Scroll Saw Group
The GWA Scroll Saw group meets on the first Monday of each month in Norcross, GA at Peachtree Woodworking Supply.
GWA Scroll Saw group meetings begin at 6:30 PM and last about two hours. Demonstrations are typically presented by GWA members. Outside demonstrators are welcomed and the group has made several field trips to local and out-of-state scroll saw shops. Each meeting begins with a few minutes of announcements and show-and-tell with the remaining time used for demonstrations. Guests are encouraged and welcome.
The GWA Scroll Saw Special Interest Group focuses on using the Scroll Saw for all sorts of scrolling including intarsia and fretwork. The group meets each month discussing and demonstrating topics and techniques to help you become a better Scroller. Your GWA membership badge is your ticket to all special interest group meetings and all members are welcome.
Regular topics include:
- Where to find patterns
- Where to find material
- Where to get blades
- Which blades to use
- How to price your work
- Which saw to start with
- Which saw is best for your type of Scrolling
- How to market your work
Meetings are held the 1st Monday Evening of Each Month at Peachtree Woodworkers Supply in Norcross, GA.
Guests are welcome.
When: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Contacts:
- Hans Meier - 404 403-2858 - Chairman
- George North - 770 457-5754
Children categories
Hans is a master at cutting 3D objects with a scroll saw. He showed numerous objects requiring inside cuts. He followed that with figurines that were mostly outside cuts. He demonstrated in cooking show style finishing cuts of numerous 3D objects so audience members could see the pattern still on the object and how it was taped together. Lastly he amazed the audience by cutting an articulating decorative leaf hinge using a finishing nail for a hinge pin.
Wayne Martin went through much of the process of how he creates his award winning whirlygigs. He demonstrated his rendering of santa taking a bath before Christmas. He then covered various ways of creating motion by attaching cams to a slowly rotating threaded shaft and then fabricating cam followers out of a variety of wires. Wayne went on to explain a number of ways to transfer motion to the desired direction and distance. He showed a prototyping board he uses to work out concepts until he gets the motion he wants. On the prototyping platform, he had created a multilobe cam from a large plastic washer. He cut away portions of the washer to create lobes of varying height and duration and then created a wire follower that would ride on the cam to cause another wire to cycle up and down as desired. Several audience members derived an "Ahhh Haaa" moment from the demonstration. Perhaps we will soon see some new whirlygigs at show and tell.
Hans Meier presented a subset of the toy groups he sells on the craft show circuit. He explained many of the features and attractions of the groupings and a bit about how they were made. He went on to give a lot of information about his sources for patterns and what can be done with them. Several of the members also demonstrated toys and patterns they had brought.
In this monthly meeting of the Scroll Saw Special Interest Group (SIG), Bob Brokaw explained some of the process he has developed since being introduced to marquetry. He began by explaining the similarities of marquetry to intarsia except with no z-axis. The finished objects are the product of stack cutting multiple layers of veneer and then assembling the pieces into a panel that is glued onto a substrate. He showed several patterns that he developed and their source back to intarsia patterns from Judy Gale Roberts. He begins by tracing a picture using the spline tool of DeltaCad using a thin red line (easier to see when cutting with a 3/0 black scroll saw blade). He augments the picture by dividing pieces to facilitate sand shading to simulate shadows and give the picture depth in the absence of a z-axis. He demonstrated several of the stages of the development of a ready to glue panel. Bob went on to explain several of the considerations to the glue up and subsequent finishing operations. He finished by acknowledging his primary mentors Jane Burke ( http://www.gtcreations.com/ ) and Paul Schurch ( http://www.schurchwoodwork.com/ ).
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Rob demonstrated the differences between how and when to use a spiral blade instead of a traditional straight blade. Hard core straight blade users in the audience found that once they tried a #00 spiral in lieu of a #5 straight that they could cut complex fretwork and lettering much faster. Everyone in the audience got to try their hand with each blade on a supplied portrait segment. Even some hard core turners got in on the act in preparation for upcoming Christmas ornaments.
This was a first time for this class. In this class, Hans Meier and Karl Taylor tag teamed to cover many aspects of the use of a scroll saw. One of the class projects was to make a small scroll lidded box from wood scraps. Hans and Karl showed a variety of scroll saw projects with a few words about how each was made. The balance of the class was devoted to solving participants scroll saw “challenges”.
It is the plan to have this class once each quarter after the regular Saturday meeting as long as the interest is there.
In this class, Hans Meier and Karl Taylor tag teamed to cover many of the ways that scroll saw puzzles can be made. Hans and Karl showed many examples of puzzles that they made and market. They both showed the processes they used to develop many of the puzzle types. The very small and the very irregular puzzles were the highlight of the presentation.
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George North discussed the differences between Intarsia and Segmentation. He talked aout cutting the pieces, sanding and shaping, gluing and finishing. George concluded by giving interested members a Dolphin intarsia kit that they can complete.
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In this class, Karl Taylor discussed the program (Corel Draw) he uses to prepare scroll saw patterns. Rob Austin then described the various programs he uses. Both demonstrated their pattern making techniques and then Rob reviewed a number of patterns he had created as well as a number of portraits he has cut. These techniques are great if you can't find a pattern on the internet (e.g a relative, pet, home, etc.)
This class featured 5 different demonstrators – Hans Meier, Karl Taylor, George North, Marilou Chastain and Bruce Maday. The group scrolled both 2 and 3 dimensional wooden puzzles. Attendees were given the opportunity to see a number of sample projects and in many cases patterns to make the projects. There were 3 tables full of sample puzzles and lots of questions were answered throughout the evening.
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In this class, Karl Taylor discussed different blades and their advantages / disadvantages. He also covered different types of pattern design and which method is the easiest to follow with a blade. During the last half of the meeting, members took turns cutting a 4 piece puzzle. This exercise not only helped to build some basic skills, but it also provided an excellent opportunity to meet some new club members.
Although scheduled as a Scroll Saw meeting, this class pertained to all woodworkers who want to sell their projects and a numbr of non Scroll Saw members attended. Hans Meier has participated in approximately 75 shows and it was very apparent he knows what he is doing. He talked about planning for a show and how you actually apply to participate in a show. He also discussed a number of "nuts and bolts" topics, such as the type/color of tent to buy, types of dispay racks, types of storage bins, price points, business cards, packaging and a number of others.