Wood for the scroll saw

[chippygeoff]

Hi Everyone.

 

I am Geoff from West Wales in the UK. This is my first post and first of all forgive me for the English spelling, which for many words is different to yours, also our terminology differs from yours in some respects, you call it lumber, we call it timber, you call it 2 x 4 we call it 4 x 2. So to make things real easy I will call it wood. Basically I am a wood turner, I started three months ago out of pure boredom. I am disabled and had so much time on my hands so I started wood turing and it is the best thing I ever did. I did it many years ago so was not new to it. I am selling the things I make to craft centres and also attending craft fairs and things could not be better. However. I felt that I needed to diversify and the obvious was to start scrolling. Due to financial reasons I have another three weeks to go before i buy my scroll saw and will get an Excalibur.

 

As the days are going by at a fast rate my thoughts often turn to the wood I will use on the scroll saw and here where I live you cannot buy thin wood. There are probably one or two places that do specialise in supplying scroll saw users online and that is something that I will look into as I have another three weeks. The way I see it at the moment I can cut wood to various thicknesses on my bandsaw and then plane it by hand. One day I will have a thicknesser but in the mean time I will do it by hand. I can see that for general scroll saw work and intarsia I will need various hardwoods from say 1/8th to 3/8th and maybe thicker. I was walking round a hardware store today and one of the answers was staring me in the face in the form of laminate flooring, it had a wood veneer on 1/4inch MDF board and i thought this would be ideal for many applications as it wont crack or shrink and would remain very stable but do any of you people use this. I was wondering if the sides of a cut out piece would contrast with the veneer or if it would be best to stain the sides the same as the front. In the same store I saw ply wood of 1/8th and 1/4inch thickness and I know a lot of scroll saw people use this but it looked so uninteresting. How do you finish ply wood, do you stain it, paint it, is it any good for intarsia.

 

I have been trying to think of other things I would need for scroll saw work and was wondering if a combined belt and disc sander would be a good addition or maybe the drum type sanders that would fit in my pillar drill. It seems that many operations in scroll saw work involve hours of hand sanding, which for many can be tedious. Maybe reverse blades would help. I thought I would order some blades today from Mikes workshop but when i looked at his site I was amazed at the many types of blades available and got completely lost so I ordered the assortment pack and will try each blade and order in bulk accordingly next time. Thanks to everyone for any advice I get. Much appreciated.

 

Geoff

[Xray]

Thin woods can be difficult to get. You can find them online at places such as ebay and crafts forums.

I have used common plywood for many things. Sometimes I stain, sometimes I paint it. Depends on what it is ... Something special, you'd want a nice chunk of wood with attractive grain.

Sanding usually is not much of a chore. Common problems are tearout on the reverse, and yes reverse blades do help with that.

I usually cut through the chase and just use a blowtorch to burn them off. Doesn't take much heat to send those fuzzies up in smoke ,,,, And often, if you desire, you can overburn them for a nice looking burnt affect to the wood.

I personally have always shied away from using any type of veneer. The visible core around the edge is enough to ruin it for me .... But others may like it. Its cheap enough so it wouldn't hurt to experiment and see if it suits your purposes.

Any sander you can get will come in handy, and the more tools you have, the better. But since you are used to hand work, you really don't need much beyond sandpaper to get the job done. Dremel tool is probably about the handiest single tool to have. With it, and a variety of attachments, you can drill tiny holes, sand large areas of edge, and smooth hard to reach places.

[Mick]

Hi Geoff, I cut mostly portraits of people, animals, cars and scenic pictures using 1/8" and 1/4" Finnish birch plywood, also Oak plywood. I prefer the birch for the portraits and oak for the scenic pictures. I feel the grain of oak takes away from the portraits. I use 1/8" luan plywood as a backer, either staining or painting it. I use just a clear finish on the cutting. Clear tung oil finish or a water base spray if I am in a hurry. I sand the plywood with a random orbit sander before applying the pattern. The blades used now require very little if any sanding on the cut edges. Like Xray, I use a small torch to remove the fuzzies from the back side as well as an assortment of tiny files.

Mike is great for blades, any questions on what blade to use for a particular job, just shoot him an e-mail. He is always very helpful.

Will be anxious to see some pictures of your work.

 

Mick

Delta P-20

[chippygeoff]

Many thanks Xray and Mick. Since i wrote the post I have located a source for B/bb grade birch plywood in 1.5mm, 4mm and 9mm about an hours drive from home. Also a fellow wood turner said he can plane hardwoods for me on his planer/thicknesser. I have been looking at a small thicknesser for about £200 so will put that on my Christmas wish list. I really want to thank you guys for the helpful tips you have given me. I will be sure to post some pictures of my work, hopefully over the Christmas period.

[Bishop]

I don't know if they use pallets for shipping in your area but if they do you can sometimes find some wonderful hardwood in them. I have found Walnut and Mahogany in some. Give it a try!!!

Homer & Carol

www.theartfactory.com

[don in brooklin on]

Hi. I am a woodturner too. You might want to inquire where you buy your turning wood if they have interest in scrolling wood.

 

On a recent trip to the place where I buy wood for turning and pens, my buddy found some slabs of wood that where about 1/2" thick and still had on the natural bark. He took all of then to do wildlife portraits.

 

The owner said he would cut some more as he just cut them for fun and did really know who would buy them.

 

When looking around I bought some cherry and maple squares for platters and he said he could cut some down to 1/4" or more and sand to 120grit.

 

He said to drop in this week and see what he has. I was there with a couple of other scrollers and he said that this might be a whole new market for him.

 

You never know where you can get supplies.

 

Don

 

I