Cutting 1/8" Luan

[Slick Willy]

When cutting thin material like 1/8" luan, my blade seems to wander easy, especially small blades like a #2/0 or #1. Should I be slowing my scroll saw down or what am I doing wrong?

[fredfret]

Yes. I NEVER cut just one layer of 1/8 inch material the blades wander and the material will fall apart if there is any real fine detail that is exposed to any stress. Just my 2 cents.

Fredfret

[OCtoolguy]

Be careful when cutting cheap luan. I got hold of some throw away stuff when I first started scrolling. I wasn't using a mask and I breathed in the fine dust from it. I don't know what was in that wood but I had a terrible allergic reaction to it. I tossed it all in the dumpster. 

[dgman]

I never cut less than 1/4” thick for that reason. The remedy is to layer two or three pieces to make a thicker “stack”. This is known as stack cutting. This will give you better control of your cutting. 

[bcdennis]

Lowest speed would be recommended if not stack cutting. 

 

[Slick Willy]

Thanks folks. I just learned a hard lesson. I took my speed down to 2 and everything was going fine as I was doing some wing detail on a hummingbird when I caught something and it snapped the top of the wing off. Two and a half hours of work lost...non-repairable. No more luan! Time to get some premium wood.

[dgman]

I never recommend slow speeds because that is what happens!

[jerry1939]

I use 1/8" luan from Lowes & like it.  Good quality.  Use it for backer boards & "sacrifice boards" for very delicate pieces.  I consider it cheap insurance.

jerry

[fordamir]

I have been using it for about 2 years.  I am disappointed that lowes and home depot have stopped carring the sheets.  When I use It I run the speed at 790 spm and a fairly high tension blade, I normallyuse a #3

[Rockytime]

I'll have check that out at Lowes. I thought there was only 1/4" used for floor underlayment. I will buy a couple of sheets. Lots cheaper than BB.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I use to get wood paneling if anyone remembers what paneling was. Home Depot use to discount broken and damaged sheets. I use to buy all they had and that stuff was used for everything including protecting my floors when I was redoing some rooms in the house. I do not even know if they still sell wood paneling. Everything today is fiberboard. 

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

I use to get wood paneling if anyone remembers what paneling was. Home Depot use to discount broken and damaged sheets. I use to buy all they had and that stuff was used for everything including protecting my floors when I was redoing some rooms in the house. I do not even know if they still sell wood paneling. Everything today is fiberboard. 

I too was wondering about wood paneling. I want to cover the walls of my shop and thought it would be cheaper than the heavy white pegboard. 

 

[ScollSaw Slasher]

Wood paneling, is that a blast from the past! It was my first DIY project in my first home. Had the assistance of the local high school shop teacher and good friend. He taught me a ton about woodworking as well, and led me into this 50 years of madness.

[Bill WIlson]

One thing to be cautious about, with Luan or wood paneling, check the core of the sheet.  Many times these products have some sort of foam or pressed wood/glue type core, covered with a thin ply of wood veneer on the top & bottom.  They aren't alternating layers of wood ply, like Baltic birch or cabinet grade ply.  The "foam" core isn't nearly as strong and if you are cutting delicate fretwork out of it, it is very prone to breakage. 

Not sure if all Luan and paneling is like that, but most of what I see around here is.  May work as a solid backer, but no good for scrolling.

[Scrappile]

I've used to for a sacrificial backer while scrolling, but I don't see that it would work for the main piece.  What I used splintered badly. 

[jerry1939]

14 minutes ago, Scrappile said:

I've used to for a sacrificial backer while scrolling, but I don't see that it would work for the main piece.  What I used splintered badly. 

I am a firm believer of it for delicate pieces. Lay down a sheet of luan.  Put your BB on with the bottom grain in the opposite direction.  If you are stacking more BB, keep alternating the grain.  Do the same for the top luan.  You are creating one thick piece of plywood.

jerry