Since trying out woodburned labels, I made another attempt at scrollsawing the button labels for the Robotic Glockenspiel, and am happy enough with the results that I’ve glued the labels to the glockenspiel box. I’m so happy to have finally made up my mind – whew!

So this blog is a sort of “How to Scrollsaw” in a nutshell.

First, print out your pattern on paper. Make sure to print outlines rather than solid shapes, because the edges of solid shapes are hard to follow with the scrollsaw’s blade.

Next, use a glue stick and a roller to stick the printed pattern to the wood you want to cut. Some people like to use temporary adhesive, but I’m partial to glue stick. For any closed spaces, drill a hole the size of your scrollsaw blade.

Next, cut the pattern out using your scrollsaw. For any closed spaces, unhook the blade, slide it through the hole you drilled earlier, reattach the blade, then cut the space. By the way, one of the things I love about my new saw (RBI Hawk) is that it’s made to do this sort of “pierced work” very quickly.

Once all the pieces are cut, admire your handiwork for a moment 🙂

Next, remove the pattern paper from the cut pieces. If you used temporary adhesive you can peel the paper off. I prefer to sand off the paper because that sanding also removes any glue residue which would interfere with the Finish of the wood.

Once I sanded all the button labels I glued them to the glockenspiel box with white glue (carpenter’s glue) and clamped them down until dry. Observe the lovely result!

Next I can (once the weather warms up) spray a clear finish on the glockenspiel box and reassemble all the hardware.