compound projects

[rljohn56]

never done compound scroll sawing before but i want to give it a go just for the fun of it.  My 1st question is about the wood. I know you do this type of projects with blocks of wood, but for a 1st timer, when ordering wood from online somewhere am i looking for term "turning blanks" or "carving stock"? anything that says "blocks" i can understand, but i'm not familiar with the others.  Thanks, for the replies in advance.  ray

[Jim McDonald]

Last fall when I was doing a ton of birdhouse, I was buying square dowels from the lumberyard.  You can buy them in fractional sizes up to about 1 3/4" and for most patterns they are good.  I was using 1 1/4" poplar and they stuff turned out very well.

[bandaideman]

I will use scrapes if they are right size, or you can glue a couple pieces together to make the size you want. Starting with poplar or pine softer woods is good to get the hang of taking your time not pushing etc. I make the bird houses too but have had scrape to use most of the time. comes with not throwing away anything. 

[dgman]

Be aware that most turning square's or turning stock are air dried. This means that what you receive may not be dry. And most turning square's are cut using a band saw and usually are not perfectly square which make cutting difficult.

i would look for kiln dried furniture squares. 

[Lucky2]

Ray, if  your just starting to cut 3-D compound items, the best thing to do is to start out with some 2x2 stock. With 2" being the maximum amount any scroll saw can cut, 2" stock is perfect as it's not a true 2". If what you want to cut doesn't require that amount of thickness, then you can always glue up whatever thickness you need. Pine is an easy wood to work with, it might be the best wood to start out with. As to what to buy on the net, you can compound cut most any type of wood. The issue is to get the wood the same width as thickness, so almost any thickness of wood can be used. It can be glued together to get the final thickness and widths needed, doing it this way you can sometimes make patterns in to glued up blank.

Len

[heppnerguy]

another thought is cedar 2 X 2's. They can easily be found in the fence area of the big box stores. Cedar is easy to cut and cedar also weathers well outside. 

Dick

heppnerguy

 

[Rolf]

The majority of compound cut designs fit on 1.5" x 3/4" stock. Chess pieces and mini bird houses use square stock. 

As others have said I use lots of scrap that I cut to my needed size. If you are doing this for the first time I would use clear pine.

And of course make absolutely certain that the blade is perpendicular to your table.! And don't push sideways as you cut.

[hawkeye10]

3 hours ago, Rolf said:

The majority of compound cut designs fit on 1.5" x 3/4" stock. Chess pieces and mini bird houses use square stock. 

As others have said I use lots of scrap that I cut to my needed size. If you are doing this for the first time I would use clear pine.

And of course make absolutely certain that the blade is perpendicular to your table.! And don't push sideways as you cut.

Pushing side ways is so easy to do. Just slow your feed way down and let the blade do the cutting.

[Old Dust]

Home Depot has the perfect stud for compound cutting. It is labeled "Select Pine".

It is a clear, no knot, stud. Usually located near the "Craft Wood" display.

 

John

 

Old Dust

 

[NC Scroller]

I use poplar because of the straight, tight, and even grain.  Pine has a very defined uneven grain.  While it makes some beautiful compound cuts it is harder to learn on.    

[amazingkevin]

Yes ;practice on soft wood first