A friend asked me the other day this very question. What is a scroll saw? If found myself trying to describe the tool. I don’t think the person ever got a very clear picture. Despite knowing exactly what a scroll saw is and how to use it, I found I had a challenge to describe it so that someone who has very little woodworking experience could understand. As a result, I thought I would create a project that I could use on this site that would answer the question; what is a Scroll Saw?
I started off by creating a power point presentation with all the points I thought I should mention. I wanted to show the machine itself and its main component parts. I wanted to explain a little about scroll saw blades. And finally I wanted to show some of the things you can make with a scroll saw.
I then set up my scroll saw and camera in a really tight space in my basement and began to experiment with video. This is a first for me. I’ve never done any video so there was a bit of a learning curve! After a few false starts, I had enough material that I thought I had covered everything I want to explain about a scroll saw. I know the lighting needs improvement. If there are any more videos to come I will work on that.
Next step was the video editing. I discovered I really enjoyed this process despite the fact it was extremely time consuming. In the end I think I managed to put together 2 videos explaining what a scroll saw is.
The next step was the biggest. I had to upload them to YouTube and set them so people could see them. This was another first for me. My fear is nobody will ever see the video. On the other hand I’m afraid someone will see the video! YouTube is a whole new world. I am hoping that I will receive some feedback to see if I missed anything or if some things were not clear. I know I need improvement.
Once I had cleared the YouTube hurdle I figured I should just keep on going so I uploaded my power point presentation to a site called Slideshare.net. So now both my videos and my power point are out there for all to see.
I don’t know if there will be more instructional videos in my future. We’ll see if there is any response to this one. I enjoyed making it and I can show it to my friend and at least know I have answered her question of what is a scroll saw?
To view my video click on one of the following Links:
Introduction to the Scroll Saw Part One
Introduction to the Scroll Saw Part 2.
