Are scroll saws safe for youth?

[John B]

Years ago there was British scroll saw that was completely safe. It wasn't high end, and it wasn't dear, but was just the thing for kids and for light work. The blade was a standard scroll saw blade but it had a very short stroke. You could put your finger on the blade and cut a piece of 6mm ply at the same time. It cut like a hot knife through butter ;). The blade would just catch the skin on your finger and the skin would move with it without cutting. Took me a little sweat to test at a wood show but I did and it never ;) Actually new some people who purchased the machine and an arts class at a Primary school purchased 6 of the. Haven't heard about them for ages, but they may still be available.

Regards John

[bf]

Thanks everyone for the input.. I'll continue to read. I like the advice of learning to use it myself first, and then teaching him. I think it will be safer and less frustrating for him as well if I know what I'm doing. The last thing I want to happen is for me to be fumbling in our first experience and for him to decide it's "boring" LOL.

I ended up buying a used Excalibar. (Seeing the ad in Craig's list gave me the idea). Got a nice deal, but it was kind of sad. The guy had to sell it because his health no longer allowed him to do woodworking. Just another reminder to enjoy life while you can and not take things for granted.

[J. Clarke]

I remember when I was a kid I got a little toy scroll saw for Christmas one year--I think it was from Kenner but wouldn't swear to it. Don't know what happened to it, I think it disappeared in a move. Blade had no teeth, just a series of rounded indentations--it cut plastic foam and the like like gangbusters and even managed balsa if I recall correctly. Very safe little tool and fun besides. Battery powered so it didn't have much power--you could stall it by grabbing the blade. At the time foam for it was hard to find and expensive--I suspect that today it would do wonders with foamcore board.

Another fairly safe tool, by the way, is a Fein Multimaster--cuts almost as fast as a Bosch jigsaw but you can put your finger on the edge of the blade with it running at full speed and nothing happens (yeah, I'm dumb, I tried it, it works). Really needs a shoe of some kind to be able to do any kind of precision work though. One of these days I've got to see about rigging one.

[Locutus]

Maybe it was a ScrollStop prototype???

[Locutus]

ugh, someone already beat me to a scrollstop joke... :(

[root]

[Pop`]

It didn't cut because the short stroke simply moved the skin up and down with the blade. If he'd bent his finger and placed the middle joint against it, it could have cut, but it still wouldn't have been deep before hurting a LOT.

Experience counts!

Pop`

[Tim W]

Correct. It is about twenty years old.

Tim w

[George]

Spring return rather than parallel arm, I take it?

[Larry Kraus]

I've seen this done several times. I think the finger is placed midway between the table and the top blade clamp with light pressure on the blade. The skin then tends to be moved up and down with the blade, rather than being cut. I suspect that bracing the finger on the table and/or applying more pressure could cause a nasty cut. In other words, I can think of no reason to try this at home.

[Tim W]

Exactly. With a bendy pressed tin body and a fitting for a sanding disc which also stopped when you touched it. Really a piece of idiocy but I mention it only because I found it fun for exactly the purpose the OP had - I could use it on the kitchen table with my kids making jig-saws puzzles, model aeroplanes, doll's house furniture and they could use it too. You could never have hurt yourself with it.

Tim w

[fredfighter]

BTW, Franco is still dead.

[pdavid]

To reinforce what others have already said: my son, now 9, has been using the Delta scroll saw for a couple of years at least, has become quite adept at it, and now does it without problems and without much supervision. I think it depends much on the maturity of the child and whether he will "try" inappropriate materials or holding techniques . He now can operate the drill press safely (not the winged bits, just the fluted ones, in wood, slowest speed) and a couple of the power sanders (Porter-Cable half-sheet and orbital sanders), but not the belt sander. He has started on the Fein sander, but he's not yet proficient at it. He is not yet allowed to touch any other saw (probably the next one is the jigsaw). Under close supervision, he will use the drill press with winged bits. He has held the hand-held drill in a pocketscrew guide on a couple of occasions.

The rule of thumb was "how much damage would the tool do before he could realize he is getting hurt and moves his fingers away?". For the tools he is not allowed to touch, the answer is "more than just skin." No chisels, but the handsaw. No belt sander, but the finish sander. No the jigsaw but the scroll saw. When he becomes more mature, he can progress.

I am also afraid that, should he get hurt, even slightly, he will turn away.

My $0.02.

Pierre