Make sure you only cut on dry wood. You need to let it dry enough before you try to work it. You should also measure wisely when you want to enlarge a pattern or make it smaller. If you are off you can ruin the product before you start. Use a piece of plywood under a piece of thin wood to keep it from breaking apart. Make sure you cut carefully and check the whole way through that your cutting process is good. Drill holes on each side so that you won’t get wood splinters and make sure your holes are the same size and in the same place. Use brand new sandpaper each time to get the best work. If you haven’t done this before than you can start with a simple pattern and go slowly so you won’t rush anything. If you rush then you will make errors and you can’t fix them so easily.
As you craft the wood, make sure you keep all the pieces near so you know it is going well. If you are tired then take a rest, you don’t want to keep going and mess your work up. Go slowly.
If you want a free scrollsaw pattern then go online. You can find some for free and others that you can buy. You can also buy them in books designed for this purpose. You can look for books that work on a certain idea and pick the one that suits your project best.
Print out a pattern anytime you find one you like. You can save them to use later, you will also want to keep them if you like them cause sites will change the patterns that they put up and you wont’ be able to get them again. You will want to use a binder to hold them all and keep them together for easy use. You can build a whole collection of great scrollsaw patterns.
Try using carbon paper or graphite to transfer the pattern to wood. You can also photocopy the pattern lay it on the wood and then trace it with pencil heavily on tracing paper. From there you can trace it onto wood, this can be much better to deal with than with carbons that can be sloppy.
You can also use spray adhesives or carpet tape to affix the patterns to wood. This is good because it is not so messy. Try a hot iron to transfer a pattern as well. You might have to use special stuff to get rid of adhesive.
If you want to get started with this great hobby than fine a saw workshop or a class at your local home improvement store. This is a great place for a beginner to start.
