Cut Deck of Card

[jdomalewsk]

Hi All

This is my first day and first post on this forum.

I haven't unpacked my very first ever scroll saw. Hope to do that this weekend. Want to know though if I will be able to cut a deck of playing cards diagonally from about 1/4 from from upper left corner to 1/4 from lower right corner. That is diagonally and leaving the corner pips and card value intact.

Will there be a lot of shredding on the cut? I want a nice, smooth cut.

I want to cut about 100 jumbo decks like this and be able to take have any 2 half-cards match from any of the decks so it looks good on displays.

Any help/tips will be appreciated.

Thanks
John

[CanadianScroller]

No it wont shred.
You may want to putt a backer board on the top and th bottom and tae the whole thing together beforeyou cut.
I have cut stacks of snowflakes from light card this way.

[oops99]

HeyJohn,
You'll never know unless you try one.

oops99

[GrayBeard Phil]

John:

Welcome to the forum! I hope your visits here will be enjoyable. Do join in the conversations.

Now, about your question:

Believe it or not, but a straight cut from corner to corner is not all that easy. The scroll saw is a tool that takes a bit of practice, or in other words it is an eye-hand coordination type of thing. That means you got to get past the learning curve. It ain't hard, and it sure don't take long, but you got a learning curve. So don't get discouraged at first just hang in there. Use some plywood to practice your cuts on. BTW, do expect to break blades, they are cheap.

The deck of cards should be new, just out of the wrapper, or you may have problems. The main trick is to keep all the layers (the cards) as tight as possible with no air, or space, between the cards for the entire cut. See Carl's post above. If they act as one multi-layered unit, the cut will be OK.

The force of the cutting will want to pull the lowest and topmost cards away from the deck; this pulling away will result in shredding of the edges of the kerf. Check to see the top and bottom most cards are junk cards like the jokers. Wrap the card edges and backer boards with masking tape (look for the 'Blue' painter's tape, masking tape colored blue) very tightly. Try to encase the entire packet in masking tape, and attach your pattern to the top with spray adhesive on the masking tape (again, try to get the blue painter's tape.)

Inserting the blade into the starter hole could be a problem. You may need to use a drill press to accurately drill a thick deck of cards plus the backer board(s). Drill slowly, to avoid tear-out at bottom of stack.

This is not a complete list, as I have never contemplated cutting a deck of cards. For example I wouldn't know which type of blade configuration to suggest; maybe a skip-tooth design, but I don't know.

Phil

[Tor]

Reading your post, one possibility comes to mind, and would be fairly easy to try if you have a quilter in your house. Any saw blade will have a kerf, which will remove material. If you put a straightedge on top of the deck of cards (make sure you can fasten it in place. Your fingers cannot hold it long enough), and use one of those rotary cutters, angling slightly. You will probably need to use a 65mm (I believe some manufacturers use 60mm, which should work equally well) wheel because of the depth you will be cutting. By preference, the straightedge should have some vertical depth to it, 1/4"-1/2" will work fine. Cutting on one of the special mats would be advisable, or at least a surface that can be scored without damage.

Do make sure you have a new blade to return the cutter with, because cutting cards will ruin the blade for fabric cutting. Go ahead and use the fabric blade on your cards; that fabric needs a sharp blade.

If you wish to try the saw, it looks like Phil gave you some fine advise.

Tor