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General Category => Introduce Yourself. => Topic started by: Stooby on October 17, 2013, 02:22:14 pm
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Hello everyone. I live in the U.K. and am new to scroll sawing. I've been a paper crafter for many many years and took to the scroll saw well as I love cutting out. Steve's blog has given me loads of ideas but to date I have just been cutting out of MDF.
I've never done any kind of wood work before and I would like to move on to woods rather than the MDF. I'm not sure what kind of wood to use, what it is called (whether there are different names for things here in the U.K. as we are so akwared like that) and where I can get the wood from.
I shop a lot on line but without knowing what to look up I am a little stuck. And if I go into anywhere that sells wood again I'd need to know what to ask for.
Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Stuart.
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Stuart, somehow your post/introduction was locked so no one could post to it, so I removed the lock. 8)
Glad you found us. Hi I'm Russ from Florida your local moderator. Welcome to the Scrollsaw Forum. :)
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Hi Stuart. There are any number of hardwoods you can use. Pine being the cheapest. There are many online dealers that will ship to the UK. Is there a home improvement/hardware store near you? That would be the first place I would look. I started by cutting whatever I could get my hands on. There are quite a few members on this forum from the UK and could probably direct you to exactly where you need to go locally. Don't be confused by it. You will find your favorites just by experimentation. Try everything. My personal favorite to cut and finish is walnut. Beautiful grain and polishes beautifully. Just be careful, many woods have a high toxicity level and can cause damage to your lungs. MDF will too, so use a dust mask.
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Welcome Stuart. If you are just starting out with a scroll saw, birch plywood may be a good start for you. Is fairly inexpensive and once you are more comfortable cutting that, you can move up to a hardwood of some kind.
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Greetings from South Dakota, USA. Welcome to the madness - as was stated, there are some folks on the forum from your part of the universe and should be able to assist with your query.
Hang in there, almost any wood will work, some just take a bit more patience than others. Enjoy and welcome.
Al
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Stuart
You might also want to be a member on the UK web site which is more general but does have a scroll forum. You can probably get some answers there that are unique to UK (such as more local wood sources) although this site also has many UK members.
http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/scrolling-scroll-saws.html
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Welcome from the home or Little League Baseball, Williamsport, PA, USA. You'll love this forum and this hobby. Practice, practice, practice.
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Thanks everyone. I'll start with a trip to a bigger harware store and see what I can find. Thanks for the welcome.
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Beside hardware stores:
Our lumber yards will sell oak and poplar cut to the specific length you need ($4-$5/bd-ft). Home improvement stores generally don't cut to length, but can stock a good selection - we (Central Ohio, USA) have oak, walnut, maple, hickory, poplar, and a few other hardwoods on the shelf.
Try local custom cabinet makers - they have a lot of cut-off ends of high quality hardwoods that they can't use and will give away or sell cheap.
Look for a local sawmill - even amateur ones. They can be very inexpensive. One near me sells seasoned walnut for $2/bd-ft.
If you want a bit of challenge, discarded wood pallets can be a good source for thin oak. 1/4" or 3/8" (6 to 10 mm) thick is ideal for fretwork, and if it's a little twisted, stained, or has nail holes then it can add to the final product.
Some people like to scroll cut acrylic (plexiglass, Lexan, polycarbonate, etc.). It takes a little different technique to keep it from welding back together as you cut, but it can make some really nice looking projects.
Have fun. This is a great hobby.
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Welcome !!! I'm John from Huntsville, Texas. Try starting with no.1 grade pine 3/4 inch. thick. It's cheap and easy to cut. From here you learn about stain's , paint and oil for the finish. What ever you use don't be afraid to make mistakes, that's the only way to learn.
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Welcome! I am Tony,aka,Toneman from Paris, Texas. Just a hint......if you have a cabinet shop nearby, do a little dumpster diving; you will find a lot of good wood too small for cabinet building but great for scrolling! Or, just ask them if you can have their scraps.
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Hi Stuart, welcome to the forum. I'm Marg from Australia so obviously I would be little help to you. :) But I am glad you joined us that way you will be able to learn more and become more addicted to scrolling just like the rest of us.
Marg
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Hi Stuart. Loophole from Boise, ID here. Im new too. So far I've had good luck getting 1/4" poplar at big box stores. I could resaw 3/4 but then have to run thru planer and for right now this seems to make more sense. Sorry for using inches instead of mm!!
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welcome to the forum i'm Todd from NL Canada