Using a Scroll Saw

[BlackStar]

I've been wanting to do something to this computer for a while but I just couldn't think of a theme. Then I literally tripped over one as I navigated my 10 year old son's room. He has Lego pieces everywhere, especially the Bionicle kinds.

Bingo.

I also have been lurking on Sharky's for a while and never had anything to add to the conversations. I've been reading everyone's ideas and the How-to's to get ideas, so thanks to everyone for inspiring me!





This is the basic setup. Not too bad, but not exciting, either. This is WAY better than the old box and 14 inch monitor I've been nursing along for years. You can see the Bionicle logo on the screen that I used as the template.

The Case , if your interested, is from Extreme PC Gear and is absolutely perfect! I also define "perfect" to mean "really inexpensive and made of aluminum". See? Perfect!



I do not have a big selection of power tools, but I have been slowly collecting some. The scroll saw is great for tight curves and fancy designs, but I've only used it on softer woods. Metal, even aluminum, is quite different. The specs say to use a fine toothed blade and slow speed. I'd agree to that. I've chosen a spiral toothed blade so I don't have to worry about turning my work piece to avoid hitting the back of the saw. The saw can handle pretty big pieces, but the side panel is bigger. The spiral blade allows me to push and pull the work piece in any direction to follow the curve of my design.

(The design looks blurry because I drew it too big the first time and didn't bother to erase it completely.)



I drilled starter holes in each portion of the window that will be coming out so I can mount the blade. Unlike a jig saw, the scroll saw holds the blade at the top and bottom. I attach the blade at the bottom, push it through the hole in the work piece, then attach it to the top. These are "pin less" blades so they are held in place with a holding screw. Blades with pins form a "T" at the top and bottom and are just set in place. Tension on the blade keeps them from popping out.

You can see that the blade is thin enough to stay inside the drawn line itself. Even being very careful, I still managed to get some "waves" in my cut. The waves are still within the drawn lines themselves, so I feel pretty good. I'll have to file them out later. With more practice and more control, I expect to have very little filing to do on future projects.

How thin are those lines? Take a good, new Sharpie and draw a line without mashing the tip. Looks pretty thin, right? The blade with easily fit inside that line.

The secret seems to be: Don't push on the blade. With the blade moving slowly, you must feed the work piece slowly. With the blade moving fast, you must feed the work piece slowly. Got that? Any extra pressure on the blade causes it to flex and change the angle of your cut. Move the piece just a little, let the blade move back into position, then slowly move the piece some more. As I said, with more practice I'll be able to feed it a bit more constantly.

Blades break. That's just a fact of life for scroll saws. The trick is to break as few as possible. Again, pushing the work piece too fast doesn't make the cutting go faster, it just ruins the blade. I ended up breaking three blades on this project. One was definitely from pushing too hard.

I'm creating a lot of aluminum dust. I didn't think to take a picture of this, but my fingers are looking like the Tin Man from "The Wizard of OZ". Wiping off the saw not only keeps it cleaner but keeps that dust from scratching the panel (it's masked off, but still...)




And we're done. The edges of the cut are not sharp but will have to be filed to remove the cutting imperfections.

As I was cutting, I slowly increased the speed of the blade. While it did speed up the overall process, I found that a medium speed worked best.

Also, I found the frequency of my work bench. There's a specific speed at which the whole bench started rattling and jumping around, it was pretty funny!

(Yes, that's plastic packing tape. I ran out of masking tape. It still worked.)

Also, notice the guest appearance of my rotary tool!



Inside the case. Absolutely nothing beyond the LEDs on the motherboard. Still needs a bit of wire management, but I'll get to that later. Sorry for it being dark, but the flash was too much.



The panel in place. No Plexiglas yet. I'll get to that later as well.

So, is a scroll saw a good choice for cutting a window? Absolutely, especially if you have some tight curves and don't want to do lots of filing. The Bionicle logo was a good beginner design without being overly complex.

Is it worth buying one just for modding you PC? That's your call. If you have $100 to spend and don't already have a rotary tool, then you should probably get one of those. The scroll saw is big and definitely won't fit in a dorm room or small apartment.