Softwoods or Hardwoods for varied projects?

[new2woodwrk]

One of my favorite projects is cutting puzzles - Fantasy, animal (dogs etc.).

I also really like cutting plates - wildlife, professions

I'm hoping to start trying toys soon as well.

I tend to use Pegas #3 Reverse Skip blades for my puzzles on slow speed, about 1/2 on my Delta dial - thoughts?

The puzzles I've mostly used pallet wood I've joined and some pine I had laying around. I've also used some left over maple from a shelving unit I made.

The pallet wood works very well, the maple, being a bit harder is also harder to cut, the pine being so soft, not so much for puzzles.

I was wondering what types of wood everyone prefers to cut these types of projects with - plates I tend to stack cut birch ply - usually I stack 2 or 3, 1/8".

At least that is what I remember doing before my hiatus.

Seems I have to learn a lot of this stuff all over again

I'm nowhere near doing intarsia or any of its variants, those types of wood species are too far above my pay grade ATM.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for reading

Edited January 2, 2020 by new2woodwrk

[Roberta Moreton]

Popular isn’t all that expensive and finishes much better than pine. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Thoughts. I am afraid to give my thoughts being this is the second time I have been called out for giving my thoughts on this site. 

But If you will allow me to bring something up being you mentioned pallet woods. Please be sure you know where that pallet has come from and was not used to transport chemicals or other nasty things. Poplar is a very good wood to make all those things you mentioned. Cuts well and can be stained or painted easily. Just my thoughts. 

[NC Scroller]

I agree with JT.  I used to work in manufacturing and pallet are used to carry everything.  Remember Mr Murphy.  If it could happen it will.  For my money poplar is the right wood for puzzles and toys.  Poplar is also very available in the US and Canada a a reasonable cost.

[dgman]

Personally, I am not a fan of pine for my projects. I do use pine when I'm teaching new students because it’s cheap and easy to cut, but for my projects I always use Hardwoods. I do use Baltic birch plywood for portrait type projects. Pine is too soft especially for puzzles. 

[kmmcrafts]

Not to make fun of anyone but pallet wood is not a wood type. I used to build pallets as a teenager for my first real job. The wood can be all sorts of types. Some pallets that come from other countries have seen blood wood and other exotic woods. I had a hard time believing it until I seen a stack of them.  I used some old pallets about 4 times for various projects but stopped because the boards were mostly rough cut wood and dirty so running them through the planer seems to dull the knives way faster than using clean unused wood.

I make puzzles out of poplar as others have said but also from other hard wood too. More for me about what fits the project at hand. 

[Rockytime]

The only hardwoods I use are Poplar and Red Oak from the box stores.Woodcraft is 45 minutes away in traffic and their wood is expensive. I only go there if I happen to need BB. There is Paxton Lumber which has lots of hardwoods but again I no longer like to drive in heavy traffic. Ordering hardwoods is expensive because of shipping so I seldom do that.I cut puzzles from Poplar but have cut many from pine. Pine is cheap and easy to cut. Most of my things will end up in a land fill or Goodwill. If you plan on selling that is another story.

[OCtoolguy]

16 minutes ago, Rockytime said:

The only hardwoods I use are Poplar and Red Oak from the box stores.Woodcraft is 45 minutes away in traffic and their wood is expensive. I only go there if I happen to need BB. There is Paxton Lumber which has lots of hardwoods but again I no longer like to drive in heavy traffic. Ordering hardwoods is expensive because of shipping so I seldom do that.I cut puzzles from Poplar but have cut many from pine. Pine is cheap and easy to cut. Most of my things will end up in a land fill or Goodwill. If you plan on selling that is another story.

Les, take the time to contact Chris at Cherokee Wood Products. He will work with you on shipping and if you put together an order of enough stuff, it becomes the best way to go. They really do have a nice selection to choose from and will do custom milling for you if you need something special. I just recently had them mill some 10" walnut for me down to 1/2" thickness that they don't normally stock. I forget what the whole order cost me but it was worth the price to get what I needed. I'm going to start milling my own stuff one of these days.

[Rockytime]

I'd love to get a planer if only my wife did not insist her car be in the garage.

[OCtoolguy]

7 minutes ago, Rockytime said:

I'd love to get a planer if only my wife did not insist her car be in the garage.

I picked up a nice Delta that had been used very lightly.

 

[Jim McDonald]

I work in a warehouse and handle pallets every day. I see some interesting wood from time to time. I only harvest from "virgin" pallets. Many I get are rebuilds and the staining on them makes me nervous even handling them.

I would never use pallet wood for anything other than a display object. If I think it's going to be handled, I will be going to the lumber stack.

[NC Scroller]

Jes per your bio you are in Florida.  Cypress is another local wood you should consider. While not a true hardwood it has become even grain so it is easy to cut.

[ike]

I live close to Paxton woods and there popular druns me $3.10per boardd ft pine runs me at about $5 from the boxed stores. the only ting about the popular is thaat the edges are not finished but to scrollers that very seldon makes any difference. so I use Popular , pxton woods is 1 hour round trip . so it is worth my time. i am required so time  don't mean much.

IKE

[meflick]

14 hours ago, Rockytime said:

I'd love to get a planer if only my wife did not insist her car be in the garage.

Les, we had the same problem many years ago - our solution was to build a new home. That was before I was involved much in the “shop.” Now we need a bigger shop but DH did give me and my scrollsaws and sanders some corner space in his shop with not too much whining most of the time, however, I still won’t give up MY parking in the garage.
 

Jes, like others I tend to use the poplar and red oak I get from Lowe’s for the animal puzzles I have done.

Edited January 2, 2020 by meflick

[Rockytime]

Im retired also, plus I'm old so do not enjoy driving in heavy traffic. 

[Bill WIlson]

14 hours ago, Rockytime said:

I'd love to get a planer if only my wife did not insist her car be in the garage.

Benchtops have a pretty small footprint.

I'd be lost without my planer.  I had it before I got in to scrolling, but I don't think I would ever have pursued scrolling much if I didn't have a planer.

[OCtoolguy]

2 minutes ago, Bill WIlson said:

Benchtops have a pretty small footprint.

I'd be lost without my planer.  I had it before I got in to scrolling, but I don't think I would ever have pursued scrolling much if I didn't have a planer.

I have a bandsaw and a planer but haven't gotten into milling my own lumber yet but this will be the year. I have many things that have been waiting in the wings.

[Rockytime]

9 minutes ago, Bill WIlson said:

Benchtops have a pretty small footprint.

I'd be lost without my planer.  I had it before I got in to scrolling, but I don't think I would ever have pursued scrolling much if I didn't have a planer.

Ah, bench space! I have zero bench space. I just bought a spindle sander which took the last 144 sq inches.

[Bill WIlson]

There are plans out there for shop built, flip top tool stands.  They are made to be used by 2 bench top style tools.    Put it on a mobile base and you have a lot of utility that takes up very little floor space.

Here's an example.

 

Again, I understand floor space is at a premium, but with some consolidation and portability in mind, there are possibilities.  Just food for thought!  

Edited January 2, 2020 by Bill WIlson

[OCtoolguy]

2 hours ago, Rockytime said:

Ah, bench space! I have zero bench space. I just bought a spindle sander which took the last 144 sq inches.

What brand/type did you buy Les? I had a Ryobi at one time but sold it. Now I have the Ridgid dual sander. I love it.

 

[OCtoolguy]

38 minutes ago, Bill WIlson said:

There are plans out there for shop built, flip top tool stands.  They are made to be used by 2 bench top style tools.    Put it on a mobile base and you have a lot of utility that takes up very little floor space.

Here's an example.

 

Again, I understand floor space is at a premium, but with some consolidation and portability in mind, there are possibilities.  Just food for thought!  

Thanks Bill. I have been thinking about building something like those. I have to enclose my driveway first. Too many "shoppers" driving by to allow me to feel easy about putting things out there over night. I now have a security light, and I installed a Wyze camera that I can monitor on my phone. I'm going to install another one on our front porch. If you don't know about them, check out Wyze.com. Great little cameras for $20. They store video for quite a while with a 32 gig chip. 

 

[new2woodwrk]

2 hours ago, Bill WIlson said:

There are plans out there for shop built, flip top tool stands.  They are made to be used by 2 bench top style tools.    Put it on a mobile base and you have a lot of utility that takes up very little floor space.

Here's an example.

 

Again, I understand floor space is at a premium, but with some consolidation and portability in mind, there are possibilities.  Just food for thought!  

This is on my calendar and in my sights - I have 4 tool carts I made and hopefully I can convert 2 of them to flip tops and the other 2 will get broken down for reuse elsewhere

[Rockytime]

6 hours ago, octoolguy said:

What brand/type did you buy Les? I had a Ryobi at one time but sold it. Now I have the Ridgid dual sander. I love it.

 

I bought a HF. I really would have liked the Rigid dual sander but it has a wider footprint and I have a 4" belt sander on the bench. Also I have to keep my 3 foot isle open. I walk with a cane and have very poor balance. I move around my shop leaning on the benches and saws. If seated I have to just roll back and forth.

[tomsteve]

On 1/1/2020 at 10:15 PM, Rockytime said:

I'd love to get a planer if only my wife did not insist her car be in the garage.

reads like yer wife needs to plan a garage addition for her car.

i have an older delta benchtop and no benchspace for it either so its parked under one of my benches. although i dont use it as much as i used to i still dont like having to lug that thing out. im good once its out- i love turning roughsawn lumber into projects. then after, it typically sits on my table saw until i have to use the tablesaw again.

Edited January 3, 2020 by tomsteve

[OCtoolguy]

5 hours ago, tomsteve said:

reads like yer wife needs to plan a garage addition for her car.

i have an older delta benchtop and no benchspace for it either so its parked under one of my benches. although i dont use it as much as i used to i still dont like having to lug that thing out. im good once its out- i love turning roughsawn lumber into projects. then after, it typically sits on my table saw until i have to use the tablesaw again.

I'm much the same situation. I try to keep my bench clear. I have a vice mounted on one end and a little Delta drill press on the other end. I keep all of my portable tools under the bench on two shelves. I'm trying desperately to figure out a way to keep my planer up on a stand that is mobile enough to take outdoors. It's so darn heavy that I can't lift it without hurting my back. That's why I'm really liking that flip top stand for the planer and my Ridgid sander. If I build it the way I have in my mind, I'll be able to roll it down and out of my shop fairly easily. Of course, that's in my mind. In reality it probably won't work that way. Oh well..............