Fretsaw project: Frankenstein's creature

[yamatetsu]

Got the itch to do another fretsaw project. Found a cool pic of Frankenstein's creature. Turned it into a wooden one.

[yamatetsu]

[Ropi Jo]

Took me a while to work out what you were actually doing util I read your other posts.

Are you using one of those spiral type blades or a flat blade?

[yamatetsu]

I'm using a very fine flat blade. I tried spiral blades, but, while it's actually easier cutting corners and tight radiuses (radii ?) using a spiral blade, even the finest blade makes a quite bigger cut. I'm using the cutouts to align the pieces I'm glueing to the backer board and found that it's going out of whack because the spiral blade removed too much material.
Also, the spiral blade I used does a much rougher cut than the flat blade, which required me to do much more sanding to get a result that still didn't look quite as smooth.

[bobbyb13]

Cool stuff.
What size stock are you using?

[yamatetsu]

The backer board is 12mm thick, the parts are 8mm. You can't see it in the pic, the shirt is actually just 3mm thick. The whole thing weighs in at about 29cm by 33cm.

[Ropi Jo]

I'm using a very fine flat blade. I tried spiral blades, but, while it's actually easier cutting corners and tight radiuses (radii ?) using a spiral blade, even the finest blade makes a quite bigger cut. I'm using the cutouts to align the pieces I'm glueing to the backer board and found that it's going out of whack because the spiral blade removed too much material.
Also, the spiral blade I used does a much rougher cut than the flat blade, which required me to do much more sanding to get a result that still didn't look quite as smooth.

Thank you.

One more question... is your fretsaw a manual hand held saw or an electric scroll saw?

I've got a scroll saw and I'm not very good with it. I thought a spiral blade may improve my technique and results.

[yamatetsu]

I'm using a saw like this one.



Regarding the spiral blade, have a look at this:



Also, while you're at it, check out his other vids. He does some amazing stuff.

I can confirm that the cut I get from using a (probably not very good) spiral blade looks more like it chewed though the wood than like a cut.

In which way do you get poor results? Do you have trouble staying on the lines, cutting corners/curves, doing intricate cuts?

[Ropi Jo]

My scroll saw is a cheapo. It lacks the rigidity to tension the blade so the blade flexes badly. The stroke is also very short and it vibrates real bad. It would probably benefit from being bolted down to a solid surface but that would mean it's in the way when not in use. My blades are also cheapos. All in all quite a bad combination.

I bought it quite a few years ago when I was wanting to get into building model boats but it wasn't up to the job.

[yamatetsu]

Ah. My priority would be to get rid of the vibrations. If possible, I would screw it to a sturdy piece of wood, then clamp that to something solid like a table or a workbench. When not in use, unscrew the board and store it somewhere.
As for the blades, just buy some cheap spiral blades and try them out. They are easier to use, so you may get slightly better results once you have learned how to use them. Keep in mind though that having a machine that vibrates badly and using a sawblade that can cut in every direction might be a bit of a challenge.

[Ropi Jo]

Ah. My priority would be to get rid of the vibrations. If possible, I would screw it to a sturdy piece of wood, then clamp that to something solid like a table or a workbench. When not in use, unscrew the board and store it somewhere.
As for the blades, just buy some cheap spiral blades and try them out. They are easier to use, so you may get slightly better results once you have learned how to use them. Keep in mind though that having a machine that vibrates badly and using a sawblade that can cut in every direction might be a bit of a challenge.

My workshop is being crated up bit by bit ready for my retirement move to the country next year so I wont be doing any scrolling for a while but I'll take your advise on board. Thank you.