Two specific questions

[Dispersoid]

1) When cutting out letters (or anything for that matter) should I cut out the inside holes first? Like with P, D, A, O?

2) What does the blade thickness determine? I have a 1/8" thick and 1/4" thick blade. Is one for thick wood and one for thin? Or does one cut specific types of wood? Corner radii?

Once again, thanks for all the help!

[BobD]

I nearly always work from the inside out...with the letters, for example, if you cut the inside a little larger than you expected, you can compensate when cutting the outside.

The blade thickness (I'm assuming you mean front to back) relates to several things. It sounds like you have pinned blades, so the 1/4" blade would be better for thicker wood or instances where you need to cut a straight line. The smaller blade will turn tighter corners.

Bob

[Greenfield_Bob]

Just about everything I cut is from the inside out.

Bob

[PuzzledMoose]

To add to what the 2 Bobs have said - when cutting things other than letters it's usually but not ALWAYS best to cut from the inside and work out. With complicated fretwork I sometimes find it better to cut the smaller holes first, wherever the might be on the design to avoid removing too much support until later in the cutting - if that makes sense?

[Greenfield_Bob]

I'll second that Ian.

Bob

[Paul S WI]

And, your narrower blades will cut tighter curves.

[Dispersoid]

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I thougth that might be the case as I came perilously close to snapping the part in half when cutting the inside last!

My project last night was the script word April (my wife's name) which turned out ok. I think my next project is going to be lower on the difficulty scale. Maybe the plate holders I saw way back in the old messages... now to go find it LOL