I GAVE UP

[jimmyG]

Spent a few hours trying to cut this pattern in a piece of plywood from hell.   Cut smooth then it was like a log then it would break free and take off once it cleared that spot.  Couldn't stay on the line no matter what blade(s) I tried so I got pissed and took my chop saw to it and it will go into the fire pit on the next burn.    Never used a piece of 1/4"  plywood like that before and the chip out on the back side was horrible...........................................................

[jimmyG]

49 minutes ago, jimmyG said:

Spent a few hours trying to cut this pattern in a piece of plywood from hell.   Cut smooth then it was like a log then it would break free and take off once it cleared that spot.  Couldn't stay on the line no matter what blade(s) I tried so I got pissed and took my chop saw to it and it will go into the fire pit on the next burn.    Never used a piece of 1/4"  plywood like that before and the chip out on the back side was horrible...........................................................

 

[Scrappile]

Are you using Baltic Birch Plywood?  It usually cuts fine.  The plywood from the big box stores (Home Depot, etc.) have voids and lesser woods in it.  If you haven't try some Baltic Birch plywood.

[MarieC]

Jimmy, I too do not like crummy plywood.  I guess it pays to get the good stuff.  I actually do not use plywood anymore for my cuttings even thought alot of folks do (mostly baltic birch).  I love cutting non-processsed wood...maple, walnut, aspen even exotic woods....much more fulfilling for me.  But I do love the pattern you are cutting...it will be really nice when you are done and I can't wait to see it!

[jimmyG]

I only use Baltic birch plywood from Ocooch Hardwoods, scrolled many projects with it and until this piece, they have all been excellent.   I knew something was up with it when I saw the tear out on the back side from drilling the entry holes which has never happened before.

[Scrappile]

WOW that surprises me.  I have been using their BB recently and it has been good.  Send them some pictures, They guarantee their wood, They will probably replace that piece.  

[OCtoolguy]

I buy from them too and have never had a bad piece of wood. Something's fishy. Maybe it was slipped in as a backer to protect the wood in shipment.

 

[jimmyG]

1 hour ago, Scrappile said:

WOW that surprises me.  I have been using their BB recently and it has been good.  Send them some pictures, They guarantee their wood, They will probably replace that piece.  

It was destroyed in the burn barrel.  They have replaced some cupped canary wood and wenge with more cupped ones...  It wasn't the couple of bucks but the wasted hours!...

[jimmyG]

A Follow Up:
I still had a 4" x 12" piece that was cut off of the original 12x12 
Wanted to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with my saw either so I scrolled a couple of small items with the piece left over from the one with the pattern and it cut surgical . Drilled entry holes and they were also fine....  It makes no sense because it was the best looking piece in the bunch so it's a mystery to me...

[jimmyG]

4 hours ago, MarieC said:

Jimmy, I too do not like crummy plywood.  I guess it pays to get the good stuff.  I actually do not use plywood anymore for my cuttings even thought alot of folks do (mostly baltic birch).  I love cutting non-processsed wood...maple, walnut, aspen even exotic woods....much more fulfilling for me.  But I do love the pattern you are cutting...it will be really nice when you are done and I can't wait to see it!

I may not try that pattern again, just because!

[Scrappile]

5 hours ago, MarieC said:

Jimmy, I too do not like crummy plywood.  I guess it pays to get the good stuff.  I actually do not use plywood anymore for my cuttings even thought alot of folks do (mostly baltic birch).  I love cutting non-processsed wood...maple, walnut, aspen even exotic woods....much more fulfilling for me.  But I do love the pattern you are cutting...it will be really nice when you are done and I can't wait to see it!

The sad thing is, in the plywood world BB is the best you can get IMHO.  But for several reasons good BB is becoming harder to get.  I use it for pictures like portraits but use it less and less.  But there are things that it is needed for.  I hope it starts getting better.  I use to buy mine from a plywood company. Winsdor Plywood,  but there stuff has become expensive crap...  The last batch I got from Ocooch has been good so far.  Then you get into other wood, which are even more expensive and when you get it it cups... I do not know where this if going, will it get back to good wood sometime.  I take my "chances with two places Ocooch and Cherokee...  I do not know what to do if their products deteriorate,,, would be time to hang up the scroll saw!

[jimmyG]

4 minutes ago, Scrappile said:

The sad thing is, in the plywood world BB is the best you can get IMHO.  But for several reasons good BB is becoming harder to get.  I use it for pictures like portraits but use it less and less.  But there are things that it is needed for.  I hope it starts getting better.  I use to buy mine from a plywood company. Winsdor Plywood,  but there stuff has become expensive crap...  The last batch I got from Ocooch has been good so far.  Then you get into other wood, which are even more expensive and when you get it it cups... I do not know where this if going, will it get back to good wood sometime.  I take my "chances with two places Ocooch and Cherokee...  I do not know what to do if their products deteriorate,,, would be time to hang up the scroll saw!

After Ocooch sent replacements for the cupped  wenge and canarywood with more cupped wood they ended up saying there is no wood that's perfect and I guess I pays my money and takes my chances.   I scrolled a SL of BB over the last three months I've been at it and this was a first.    Next time I might only drill a few holes before I go too far and waste my time.

[MarieC]

2 minutes ago, Scrappile said:

The sad thing is, in the plywood world BB is the best you can get IMHO.  But for several reasons good BB is becoming harder to get.  I use it for pictures like portraits but use it less and less.  But there are things that it is needed for.  I hope it starts getting better.  I use to buy mine from a plywood company. Winsdor Plywood,  but there stuff has become expensive crap...  The last batch I got from Ocooch has been good so far.  Then you get into other wood, which are even more expensive and when you get it it cups... I do not know where this if going, will it get back to good wood sometime.  I take my "chances with two places Ocooch and Cherokee...  I do not know what to do if their products deteriorate,,, would be time to hang up the scroll saw!

Yes, I get it....I really try to get good old wood from estate sales...it seems like all the really old pieces are better quality if you can get them...I have bought wood at Ocooch at your recommendation and so far so good....I have not bought plywood from them.  I heard Intermountain Wood Products BB in Spokane has better plywood than Windsor.  I may check them out soon.

[Scrappile]

7 minutes ago, jimmyG said:

After Ocooch sent replacements for the cupped  wenge and canarywood with more cupped wood they ended up saying there is no wood that's perfect and I guess I pays my money and takes my chances.   I scrolled a SL of BB over the last three months I've been at it and this was a first.    Next time I might only drill a few holes before I go too far and waste my time.

Well you can't get discouraged and give up... I have had a lot more failures at my own hands, than from poor quality wood, where I just give up and forgot it or started over.. usually it is started over.  I am working on one of my past failures right now.  Good person that made the pattern for me, went so far as to cut his pattern and send a finished picture to me.. How great is that?  I will tell that story when I finish cutting the picture myself and post it!  He threw down, the challenge,  I accepted it and will not quit until I complete it. And I will forever be grateful to him for it,, That is the very thing that make this site so awesome.    You have to put your shoulder to the wheel and push on... How is that!  Push On brother, push on... 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Scrappile

[jimmyG]

24 minutes ago, Scrappile said:

Well you can't get discouraged and give up... I have had a lot more failures at my own hands, than from poor quality wood, where I just give up and forgot it or started over.. usually it is started over.  I am working on one of my past failures right now.  Good person that made the pattern for me, went so far as to cut his pattern and send a finished picture to me.. How great is that?  I will tell that story when I finish cutting the picture myself and post it!  He threw down, the challenge,  I accepted it and will not quit until I complete it. And I will forever be grateful to him for it,, That is the very thing that make this site so awesome.    You have to put your shoulder to the wheel and push on... How is that!  Push On brother, push on... 

Just gave up on that particular project, not the hobby.  I should be happy that was only my first failure since beginning 3 months ago but it wasn't my fault.  I scroll slow and had some time invested and it hurt to trash it but i was also pissed.

[OCtoolguy]

Ever since the war broke out in Ukraine the Baltic countries have been in turmoil so we're lucky to be getting any wood at. Supplies have dwindled to a fraction of what they were. Time heals all.

[TAIrving]

21 hours ago, jimmyG said:

took my chop saw to it and it will go into the fire pit on the next burn.

 

We call that "Designer Firewood".  We have all made some of that.  Some because of the wood, some because of the saw/blade/etc and some is our own darn fault.  

Take a step back and take a deep breath and then forget about that one and forge ahead.  But don't ever think it is just you.  

BTW, I never use plywood anymore.  I am an inveterate bargain hunter and have bought BBPly at a good price from w or 3 online sites that I don't remember.  It did not work out well.  

[jimmyG]

1 hour ago, TAIrving said:

We call that "Designer Firewood".  We have all made some of that.  Some because of the wood, some because of the saw/blade/etc and some is our own darn fault.  

Take a step back and take a deep breath and then forget about that one and forge ahead.  But don't ever think it is just you.  

BTW, I never use plywood anymore.  I am an inveterate bargain hunter and have bought BBPly at a good price from w or 3 online sites that I don't remember.  It did not work out well.  

Ocooch had always shipped good quality BB 1/4" and I used quite a bit but this mess was a first.  Getting back up on the horse tomorrow with a different piece and a different pattern...  I'm through with heir so called exotic woods.
So what is your go to wood???

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, jimmyG said:

Ocooch had always shipped good quality BB 1/4" and I used quite a bit but this mess was a first.  Getting back up on the horse tomorrow with a different piece and a different pattern...  I'm through with heir so called exotic woods.
So what is your go to wood???

Most of what I make would not look good made of plywood. But these were made of bb.

[Bill WIlson]

I made my first purchase from Ocooch a couple weeks ago.  I got several 20"x30" sheets of 1/8" & 1/4" BB ply.  I sure hope it's good stuff, because I can't get it at my local supplier anymore.  I've never bought from Ocooch before, but I've always heard good things about them.  I don't have any immediate projects planned for it. I just always like to keep some stock around for spur of the moment needs (which is how most of my projects start).  Crossing my fingers.

[jimmyG]

12 minutes ago, Bill WIlson said:

I made my first purchase from Ocooch a couple weeks ago.  I got several 20"x30" sheets of 1/8" & 1/4" BB ply.  I sure hope it's good stuff, because I can't get it at my local supplier anymore.  I've never bought from Ocooch before, but I've always heard good things about them.  I don't have any immediate projects planned for it. I just always like to keep some stock around for spur of the moment needs (which is how most of my projects start).  Crossing my fingers.

Maybe I expect too much from wood... There is always some sort of little flaw or discoloration or a piece that isn't perfectly flat. I try to work around flaws with pattern placement and add a backer to not so flat pieces.  It can be a crap shoot@

[TAIrving]

3 hours ago, jimmyG said:

So what is your go to wood???

Jimmy @jimmyG, my "GoTo Wood" for now and the foreseeable future is free wood.  I have a substantial stockpile that friends have given me, one who downsized and didn't have room for his woodworking shop, one who worked at a cabinet makers shop and gave me a bunch of cutoffs and one who makes furniture out of mesquite and gave me some of his cutoffs.  I am now refusing free wood as I don't have room to store any more.  It is in all sizes and shapes and I resaw and plane and glue to get panels for scrolling.  For varieties, I have mesquite, acacia, red oak, white oak, cherry, walnut, maple, poplar, pecan and probably a few others. 

I also have a supply of really small, really exotic cutoffs from a guitar maker friend, but these are all small pieces and hard to use for scrolling.  If I ever take up intarsia (on my list of things I would like to do) I will be able to use many of these.  

Now if I can just find the time to do scrolling.    

[jimmyG]

55 minutes ago, TAIrving said:

Jimmy @jimmyG, my "GoTo Wood" for now and the foreseeable future is free wood.  I have a substantial stockpile that friends have given me, one who downsized and didn't have room for his woodworking shop, one who worked at a cabinet makers shop and gave me a bunch of cutoffs and one who makes furniture out of mesquite and gave me some of his cutoffs.  I am now refusing free wood as I don't have room to store any more.  It is in all sizes and shapes and I resaw and plane and glue to get panels for scrolling.  For varieties, I have mesquite, acacia, red oak, white oak, cherry, walnut, maple, poplar, pecan and probably a few others. 

I also have a supply of really small, really exotic cutoffs from a guitar maker friend, but these are all small pieces and hard to use for scrolling.  If I ever take up intarsia (on my list of things I would like to do) I will be able to use many of these.  

Now if I can just find the time to do scrolling.    

I keep saying I'm going to buy a planer.   I can afford one but not sure I want another rolling obstacle in the shop.

[rjweb]

Jim, that's a real nice shop, clean and organized, RJ

[Scrappile]

Holy, moly, beautiful shop for sure.  Makes me think I need to take a week or to and clean/reorganize mine.. but wait that would require time from scrolling.. I will make that my New Years Resolution...  2030!