wood chipping

[jane]

Hi I'm a fairly new scroller .lately I have been having a problem with small pieces chipping off my cut pieces. I have been using some pine and the last was Aspen pine. I cut two dragons facing each other,around celtic cross,with cut out br forster bit in center of cross for 1 7/8 fit in clock. Part of the mouth part chipped,only on the back side of the dragons mouth, and one of the spines on the top of his head broke off.
Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong. I cut it out of 3/4" Aspen Pine using a Flying Dutchman # 5 reverse blade and a #3 sprial reverse for the lines?

[will8989]

My guess would be the wood. I found that when I used pine on delicate pieces it chipped and broke off also. Also, when you drill your holes, are you laying the wood on top of a piece of scrap wood so the drill bit doesn't chip out? Try poplar, although it is a little more expensive I think you will like the results better. When I first started cutting I used pine and had the same problems. I decided to switch to the more expensive woods and the results were much better and kept me from getting discouraged. Cherry and poplar woods are now my first wood of choice, along with birdseye maple, oak, mahogany, etc etc. Each wood cuts differently and produces different results. You will figure this out over time. GOOD LUCK!!!!

[PiALaModem]

With chippy wood, it helps to sandwich your wood between two pieces of 1/8" plywood before cutting. The extra layers hold down the chips that might otherwise form as the teeth of the blade leave the wood during each stroke.

Also a #5 has pretty big teeth -- you might want to go smaller if your wood is chippy or your pattern is intricate.

Another also, watch your feed rate and stroke speed. Always the first thing to do when bad things happen is to slow down. That goes for driving, talking, or life in general as well as scroll sawing.

[jane]

Thanks Will and Steve, I will try both of your suggestions. Could you also tell me which are hard woods, and which are soft and when should I be using them,and what for?

As you can see I don't know my wood very well yet.

[jttheclockman]

Jane

To answer your question in short form soft woods are woods from conifer trees such as pines. Hard woods have leaves. Now for what wood to use on a project is a matter of taste and choice. After awhile you will know what looks good. Now when you start working with hard woods they are a bit more pricier but give you a better look and workabilty. They do not break as easily as pines and soft woods. There are some hard woods such as mahagony and walnut that feel soft and do not weigh as much as other hard woods such as oak and all your exotics but non the less there are hard woods.. With hard woods you can stain or leave natural and they look great. Pines are mainly meant to paint. Staining pines is tricky because of blotching. Like mentioned a good substitute for pines is poplar. Takes stain well and paint. It is a bit more expensive . These woods are easier to cut without backer boards and things. As with all woods it is a good idea to use a piece of scrap as a backer board when drilling starter holes as was suggested. Also when cutting soft woods use the smallest blade you can. Good luck.

[3_M]

Hi Jane,

I can only add one more item to all the good advice you got.
Make sure that the reverse teeth on the Spiral Rev. are on the bottom. To find them, move your finger along the teeth of the blade and you should be able to find the reverse teeth.
The reason that they are harder to find than on a regular blade is for this reason. A spiral blades is made the same as a regular blade but is than twisted. It just looks like a rotor router. Very interesting to see making them. That makes the teeth closer to each other.
I wrote an article about "How they make blades". If you want me to post it here, let me know.

Mike M

[Greenfield_Bob]

Mike I would like to see it.
Bob

[jane]

Mike, Please post the article about how blades are made. I would love to read it.

I have ordered some Birch Plywood and some Poplar scroll saw blanks from Hertage Building Specialities.

We have a Lowe's and Chase Pitkin close by but I don't know how to tell which plywood works for scroll sawing. How do I tell if the sides will stain the same as the top?

[3_M]

Milled blades are cut with a round cutter, that is why it is called “Milled”. By the milling it creates a slight burr. This will make the blade cut to the right. You have to move your wood about 15 degree to the left. They don’t allow much more than .0015" .If the cutter creates more than that, it is removed and re-sharpened. Milled blades are cut in soft steel and then hardened. They are heated and than cooled in oil to get the best quality of the milled blades. This makes the Flying Dutchman blades one of the best on the market. The F.D. milled blades are available in different form and shapes: Reverse Skip, Skip without Reverse Teeth, Double Tooth, Double tooth with
Rev. Teeth, Spiral, Spiral with Reverse Teeth and Spirals with flat ends, Metal Cutting, and the Two Way Cut blade. The FD blades are economical and good for about any cutting you might want to do. They don’t come with pins but most saws what take pin blades
have an adopter or one can be bought from the company who made the saw.

[jttheclockman]

Jane

To answer part of your question about plywood. If you got the plywood from heritage then it will have two good sides. It is made for scrolling as is Baltic birch or finnish birch. You will not find these at Lowes and I am not familar with the other place you mentioned. The plywood may have finished plys of a different source or tree so they do not look alike but both will be the same spicies. Hope that answers the plywood question.