Cutting 3/16" Luan Underlayment

[Rockytime]

This is an experiment. I cut this with #2 jewelers blades to determine whether the top thin layer would delaminate. I think that's a word. As you can see the front had one very tiny delamination. There's that word again. The reason for this is the blades have no reverse teeth to lift up the top thin layer. The backside is horribly delaminated which I don't care about as a backer will be applied. What this means to me I will be cutting more Luan as it is very inexpensive. This would not work as well with blades having reverse teeth.

[kmmcrafts]

Nice work! Several years ago I did this same basic thing.. and had the same results.. It's great cheap stuff to use for just playing around it the shop that is easier on the pocketbook.. but it's not something sturdy enough for my opinion to make and sell the pieces.. some cuttings are very fragile even with a quality BB ply.. and i don't think this stuff would be at all a good choice for those types of projects..

Looks like you had a good time cutting it and a nice experiment.. so that's a win win for you..

[John B]

Nice piece Les.
You had me a bit confused with "Lauan" as the stuff I have seen is much redder, however a little investigation reveals that Lauan is generic name for timber (especially ply) from a variety of trees.
It was the 1st ply I used when I started scroll sawing, as it was all that was available, with the exception of MUCH MORE expensive marine grade, witch was also Lauan, just better grade.
There is a face side, and this tends to be thicker and won't tear out near as much as the reverse, in my experience.

[crupiea]

When using these blades the way the grain is going will really matter.  Notice its a lot of the across grain areas that delam.  Great looking piece.

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by crupiea