what wood should I use

[jcb19983]

Im doing a grizzly bear picture from jeff zaffino and it says use 1/2 in wood. Im not good at choosing wood so I was wonder what wood be good wood and where I can get it. thanks

[Barefoot1]

If this is a portrait I would not use 1/2 inch wood but then I can't see what you are going to cut. If I was cutting 1/2 inch I would not want it to be to hard of a wood but of course that would depend on the intricacies of the cut. Do you have a link to a picture?

[Magpie]

I thought JZ nearly always uses plywood--the 1/8 or 1/4 inch red oak, although I could be just crazy ;p

[jcb19983]

I went to scroller ltd and typed in the number for the pattern (7059ac) and it siad to use 1/2 in hardwood and 1/8 in for backing. the pattern ins very intricate

[Mick Walker]

jcb19983, that picture would be a bear (pun intended) to cut out of 1/2" hardwood. I would use 1/4" birch plywood with 1/8" luan for a backer. Looks like a rather large picture, you will have a hard time finding a piece of hardwood that wide. Just my 2¢ worth.

[lucky788scroller]

Id definatly say use a plywood. super-fragility there! Dale

[sawdustus]

Scroller, 1-800-486-6053 or Scroll Saw Patterns Plans Books & Blades for your projects - On Sale at Scroller Ltd. sells the 1/4" ply that Jeff Zaffino uses for his intricate portraits. It is called A4 oak plywood and comes 5/16 thick and in 12 x 16 inch pieces. It's not that expensive and they are prompt in sending their orders.

[tomsteve]

i think jeff has 2 different grizzly portrait patterns. i have cut both of them and they are a good challenge. what i like to do is stack 4 pieces of 1/8" ply on top of 1 piece of 1/4" ply( could be oak or birch for the pieces of ply). i dont like to scroll for that long and have only 1 piece done. i think i spent 10 hours on one of them. the 1/4" ply gives some strength to the tedious cut areas, which there are A LOT of. and i usually frame the others and give them to friends.

[BobD]

I've seen some advanced scrollers do incredibly detailed portraits in hardwood, but it is VERY difficult. You have to be prepared to glue pieces back on, or even scrap the entire project if it breaks in the wrong spot. If you are a novice, or even an intermediate scroller, I urge caution!

It's kinda like breaking a board with a punch...unless you KNOW without a doubt you can do it, you will fail and it will HURT!

Bob

[Jediscroller]

For portraits in hardwood, I tend to avoid red oak at all costs in anything thinner than 1/2" (3/4" is better) as it breaks way too easily along the grain lines. I prefer a nice straight grained wood. Mahogany is my favorite though maple and lyptus work quite well too. I typically cut hardwood portraits between 3/8" and 1/2" using a #1 or #3 FD-SR blade.