Building the Scrollsaw

3 years ago I built this scrollsaw powered by an old jigsaw.

I was not aiming for a high end scrollsaw, but more to see if I was able to make one with parts I had laying around.

Since this build took place 3 years ago I do not have to many still shots of the build but I have dug out some.

All the parts are made from 18mm baltic birch plywood, except for the table thats made from 18mm plastic laminated mdf.

Also the saw is made to take pinned blades, but these are not as readily available as non pinned ones.

I chose these mainly because it would be easier to make blade holders for pinned blades.

Here you can see the upper and lower arm layed out with the blade holders mounted and the bearings ready to install.

A closeup of the blade holders. They are just made from some scrap steel, bent to shape to hold the pin in a cradle, and slit to insert the blade.

There is a ball bearing i the front part of the lower arm to where the link arm between the jigsawblade and the arm will be mounted.

The top part of the frame assembled with both arms, fillers and everything bolted together with with 4pc of 6mm carriage bolts. 2 of them is going through the bearings of the arms

The baseplate with glue , ready to take the upper part of the saw

The top installed and the jigsaw bolted underneath. The linkage between the sawblade and the lower arm is made from oak. The bottom of the oak block is slit, and the blade is inserted. I tighten the 2 bolts on the side to squeeze the blade to fasten it.

Blade tension and release is controlled by a toggle clamp and a bolt. I later replaced the bolt with 2 eyebolts, as seen in the lower picture. This was due to fatigue in the bolt.

I installed 2 guide bearings to help stabilize the lower arm. I might do something similar to the upper arm, as this has worked out great, and there are some flex on the upper arm also.

Some still shots of the finished saw back in 2012

To reduce the vibraton of the saw, as it does not weigh as much as a cast iron/steel part saw, I later added 3 heavy compact steel rollers to the table. This dampened the vibrations in the table a lot.

There are of course some more chaanges/additions that coould be made to this build, like a blower, tilting table, dustcollection and so on. But I have to admit that scrollsawing is not excactly down my alley, so I have put it off yet. I started making plans for this, and got to about 75% done, and never finished it. imight do it if there are interest among you readers.

If you have not checked out my video of the test i did back then you can check it out here: