scroll saw for tree slices

[chafster]

I am new to scroll sawing but have been doing chainsaw carvings for a few years and love it.  I have a tree that is about 30" round and I have cut slices off of it and would like to carve patterns into it with a scroll saw to put into an auction for the children's hospital.  The slices are around 2-4 inches thick, I can cut thinner if needed but how thick should they be and what is the best scroll saw to purchase and make a moose pattern that says welcome?

[amazingkevin]

I am new to scroll sawing but have been doing chainsaw carvings for a few years and love it.  I have a tree that is about 30" round and I have cut slices off of it and would like to carve patterns into it with a scroll saw to put into an auction for the children's hospital.  The slices are around 2-4 inches thick, I can cut thinner if needed but how thick should they be and what is the best scroll saw to purchase and make a moose pattern that says welcome?

I can't answer your question but i'm sure eager to see what you've cut and are going to cut.Amazing ability's you have .Keep coming back! Thanks friend!

[Phantom Scroller]

I always LOVE live wood cuttings. good job. :cool: EX-21 saw every time for me about 2" would be thick enough or your struggle to keep the blade straight.  Roly

[NC Scroller]

2" is about the max any scrollsaw can cut. Even with that said not all brands can cut 2". To be safe I would keep the thickness between 1" and 1.5". Like Roly I also recommend and Excalibur EX-21. What you failed to ask about are the most important thing. That being the blades. For some thing like that I would recommend either the Flying Dutchman Ultra Reverse or the Olson PGT blades in either a size 5 (detailed parts) and size 7 (less detailed parts). Good luck and welcome to the site.

[Sycamore67]

I think a Hegner would also do a good job. As for blades, I would use a FD Polar blade or either as skip tooth or hook tooth blade.

[ricklab]

bring your tree slice down and we can cut it out together (just kidding)

[oldhudson]

That's a good question. To some extent it may depend on the type of wood, detail of the pattern and how green it is. I wouldn't think you could cut anything well unless the thickness was less than the cutting stroke of your saw. But I'm new to scroll work too so don't listen to me!

[Jim Finn]

You asked for the "best" saw.  I like Hegners but they are expensive.

[WayneMahler]

I would use my Ex-21. Like stated above, 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick. When you say 30 inches around. Are you talking across the piece or around the outside ? Would love to see a photo when finished. Great offer for your donation. 

[Scrappile]

I've tried using some tree slices, but they always spit to bad they were only good for firewood.  I really hope you have better luck.

[Barry5180]

The saw recommendations you received are all good, and I'm not going to recommend one brand over another since I don't use a Hegner or Excalibur. All I can say is buy the best saw you can afford. As for thickness, scrollsaw blades are nowhere near as aggressive as chainsaw, bandsaw, or jigsaw blades. Most saws will handle wood up to 1 1/2 inches thick, some even thicker. You will need a fairly aggressive blade. I would recommend either a Flying Dutchman Polar or the new Flying Dutchman Heavy Duty. I haven't used the new Heavy Duty blade as of yet, but for thicker wood or extremely hard wood, this sounds like a good choice.

 

Welcome to the site

 

Barry

[DWSUDEKUM]

Chris most scroll saw can only handle around a max thickness of 2 inches.  You might / probably will have some issues with the thickness of the slab you are going to cut.  It will be interesting to see what you come up with on this.  Personally I would think a max of about 1 1/2 inches thick would be good, and like has been suggested above use an aggressive blade.  I would not use in this case any of the reverse tooth blades as you need to clear the sawdust from the kerf as much as possible, a skip tooth or similar should work out good.  Looking forward to seeing pics of your work

 

DW

[Young_Scroller]

i would get it as thin as you possibly can especially if it is the first piece you have ever cut it would make it much easier if it was closer to 1/2 inch

[Lucky2]

Chris, I agree with mostly what has already been stated, but, I would recommend an EX30 scrollsaw. If not the EX30, then a Hegner would be my next choice for this type of work. Buy as good a saw as you can afford, you won't be sorry for doing so. As to the thickness of the wood, I think that 1&3/4" would work perfectly with most if not all saws. You will need a good quality aggressive blade, personally, I prefer the Flying Dutchman brand. And for this type of cutting, I would suggest you try the polar series. Cutting wet wood is not something I enjoy doing, the blades don't clear the sawdust like they should because of the wetness. It would be better, if you could allow the blanks to dry some. I think you would have more success, if the wood is dry. Seeing as how your new to scrolling, I think your taking on quite the chore. It would be better to start out small, then work your way up to the larger things. I have been scrolling for over 20 years, and I don't think I would take this job on. It's just to much hassle working with wet wood. I wish you luck, and I do hope to see a finished product. Take care.

Len 

[zimmerstutzen]

I have been wanting to do something similar.  I cut some branches but on a diagonal do the slices are like ovals when laid flat.    I have them drying in a 5 gallon bucket packed in saw dust.   Minimal chaeking last I checked.  I was tempted to try boiling some slices to see if they are as prone to cracking.    There is a YOU tube video of a guy scroll sawing such pieces of branch.  He epoxied the checks before sawing.  However not nearly as big a scale as the op suggests.  

 

 

Slicing branches on a band saw is how I get most of my cherry and cedar wood stock anyway.

[Bill WIlson]

Zimmerstutzen brings up a good point about checking & cracking on cross-cut slabs like this.  As the wood dries, it will shrink much more across the grain than it does with the grain.  On and end cut, you have grain running 360 degrees and as it dries, it's shrinking in all directions, putting tremendous strain on the piece.  It is very difficult to prevent cracking as the wood dries.

 

Also cross cut slabs are much less stable and prone to warping as they dry, for much the same reasons as it cracks.  You need to rough cut the wood as thick as possible, because you will likely need to do some serious flattening once it's dry.  Pieces like this can end up looking like a (broken) potato chip if they aren't dried very carefully.  The key is to slow the drying process down dramatically.  There are chemical stabilizers, such as Pentacryl, designed to aid in this process.  Zimmerstutzen's method of drying the slabs in a bucket of sawdust is very interesting.  I have no practical experience with trying to make slabs like this for woodworking purposes, but I've cut enough firewood over they years to see what happens to end grain as it dries.  Good luck.

[TerryD]

Hey Chris,  Excellent advice here so far but before you purchase a saw to cut your 30" blanks you must consider the arm length (or throat capacity  -- from your blade to the back of your saw ).  I use a Dewalt 788 which has roughly 20" of workable space.  That is to say if I drilled a hole in the very centre of a 30" blank I could only cut 5 " in a forward direction before my blank would hit the back of my saw.  (15 " of blank to centre plus 5 " of pattern ).  This would give me about 10" of cut pattern in the middle of a 30 " blank.  Such a waste.  You could get around this by using spiral blades but i doubt these would work on such a thick piece of wood as being suggested.  The Hegner Ex 30 or something along those lines would meet your requirements because of the longer arm length.  You said you were new to scrolling so I wanted to make sure you understood how cutting larger pieces works.  I look forward to seeing your finished pieces in the future.

 

Terry       

[LarryEA]

I've tried using some tree slices, but they always spit to bad they were only good for firewood.  I really hope you have better luck.

THey will crack and split................!!!!!!!!!!

Zorry zust zee zway zee wood dries

When the moisture leaves the wood, it shrinks.......

[MrsN]

I have done a few projects with tree sections. I used pieces about 12" in diameter and between 1/2 and 1-1/4". 

My ex-husband and his buddies liked to play with chain saws and try to see how thin and even of a cut they could make, I got first pick of the pile. It works best if the tree is long dead and dry before you cut the tree cookies, less warping and cracking once they are cut. When cutting a cookie from a fresh tree you will get all sorts of cool warps and cracks. One piece ended up warping into a bowl, it looked really cool. Some pieces have small cracks that the epoxy method works great with (I used one of the self mixing syringes of clear epoxy). Some pieces end up with really big cracks, but can be incorporated into the finished project. Some pieces are just fire wood. I would guess that 30% of the big cookies were useable when we cut them. I could have probably had a better return if I had a thickness sander to make an even piece.

 

I also cut quite a few ornament and jewelry pieces from branch sections. The little ones warp a lot as they dry, and some species are less prone to cracking.

[LarryEA]

 

I like and agree with your comment. 

It is good that you promoted and actually showed there is possitive use to 'slices'.

Seldom do you find someone who finds a use,,, but you have to know they warp and split.

[chafster]

Hanks everyone, I first need to get the saw then try out everyone's ideas. I'm not sure how it will work but I'm excited to try.

[Phantom Scroller]

We all have to start somewhere you'll find it fun.   Roly

[LarryEA]

Cut your blanks whatever size,,,, shrinkage and cracking will happen. 

Good luck.

IMHO you might get one good one out of 50.

Now, a lot depends on type of wood, patience and atmosphere. 

[zimmerstutzen]

Having some work done around home and the excavator said two trees had to go.  One an Oak and the other a dead sassafrass.  Had a fair length piece of trunk that was 8 inches in diameter.  I was able to cut several oblique slices out of it.  Since it is already dead, and has been for at least a year, I don;t think I will have any checking. 

[CharleyL]

A dead and dry tree branch is best to minimize warping. I have also tried keeping the slices of greener wood in sawdust to slow the drying. It helps, but with sometimes limited success. When you cut the branch, it's best to cut diagonally at a 30-45 deg angle and 1 to 1 1/2" thick. Cutting diagonally will reduce warping and will also make scroll sawing easier, since your blade will be cutting across the grain instead of with the grain. People who do lathe cutting of bowls have also discovered this. Most bowl blanks are cut diagonally from the tree, are sealed if still green, and are slow dried. They are then trimmed to roughly round on a band saw before being put on the lathe. The end result is a bowl with the grain running diagonally across the bowl.

 

Charley