wood type

[Tabbi]

I am a very new beginner and have only made about 4 things with my scroll saw. It's only been wooden signs with names on them. I have tried different types of wood from plywood to MDF board. The MDF board seems to have worked the best, but I'm having a hard time finding thinner pieces. I'm not really ready to go to more expensive wood yet, because I don't want to make a mistake and have it end up being firewood. So i guess my question is, what is a good type of wood to use for a beginner that won't chip when cutting?

Edited September 10, 2019 by Tabbi

[JimErn]

Plywood is not suited to our hobby, the filler in between layers is not always dense enough and has voids

Baltic birch plywood is the best plywood for scrolling, hard to find a lot of time locally, but it can be ordered from amazon in various thicknesses and sizes.

Poplar is sold at the box (Home Depot, Lowes) stores, that scrolls well and is reasonably cheap.

Pine works too, especially if you cherry pick a stick with few to zero knots.  The box stores usually carry regular pine and "select yellow pine".

Designer firewood is a part of this addiction, we all have it, and sometimes boast about it.

chipping rare when using baltic birch plywood.  But it can also be somewhat controlled by speed.  I believe that a high speed on the saw, and a slow feed rate allows the blade to "revisit" the cut and reduces the fuzzies.  Feed rate = the rate you allow the wood to hit the saw.  Blades with reverse teeth also reduce the fuzzies a lot.

If you read on here a lot you will devotee's to about any blade made, with the exception of the blades you can buy at the box stores.  Flying Dutchman (Niqua), Pegas Modified Geometry are the two main brands for the majority of us.

[fredfret]

Most if not all the blades sold at hardware or big box stores are not worth the price. Olson,  niqia (flying dutchman), Gorbet (pegas) are all good blades. There are others but those are the most common. 

[Scrappile]

Most of all welcome to the forum. Hope you stay and let us get to know you.  If you are sawing MDF, please have good dust control.  Not at all good to breath that dust.

[OCtoolguy]

I second what Scrappile just said. First of all, we all have had a lot of firewood. Sadly, I have no fireplace. Second, wear a dusy mask no matter what you are cutting. Scroll saw make a ton of fine dust. Many of us have a 20 inxh box fan sitting along side of us to draw the dust away. Put a furnace filter on the inlet side. Make sure your dust blower blows the dust away from you toward that fan. I vacuum off the furnace filter after every session. It's amazing how much it catches. 3rd, Rockytime buys sheets of under layment plywood ay H/D for just a few dollars. It's about 3/16" thick amd seems to cut well. 

And, 4th, do tell us a bit about yourself. Welcome to the village. It's the friendliest place on the web. 

5th, no such thing as a dumb question!!!

 

[lawson56]

I like to echo what has been said about wood selection,I use 1/4 B,B myself, And I echo what Scrappile said as well.

[Be_O_Be]

 If you have a ReStore in your area you can check there for wood. The one in our area gets dressers donated & sometimes the only parts they can save and resell are the drawers. The sides in most cases is no thicker than 1/2" wood, for a buck or two it's good practice material. Look at the corners and the type of joint used, that's a good sign that it is wood. If it has staples securing the corners walk away, its more than likely cheap particle board.

[LarryEA]

Try a sawmill. you need a planer or a friend with one.... Old pallets

[daveww1]

welcome to the village

[heppnerguy]

Welcome to The Village family. Glad to see you are open to asking questions. I can't add much to what has already been said. Remember to stay with the rather simple patterns to start with and this will help you to not have decorative firewood as a result. As you feel really successful with the patterns you are cutting, then and only then, challenge yourself to a more difficult pattern. 

Dick

heppnerguy

[OCtoolguy]

If you are going to use old toss-away wood, you might want to invest in a metal detector wand to check for nails, staples and such. Pallets are notorious for having a lot of junk metal in them.