Popular Post jimmyG Posted February 3 Popular Post Report Share Posted February 3 I've run across a few pieces of 1/4" Baltic birch plywood that was difficult to cut before but this one was horrible. Some sections cut like butter and others was like cutting through a log and had trouble staying on a line. There was a time it almost went into the burn barrel but I had too much time in it to bring myself to do it. It's finally done but will need a few tweaks with some sand paper... JessL, ChelCass, red river and 11 others 13 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjweb Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 It may have been hard to cut, but you have done an excellent job, RJ jimmyG and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 I agree with RJ, You did very well on this! OCtoolguy and jimmyG 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 Beautiful work. Life ain't always easy. It's the tough stuff that you learn from. jimmyG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyG Posted February 3 Author Report Share Posted February 3 It looks a little better now since I did some sanding and got a few curves and straight aways tightened up plus worked on the fuzzies. It's like OCtoolguy said "it's the tough stuff that you learn by". OCtoolguy, JessL and JackJones 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarieC Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 Looks really nice Jimmy! Keep up the great work OCtoolguy and jimmyG 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sycamore67 Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 I find there are HUGE differences in BB plywood or what be call it. I always buy the stuff in 5x5 sheets or from a place I know sells the real thing. jimmyG and NC Scroller 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyG Posted February 3 Author Report Share Posted February 3 11 minutes ago, Sycamore67 said: I find there are HUGE differences in BB plywood or what be call it. I always buy the stuff in 5x5 sheets or from a place I know sells the real thing. Ocooch woodworks usually has good BB but I buy it in 12x24.... homebru and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyG Posted February 3 Author Report Share Posted February 3 15 minutes ago, MarieC said: Looks really nice Jimmy! Keep up the great work Thanks... I seriously need to stop looking at it so close. Spend way too much time fooling with it long after the scrolling has finished OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 13 minutes ago, jimmyG said: Thanks... I seriously need to stop looking at it so close. Spend way too much time fooling with it long after the scrolling has finished We all do! barb.j.enders and jimmyG 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 BB Plywood for several reasons I have read does not live up to the standard it use to. Hugh fires in the area it originally came from, difficulty in shipping are a couple reasons I have read about. What I have purchased in the past year is not what it use to be. And what I can purchase locally,, I just pass one. Maybe it is just something we have to just learn to live with.. like so many other lesses we have to learn to live with. Not the fault of the vendor I have purchased from...I do not even bother looking locally. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 7 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said: We all do! That is our world now.. We need to quit expecting excellence, as we use to, in todays world.. To me very sad. Technology has gotten better, but expectations on what is expectable by us the people is declining.. Delete if necessary. I am getting old and cranky and do not like the way things are going. kmmcrafts, OCtoolguy, Roberta Moreton and 2 others 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 (edited) 4 hours ago, Scrappile said: That is our world now.. We need to quit expecting excellence, as we use to, in todays world.. To me very sad. Technology has gotten better, but expectations on what is expectable by us the people is declining.. Delete if necessary. I am getting old and cranky and do not like the way things are going. Edited February 4 by OCtoolguy Scrappile and kmmcrafts 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyG Posted February 3 Author Report Share Posted February 3 Before this thread goes too far off topic and gets into politics, I have a question: Looking at the end result, how much time would you estimate for yourself to apply the pattern, drill the entry holes and scroll it to completion??? Just curious! OCtoolguy and kmmcrafts 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 (edited) I use BB Plywood for several reasons I have read does not live up to the standard it use to. Huge fires in the area it originally came from, difficulty in shipping are a couple reasons I have read about. What I have purchased in the past year is not what it use to be. And what I can purchase locally,, I just pass on. Maybe it is just something we have to learn to live with.. like so many other lesses we have to learn to live with. Not the fault of the vendor I have purchased from...I do not even bother looking locally. Edited February 25 by Scrappile OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 I spray my pattern with 3M 77. wait about 1 minute + a little and them apply it to to the wood.. After that it may be minutes to days before I start drilling and cutting. I think once the pattern is applied to the wood, the rest of the time is unimportant. I remove the pattern by applying Mineral Spirits to it no matter how long it has sit... OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 39 minutes ago, jimmyG said: Before this thread goes too far off topic and gets into politics, I have a question: Looking at the end result, how much time would you estimate for yourself to apply the pattern, drill the entry holes and scroll it to completion??? Just curious! Been a while since I messed with 1/4" BBply without stack cutting etc.. just one off would cut slightly faster than cutting 2-3 or 4 of them.. I'd say it'd probably take me around 1 - 1:30 hours to drill, cut, sand and be ready for whatever finish I intend to apply. Add about 10 - 15 minutes to that if I'm cutting 2 of them. Or 4 of them at 1/8" thick which is what I mostly use these days. This is just a wild uneducated guess.. LOL Now.. If I lasered that it'd be about an hour but I can only cut 1/8" in one pass so if it was 1/4" then probably 2 hours.. LOL If I CNC routered that it'd be 2 days 5 hours and 45 minutes.. The 2 days and 5 hours is trying to figure out how to get the CNC to follow the pattern.. OCtoolguy, barb.j.enders and Gene Howe 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyG Posted February 4 Author Report Share Posted February 4 Don't like to admit it but it took me 6 hours start to finish over 3 days... scroll at a snails pace but it was difficult wood. OCtoolguy, barb.j.enders and kmmcrafts 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 1 hour ago, jimmyG said: Don't like to admit it but it took me 6 hours start to finish over 3 days... scroll at a snails pace but it was difficult wood. I scroll slowly too. I am in this hobby for the enjoyment. Why rush through what you enjoy? kmmcrafts, barb.j.enders and jimmyG 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 2 hours ago, jimmyG said: Don't like to admit it but it took me 6 hours start to finish over 3 days... scroll at a snails pace but it was difficult wood. Nothing wrong with that.. Everyone has a different pace that they like to scroll at. My very first saw was a old delta 2 speed saw and low was too slow.. so I learned to cut on the high setting which was like 1700 strokes per minute saw speed.. so I run my saws mostly at around 1500 SPM.. just how I learned to enjoy scrolling so that's how I continue to scroll. I feel like things would be a lot different had I learned on a different saw that had variable speed. When I did finally get a variable speed saw and ran it slow, I found that I was used to the saw going fast and that I would end up pushing the wood through too hard and flexing the blade etc.. now I'm just trained to go fast, LOL.. Not to mention I've also been at it for 20 years now and production style cutting for about 16 years.. so I have a bit of time at a saw... so running the saw fast and cutting fast is just what is natural for me.. Lots of people mistake it thinking I cut fast because I'm doing it as a business and feel the need to race the clock.. but I was sawing on high speed since the first or second day I learned to scroll saw.. 4-5 years before ever doing it as a business.. I do sort of think if everyone had to learn on a saw that only had a fast speed they'd learn to control the wood feeding into the blade better. Just because the saw is running fast doesn't necessarily mean you have to feed the wood fast. Most scroll saw videos I watch the people cutting are flexing the blade too much.. They need to speed the saw up and relax and let the blade do the cutting.. If the saw running fast make you "cut too fast then you're pushing the wood too hard" You don't have to speed up just because the saw is running faster you just have to learn to control how you feed the wood to the blade slower. In other words I think too many people rely on the variable speed of the saw to control their cut.. rather than learning how to control their feeding. I see lots of people turn up the saw speed on easy long straight cuts and then slow it down for fine detail cuts.. But everyone learns it different and no right or wrong way really.. just do what works for you and you are comfortable with.. Like Ray said.. It's not a race... Took me a long time to learn to be good at cutting because I had to learn how to control the wood based on a fast running saw.. Roberta Moreton and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyG Posted February 4 Author Report Share Posted February 4 6 hours ago, kmmcrafts said: Nothing wrong with that.. Everyone has a different pace that they like to scroll at. My very first saw was a old delta 2 speed saw and low was too slow.. so I learned to cut on the high setting which was like 1700 strokes per minute saw speed.. so I run my saws mostly at around 1500 SPM.. just how I learned to enjoy scrolling so that's how I continue to scroll. I feel like things would be a lot different had I learned on a different saw that had variable speed. When I did finally get a variable speed saw and ran it slow, I found that I was used to the saw going fast and that I would end up pushing the wood through too hard and flexing the blade etc.. now I'm just trained to go fast, LOL.. Not to mention I've also been at it for 20 years now and production style cutting for about 16 years.. so I have a bit of time at a saw... so running the saw fast and cutting fast is just what is natural for me.. Lots of people mistake it thinking I cut fast because I'm doing it as a business and feel the need to race the clock.. but I was sawing on high speed since the first or second day I learned to scroll saw.. 4-5 years before ever doing it as a business.. I do sort of think if everyone had to learn on a saw that only had a fast speed they'd learn to control the wood feeding into the blade better. Just because the saw is running fast doesn't necessarily mean you have to feed the wood fast. Most scroll saw videos I watch the people cutting are flexing the blade too much.. They need to speed the saw up and relax and let the blade do the cutting.. If the saw running fast make you "cut too fast then you're pushing the wood too hard" You don't have to speed up just because the saw is running faster you just have to learn to control how you feed the wood to the blade slower. In other words I think too many people rely on the variable speed of the saw to control their cut.. rather than learning how to control their feeding. I see lots of people turn up the saw speed on easy long straight cuts and then slow it down for fine detail cuts.. But everyone learns it different and no right or wrong way really.. just do what works for you and you are comfortable with.. Like Ray said.. It's not a race... Took me a long time to learn to be good at cutting because I had to learn how to control the wood based on a fast running saw.. Interesting... I've only been scrolling five months and enjoy it but I thought getting faster was a gauge of getting better at it. Hmmm, maybe I need to experiment using different speeds since I've lways use the slowest setting.. barb.j.enders, kmmcrafts and OCtoolguy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankEV Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 12 hours ago, jimmyG said: Before this thread goes too far off topic and gets into politics, I have a question: Looking at the end result, how much time would you estimate for yourself to apply the pattern, drill the entry holes and scroll it to completion??? Just curious! I see anout 40 holes, I assume the cut panel it is approximately 11x14, and the pattern itself is not too intricate With that in mind, I'm estimating it would take me about 1 hour to prep my cut panel, apply the pattern and drill all the holes at one time. My sit down at the saw time would be about 6 hours ( two 3 hour sessions.). Assuming I was not adding any color work, the time to prepare a backer, assemble the panel and apply a protective finish would add about another hour of shop time, excluding dry times for any applied coatings or glue-ups. Of course, I would make a frame for it that would add about 4 more hours of shop time, again excluding dry time for coatings. Say, maybe a total of 12 hours shop time, give or take, over maybe 3 to 5 days. jimmyG and OCtoolguy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 1 hour ago, jimmyG said: Interesting... I've only been scrolling five months and enjoy it but I thought getting faster was a gauge of getting better at it. Hmmm, maybe I need to experiment using different speeds since I've lways use the slowest setting.. You could give it a try on some scraps suppose, Everyone learns differently.. and you have to do what you're comfortable with doing.. Starting out I didn't really have a choice for speeds so I had to learn to gauge the feed.. blade sizes also played a roll back then.. first starting out I was using blades that were probably smaller than what would be recommended as that slowed down the cutting until I learned to relax and not feed the wood too fast.. But eventually I learned that my feed rate is what makes the cutting fast or slow.. saw speed has nothing to do with how fast you cut.. well it does if you have the saw speed too slow.. but running saw fast you can control how fast you feed. If you find you're pushing to fast and flexing the blade maybe speed the saw up some and try again. A good way to see if you're pushing too hard is set up a camera to video your cutting. If you see the blade flexing a lot then you need to slow your feed rate or speed up the blade speed until you get to where you're not pushing through too fast. There is people out there that have been sawing longer than me that still run their saw on slow.. that's probably how they learned and what they got comfortable with.. Nothing wrong with going slow.. Learning on a saw where you don't have a choice to turn the speed down I feel like gives the person a different skill set than those that use the saw speed to gauge how fast they want to cut. At the end of the day.. it's not a race.. just do what you're comfortable doing. OCtoolguy and jimmyG 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveww1 Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 very nice job OCtoolguy and jimmyG 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 It looks great. I didn't read all the comments about "how long" because it doesn't matter. I stopped trying to compare my times with others. I was getting very stressed when I wasn't cutting as fast as other were saying they could get something done. A fine example is the book "20 minute puzzles". I still haven't cut one in 20 minutes and I have cut at least 20 of those puzzles. JessL, Roberta Moreton, jimmyG and 4 others 5 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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