Silverfox Posted May 5, 2015 Report Posted May 5, 2015 What is the best wood to start with and how thick. amazingkevin 1 Quote
amazingkevin Posted May 6, 2015 Report Posted May 6, 2015 3/4" plywood slows down the cutting process no matter what speed your using. 1/4" wood is unforgiving when you veer off course.Use a very slow speed with thin wood and a blade with lots of teeth. Rob Roy and Kevin Latimer 2 Quote
ike Posted May 6, 2015 Report Posted May 6, 2015 The best to start with is FREE wood. any thing you can find in dumpsters , on trash days a lot of wood is thrown away. I get a lot from the sawmill but I have to let it dry for a year.If you have to buy Popular is a good bet, or as Kevin says plywood He likes 3/4 and I like 1/2 it's just a matter of choice or finances. Scrolling Steve 1 Quote
dgman Posted May 6, 2015 Report Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Hey Ron, welcome to the village! Lots of knowledgeable folks here to answer your questions. I teach scroll saw at Woodcraft in Ventura, Ca. I start my begginer students off on 3/4" pine using a #5 skip tooth blade. We start off with straight lines then curved line and so on. After they get the hang of cutting, we move on to 1/2" hardwoods. We'll use what ever I have on hand like Walnut, Maple, Cherry and Mahogany. A lot of folks like using Baltic birch plywood. As a begginer I would start off with 1/2", 3/8 and 1/4". Don't be shy! Come back and ask, where here to help! Edited May 6, 2015 by dgman GrampaJim, Rob Roy and LarryEA 3 Quote
rjR Posted May 6, 2015 Report Posted May 6, 2015 First welcome to our insanity! Ask questions--Amazing Kevin (Schultz) knows a lot and is generous with advice-- some of the rest of us sometimes know a little and will also share! When I started running a scrollsaw-- the only wood I had was scraps! Use FREE wood-- makes things easier to throwaway when bad! If you have a local cabinet shop, Or even a fencing company--ASK about their throw-aways( DUMPSTER) they usually have too pay to get rid of it. Most will happily let you reach in from the top! Remember that either clear packing tape (over the cut-pattern) or candle wax (on blade teeth) will help the blade last longer and cut smoother! f you miss into the waste areas it is an easy fix! File, sand, or re-cut! I paste wax my saw table too. Also blade tension is important. Experiment with tension on different woods, blades, speeds and all of that sort to see what works for YOU! Because X says so may not work with your situation! Check saw occasionally to make sure table is square too. Do not expect to be perfect! Also make a comfortable "nest" for you-- chair, light- ventilation- (music) place to set the ROOT BEER! And all that sort of thing-- footrest ?? Your zone your way! Avoid extension cords as much as you can also! especially on the motored equipment! We will want to see the work! This forum also has a bunch of bandits! We steal (BORROW) good and sometimes just silly ideas and projects! We also have ALL MADE DUMB MISTAKES; so laugh-- move on! Sawdust burns --do NOT get too big of pile! Air hose to the saw or vacuum sometimes helps that problem! Last thing MAKE THINGS you want to MAKE first! Rob Roy and Scrolling Steve 2 Quote
CATRK Posted May 6, 2015 Report Posted May 6, 2015 I'm also fairly new to the scroll saw and have found that the thicker woods are much more forgiving. People kept saying let the blade do the work and I can't emphasize going slow and letting the blade cut the wood enough. I started with thicker scrap hardwoods. Also the smaller blades and the spiral blades are more difficult to control. courdorygirl 1 Quote
LarryEA Posted May 7, 2015 Report Posted May 7, 2015 Good advice above and all I could add is, grab a piece of wood, turn on the radio and start cutting. Do not be concerned about mistakes! We all make them. courdorygirl 1 Quote
WayneMahler Posted May 7, 2015 Report Posted May 7, 2015 Free wood is great to start on. Also great when you have more experience as it doesn't hit the budget. Start off slow and simple. Learn to cut curves and straight lines. Don't be worried about making mistakes, years later a lot of us still make them. If you go off line take your time getting back to it. Looks more natural depending on the piece your working on. But the single most important thing, is to have fun and enjoy. Quote
grosa Posted June 4, 2015 Report Posted June 4, 2015 Free wood from local woodworking shops. I would rather give the scraps to a scroller than a dumpster. A little time and some foot work can get you a lot of free wood. Scrolling Steve 1 Quote
heppnerguy Posted June 5, 2015 Report Posted June 5, 2015 I like to use at least a 1/2 inch thick piece of wood and a double tooth reversible blade of about a #3, Is a great place to start because this blade is less aggressive and easy to stay on the line. choose easy patterns to start with and don't twist the blade as you cut. it is a lot like sewing where you place the pattern line in front of the blade and you are not chasing the pattern with the blade. If you have a variable speed saw, start at about #3 speed and go slow. you should discover quickly that the blade will cut nothing until YOU put some pressure on the wood, toward the blade. you will learn to anticipate the pattern path kind of like one does when they are driving a car and coming into a corner. Remember how you sort of jerked your way through the first few corners when you were learning to drive and then suddenly you were anticipated the curve and all of a sudden you were taking the curve smoothly ? same thing with scrolling. A few jerky curves and all of a sudden you make the curve without even thinking about it. Have fun and do not get discouraged,,, Dick heppnerguy Quote
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