SCIENCE 
IS 
KNOWLEDGE. 
KNOWLEDGE 
IS 
POWER. 
A PRACTICAL JOURNAL FOR AMATEURS. 
Copyright Secured. 
Vol. II. 
NEW YORK, MAY, 1879. 
No. 5. 
Scroll Sawing — I, 
BY F. T. HODGSON. 
F course, every boy, 
and a great many 
girls that we know, 
would like to own a 
good scroll saw ; and 
this desire is a laud- 
able one, and we 
know of no reason 
why it should not be 
gratified, for a know- 
ledge of the use of 
the saw and its em- 
ployment has a ten- 
dency to awaken and 
develop any artistic talent that might 
otherwise have remained dormant in the 
youthful operator. It is also a source of 
amusement, affording as it does a pleasant 
pastime for all who take an interest in the 
w^ork ; it can at the same time be made 
profitable, as many of the beautiful arti- 
cles that can be produced sell readily at 
remunerative prices. 
It is true that many boys and girls can- 
not afford to buy the more expensive 
saws ; but they should not be discouraged 
on that account, for if they are unable to 
procure a foot machine, they should try 
and get a ' ' hand ' ' or frame saw, such as we 
show in Fig, 1, which, if made of beech or 
other native wood, can be obtained for 
about seventy-five cents. 
In using this saw, at first, it will be 
found very difficult to control, but by a 
Fig. 1. 
little perseverance, it will become tract- 
able enough, and when once the mastery 
is obtained, you will have arrived at a 
point of excellence that is scarcely ever 
reached by the person who has never used 
a hand sawing-frame. 
There are many kinds of frames for 
saws, each kind possessing some special 
quality of its own, but the simplest we 
ever saw was made with a single piece of 
ash, about ten inches long, and probably 
three-eighths of an inch in diameter; a 
slot, or groove, was cut in each end with a 
fine saw— it was then bent over like a bow, 
