When I first started scroll sawing, I grabbed whatever wood I could find lying around.   I remember one of my early projects, I was cutting a portrait of a certain Star Wars character out of ¼” red oak.  It was going great until the blade hit a weak spot and split the whole thing in two!  I was heartbroken.   That day, I learned a hard lesson that wood has weak points that run along the grain lines.  Achieving fine details in portrait-style fretwork can be tricky when using solid woods, but