Chippygeoff
Established Member
I have put together a little article on the different materials that could be used for scroll saw work. It is aimed at those new to scrolling and I hope it is of some help.
Wood for Scrollers.
The best wood for many projects is undoubtedly hardwood while other projects are best done in plywood but whatever we are making I am sure we are all agreed that the cost of wood is getting really expensive. So what are the alternatives, what can we do about it.
As many of you know, I work in the main with ¾ inch hardwoods and although I do well at selling the things I make at craft fairs I can see the time coming when it may not be viable to continue making things in Oak, Beech, Cherry and many other hardwoods. It’s getting to the stage now that when my stock of wood gets a bit low I am adjusting patterns to fit what I have left before I re-order and part with another £300.
I have spent time and effort researching into the alternatives and have tried quite a few with surprising results. I see a lot of patterns now that require an overlay with a contrasting wood to give the right effect, several of these patterns come from Steve Good’s site and also Sheila Landry and Sue May to name but a few. The base wood, or the backer as it is sometimes called could be cut from say Maple while to pattern itself could be made from Walnut, this combination is a huge contrast in the broader sense of the word, you could get a similar effect using birch ply for the backer and MDF for the pattern. I know there will be a huge difference in appearance but it all depends on what the design is and how big it will be.
We all know that 3mm or 6mm birch plywood is a firm favourite for Christmas tree ornaments and I would imagine that an 8 x 4 sheet would produce a few hundred. The other bonus with this thin ply is that you can stack cut it, which will reduce the boredom factor if you are going to make a pile of them. I have glued pieces of ply together in the past to give me the thickness required for certain patterns.
I don’t know if it’s just me but I don’t really like plywood. What puts me off is the edges, people can see the laminations and they know it’s plywood but for certain projects there is nothing better. In thin ply it does not really matter, the laminations are not really noticeable and each year I sell hundreds of Christmas tree decorations. If you feel the same as me there are a few things you can do. One is you can stain the edges with a very dark stain, another way round the problem is to use fence paint, its like liquid plastic when its dry and it dries in no time. Of course you can paint the edges with acrylic paint, after 2 coats and 24 hours between coats no one would ever know that it was plywood, except you of course.
I was in a huge store recently and was looking at all the laminate flooring; now here is a material that has huge possibilities. It’s about 6mm to 8mm thick and could be used for all sorts of things, the list of colours and different wood grains that it comes in is endless, and there is a huge variety to choose from. I am not saying lets all rush out and buy a pack or two. It would be far better to ring one or two flooring firms and ask if you can have their off cuts, I am sure a couple of phone calls would produce the results. I think a lot of the flooring is initially made with MDF and some of the patterns are photo copied onto it so be careful when cutting it. You can also buy flooring now in single colours. Another form of flooring which is proving popular now is bamboo flooring and for me I think this would be my favourite, so many possibilities and for scroll saw projects it would be cheap.
I can’t remember what the project was now but a couple of years ago I needed something dark and quite thin for a pattern that was going to be glued to a thick backer and I found the perfect material in Wilkinson’s, plastic floor tiles. I bought some black ones and it turned out perfect for my purpose. Now floor tiles open up another new work of possibilities. They cut very easily on the scroll saw but a little word of warning, don’t use them if you intend making a lot of small internal cuts, they need a bit of meat between each cut out as they do become a bit fragile.
Another material, which comes to mind, which could be used to good effect, is metal sheets, like copper for instance. I have seen these in B and Q although it would be a lot cheaper to get them from somewhere like e-bay. If you decide to give this idea a go I would advise you make a sub table for your scroll saw out of ply or MDF. Talking of MDF this is one material I just do not like, mainly because of the toxic dust you get when cutting it. I struggle to think what we could make from it. On Facebook there are a lot of people selling letters and numbers made from MDF. One chap is so busy he has put a notice up saying no more orders please until further notice. There are a lot of ladies out there that like to buy large letters and then decorate them. I supply a lady in Spain who dolls them up and sells them at craft fairs and she is busier than I am at the moment. A lot of people make things in MDF with the idea of painting it afterwards but it is a real pig to get a decent finish and the only way really is to have a professional spray booth but that take quite a bit of money. I am always seeing signs made from MDF in shops. They look nice and have an excellent finish but I am sure they come from China. I have a friend that makes fire surrounds from MDF and he paints them with masonry paint and they really look the business but he has a professional set up.
A couple of months ago I laid about 400 carpet tiles in my home. When I came to a door opening I cut the tiles on my scroll saw and everyone was a perfect fit. I had quite a few off cuts and I cut my name from one of the off cuts and laid it on a bit of oak and it looked really nice, another possibility for something unusual.
Another idea that comes to mind is veneers. For instance if you were to glue a walnut veneer to say a cheap piece of pine and did a lot of internal cuts the effect could be quite stunning, especially if it was highly polished afterwards.
I hope this has been of some help to those new to scroll sawing. There are a few ideas here for possible future projects.
Wood for Scrollers.
The best wood for many projects is undoubtedly hardwood while other projects are best done in plywood but whatever we are making I am sure we are all agreed that the cost of wood is getting really expensive. So what are the alternatives, what can we do about it.
As many of you know, I work in the main with ¾ inch hardwoods and although I do well at selling the things I make at craft fairs I can see the time coming when it may not be viable to continue making things in Oak, Beech, Cherry and many other hardwoods. It’s getting to the stage now that when my stock of wood gets a bit low I am adjusting patterns to fit what I have left before I re-order and part with another £300.
I have spent time and effort researching into the alternatives and have tried quite a few with surprising results. I see a lot of patterns now that require an overlay with a contrasting wood to give the right effect, several of these patterns come from Steve Good’s site and also Sheila Landry and Sue May to name but a few. The base wood, or the backer as it is sometimes called could be cut from say Maple while to pattern itself could be made from Walnut, this combination is a huge contrast in the broader sense of the word, you could get a similar effect using birch ply for the backer and MDF for the pattern. I know there will be a huge difference in appearance but it all depends on what the design is and how big it will be.
We all know that 3mm or 6mm birch plywood is a firm favourite for Christmas tree ornaments and I would imagine that an 8 x 4 sheet would produce a few hundred. The other bonus with this thin ply is that you can stack cut it, which will reduce the boredom factor if you are going to make a pile of them. I have glued pieces of ply together in the past to give me the thickness required for certain patterns.
I don’t know if it’s just me but I don’t really like plywood. What puts me off is the edges, people can see the laminations and they know it’s plywood but for certain projects there is nothing better. In thin ply it does not really matter, the laminations are not really noticeable and each year I sell hundreds of Christmas tree decorations. If you feel the same as me there are a few things you can do. One is you can stain the edges with a very dark stain, another way round the problem is to use fence paint, its like liquid plastic when its dry and it dries in no time. Of course you can paint the edges with acrylic paint, after 2 coats and 24 hours between coats no one would ever know that it was plywood, except you of course.
I was in a huge store recently and was looking at all the laminate flooring; now here is a material that has huge possibilities. It’s about 6mm to 8mm thick and could be used for all sorts of things, the list of colours and different wood grains that it comes in is endless, and there is a huge variety to choose from. I am not saying lets all rush out and buy a pack or two. It would be far better to ring one or two flooring firms and ask if you can have their off cuts, I am sure a couple of phone calls would produce the results. I think a lot of the flooring is initially made with MDF and some of the patterns are photo copied onto it so be careful when cutting it. You can also buy flooring now in single colours. Another form of flooring which is proving popular now is bamboo flooring and for me I think this would be my favourite, so many possibilities and for scroll saw projects it would be cheap.
I can’t remember what the project was now but a couple of years ago I needed something dark and quite thin for a pattern that was going to be glued to a thick backer and I found the perfect material in Wilkinson’s, plastic floor tiles. I bought some black ones and it turned out perfect for my purpose. Now floor tiles open up another new work of possibilities. They cut very easily on the scroll saw but a little word of warning, don’t use them if you intend making a lot of small internal cuts, they need a bit of meat between each cut out as they do become a bit fragile.
Another material, which comes to mind, which could be used to good effect, is metal sheets, like copper for instance. I have seen these in B and Q although it would be a lot cheaper to get them from somewhere like e-bay. If you decide to give this idea a go I would advise you make a sub table for your scroll saw out of ply or MDF. Talking of MDF this is one material I just do not like, mainly because of the toxic dust you get when cutting it. I struggle to think what we could make from it. On Facebook there are a lot of people selling letters and numbers made from MDF. One chap is so busy he has put a notice up saying no more orders please until further notice. There are a lot of ladies out there that like to buy large letters and then decorate them. I supply a lady in Spain who dolls them up and sells them at craft fairs and she is busier than I am at the moment. A lot of people make things in MDF with the idea of painting it afterwards but it is a real pig to get a decent finish and the only way really is to have a professional spray booth but that take quite a bit of money. I am always seeing signs made from MDF in shops. They look nice and have an excellent finish but I am sure they come from China. I have a friend that makes fire surrounds from MDF and he paints them with masonry paint and they really look the business but he has a professional set up.
A couple of months ago I laid about 400 carpet tiles in my home. When I came to a door opening I cut the tiles on my scroll saw and everyone was a perfect fit. I had quite a few off cuts and I cut my name from one of the off cuts and laid it on a bit of oak and it looked really nice, another possibility for something unusual.
Another idea that comes to mind is veneers. For instance if you were to glue a walnut veneer to say a cheap piece of pine and did a lot of internal cuts the effect could be quite stunning, especially if it was highly polished afterwards.
I hope this has been of some help to those new to scroll sawing. There are a few ideas here for possible future projects.
