice Crane scroll saw manuals advertised up to 5" thick. The full size Oliver scroll saws, of course, were the best.

 

[bash]

Greg,
I am just learning scroll saw (excellent first class from Berta and Bruce a couple weeks ago), so I certainly defer to the experts' advice on this matter. But I did say to myself "I wonder". So I took a block of red elm I had in the shop 2.125" thick, stuck a #9 blade in my old Craftsman 20" Contractor series scroll saw, and gave it a whirl. I ran rpm ~1100 (according to knob which may or may not have any relationship to reality), cut a curved shape out slowly (backing up a bit often to potentially allow better clearing of sawdust), and it came out fine. The sidewall of the cut was square top to bottom, cut very smooth (would not require sanding), and no burning on the elm. This particular saw does have a somewhat aggressive cut with the blade having forward and back motion as well as up and down - something that may (?) actually be of benefit for this application. I can say if you have a lot of blanks, it is gonna be slow going. And I would look for a very aggressive blade with good sawdust clearing design (I just used what I had).

Again, not advice - just result of my little experiment.​

 

[Woodman2k]

Scott, no pictures available at this time but when I get to that point I will post them
Raymond, the ID varies with each finished piece but most important is the fact that I need to leave the piece reusable at whatever smaller diameter I end up with.
Danny, how long is the power cord on that bow saw?

Bob and Bash, Very useful info from you guys also. I anticipate some difficulty finding one of the older but well built scroll saws. Its what I was asking about at the beginning cause I would much rather own a repairable tool with over the top ability. And to add insult to injury, I just ran across an older Craftsman for sale that needed two men and a boy to move it. I of course passed at the time, doh!
Thanx everybody

 

[bash]

You may have passed on the same model I have - saw and stand together is 140 pounds.

 

[sawman101]

​The older saws often come up for sale on Craigslist. years ago I had a Walker-Turner that worked quite well, just took extra care to overcome the vibration. Is there no way the operation you desire to perform can't be done on a hand held scroll saw, or jig saw?

 

[bob vaughan]

... And to add insult to injury, I just ran across an older Craftsman for sale that needed two men and a boy to move it. I of course passed at the time, doh!

Just for grind, an Oliver 273-D scroll saw. Maybe more than two men and a boy, but it will get the job done. Not the modern plastic and aluminum bench jackhammer.

 

[bob vaughan]

...And to add insult to injury, I just ran across an older Craftsman for sale that needed two men and a boy to move it. I of course passed at the time, doh!
Thanx everybody

Just for grins, here's an Oliver 273-D scroll saw. It can do the job but will take a little more than two men and a boy to move.

 

[Woodman2k]

Bob, Thanx, I had never seen an Oliver scroll saw. It is amazing to think about how many different machines Oliver produced.

Bash, probably was, the thing was heavy for sure.

Bruce, I cant put my head around holding it in a comfortable position to accurately cut it. I have to resaw each piece into slices of very thin dimensions. A variety of .062,.125, .1875,and .250 slices with about 80 to a 100 slices per turning.