Good wood to practice with?

[Blackwood]

I've been 'practicing' on 1/2" clear pine boards. It's cheap, soft, and fairly easy to work with, so it works for now. Is there a better wood, or better thickness, etc, to build my skills with? I'm hesitant to buy any really good wood until I'm more confident that I won't screw it up, but I've done reasonably well on the few pine projects I've done.

I'm running a Hitachi CW40 scroll saw with Flying Dutchman reverse Polar (bottom teeth are reversed) #7 blades with the saw at about 1/3 speed on the 1/2" pine. This sound right? If not, what am I doing wrong here?

Thanks for any suggestions or ideas.


R

[wood-n-things]

Sounds good so far...try some mahogany luan..called door skins..thinner and inexpensive and later you can use the left overs for backer boards.
Try some smaller blades as well. Do some puzzles free hand...great practice for cutting skill builder.

Try cutting straight lines, curves, circles, zig zags..90 degree cuts etc...Mostly have fun.
I didn't spend a lot of time on just practiicng. I took my time and tried to complete severl projects. i wanted some instant gratification...

You may find pine has a tendency to grab the blade in the grain of the wood..you might want to try some poplar , less grain and finishes very well.

[Chris "The Wood Artist"]

When I'm practicing, I use cheap 1/4" as it isn't so hard on the blades and easy to work with, usually baltic birch plywood. Other than that the rest is personal taste, as is the thickness as well, just the thicker wood causes the blade to wear out faster, so that's why I use the thinner stuff. No need to waste blades so to speak on practicing.

[lucky788scroller]

FD Polar blades dont have reverse teeth, so you must have a different blade, but on 1/2 inch thickness, you will be able to use a #5 blade fine.In fact, you will do much better on 1/2 inch pine with a #3 or #5 blade compared to a #7. I use a #7 polar on 1 1/2 inch thick hardwoods, to give you a comparison. Id suggest getting some walnut to practice on. I think 1/2 inch is the perfect thickness to practice on as well.Walnut is a hardwood, but one of the softer ones, and there isnt a lot of variation in density from one growth ring to another.And it finishes beautifully.Put a layer of clear packing tape, or blue painters tape on top of the wood, then spray adhesive the back of your pattern and stick it on top of the tape. Use whatever speed YOU are comfortable with.Experiment with speeds until you find what works best for you!

[pat c]

Sounds good to me. #5 blade might be a bit better than a 7. You might want to try "Mike's assortment pack" Mike's Workshop English featuring: my life story, a cancer survivor, scrollsawing samples and tips, community service, list of favorite sites and Flying Dutchman fretsaw blades for sale. 1/2" oak is good to cut and pretty inexpensive. I rarely cut very thin material unless I stack cut something. I have better control using thicker material. I started out cutting kids puzzles, kids didn't care that the cuts weren't perfect and I felt like I was actually making something. "Pat's rule #1" (and I know I stole this from someone else) "When the pattern comes off......nobody will know where the pattern lines were" Welcome aboard, have fun, make lots of sawdust. Pat

[handibunny]

Don't dismiss aspen as a wood to work with. It cuts like a dream, and when sanded really well, takes a clear finish beautifully. When choosing aspen, and poplar, look at the wood carefully for dark spots, unless you want to incorporate them into your design.

[bubbantenn]

Lots of good advice and not much to add to. The only thing I might say is to be aware that the thinner the wood, the thinner the blade (at least that is a general rule I follow. This is especially important in 1/4 inch stock where a thicker blade may cause a lot of breakage. In my opinion, thinner is better for practice because it offers me better control. It's generally cheaper, too, especially if you use utility panels before moving on to better quality portrait panels such as Baltic Birch and Oak, even Walnut. Cabinet grade is best but also the most expensive.
Whatever you do, have fun and be safe and above all, share some pictures (if possible) of your progress. We'd love to see how you are doing.

Bubba

[STEVESSAWSHOP]

Great advise from everyone on this thread. The only thing I will add is when teaching a new scroller. A great project is to wright a large name (wife, kids, friends,) on pc of pine with a large magic marker (I use red or green markers). Then follow the outside line of the name. Practicing cutting names will give you straight lines, curves, circles, zig zags..90 degree cuts etc. It's also a personal project for the person who receives it. It's a great practice project.
The best thing to do is make saw dust and have fun!!!!
Have a great day.
Steve

[Mick Walker]

Blackwood, pine is not the easiest wood to scroll with. Get some 1/4" plywood and cut the alphabet from a to z, if you have WORD on your computer use the font, Formalscrp421BT. Print out the lower case letters and attach them to the wood using a spray adhesive. By the time you get to z you will be an expert scroller.

[rja]

An inexpensive and readily obtainable hardwood for practicing is poplar. It is not so hard that it is rough on blades (like oak), it is fairly tight grained without noticeable hard and soft spots (like pine) and takes paint well. If you don't like the greenish cast some of it has, wait awhile and it will eventually turn a medium brown color.