My Scroll Saw Projects

If you're into scroll sawing, My Scroll Saw Projects is a useful software application that enables you to maintain detailed records of your scroll saw projects and power equipment. You can use it to keep track of your scroll saw pattern inventory, materials, tools, and finishes used for specific projects, project notes, supplier details, and lots of other project-related information.

I had an opportunity to check out My Scroll Saw Projects and found it to be quite easy to use. When it starts up, the main screen provides a number of buttons that allow you to select among the following: Project level data entry, Inventories (project patterns, power tool records), Resources (woodworking links, sharpening services, vendors, suppliers), Administration (reports, contents of drop-down menus), and Miscellaneous (memberships and subscriptions).

As an example, if you click the Projects data entry button, a page comes up where you enter the following information: project name, project number, date, category, project description, patterns used, materials used, tools, finishes, links to photos, and miscellaneous notes. There is a separate input form for Project Pattern Inventory. Inputs here include pattern name, type (intarsia, fretwork), sub-category, pattern artist/creator, pattern vendor, location of pattern on your hard drive, and any notes you may wish to enter.

Once data has been entered, it's a simple matter to browse through it to find records of interest. If your computer mouse has a scroll button, you can use it to whip through a large number of records in no time flat -- definitely much faster than clicking on hyperlinks in a web page. There is also a built-in search tool that allows you to find information in specific fields (you just need to be careful to select the field before clicking the search button).

I was most impressed by the program's report generation features. You can create custom reports for projects and patterns by sub-categories; custom reports for equipment, vendors, customers, personal resources, subscriptions, and more. These reports make it easy to organize your data if you wish to create hardcopy records and they look very professional.

I found some of the screens to be a bit busy what with all the boxes, buttons, outline borders, and color schemes that are used. For example, the Power Equipment data entry page contains about 10 different color and/or font arrangements for the various buttons and title boxes. On the plus side, it's definitely not your typical bland Windows look and feel (which some will likely view as a refreshing change of pace from all the other software that's out there).

My Scroll Saw Projects comes with a rather impressive User's Manual that is 65 pages in length (!) It covers every aspect of the application, including screen shots and descriptions of each data entry and report page. But don't be intimidated -- I found most of the program's features to be intuitive and seldom needed to consult the User's Manual. Still, it is reassuring to know that a decent manual is close at hand...

If you're an occasional scroll sawyer with only a handful of projects, then My Scroll Saw Projects may be overkill for you. On the other hand, if you crank out a lot of scroll saw projects and tend to reuse your patterns, this product can bring some organization into your life and make it easier to find project information of interest. I suspect that professional scroll sawyers will particularly appreciate the value of My Scroll Saw Projects.