Cutting veins

[OPi]

Need some suggestions about blade size for cutting veins. The pattern is a bighorn sheep and most of the detail are veins. Not too thin, not too thick??? Suggestions greatly appreciated.

[julief]

I would suggest a 2/0 spiral.  If you are not familiar with spirals, practice first on a scrap piece.  There is a learning curve.

[Bill Wilson]

Depends a little on the pattern.  If the veining is very close together, then a smaller blade is better.  The previous suggestion of a 2/0 spiral is a pretty good starting point.

If you aren't comfortable with spirals, you can use straight blades.  Again, the size depends on the detail in the pattern.  Some folks even first cut the vein with a straight blade, then follow up with a spiral, to open it up a bit.

[Jim Finn]

I am not doing fretwork.  I do a lot of inlay and some veining is involved.  I just use a #5 straight blade.

[OPi]

I used a #5 like Jim said.  I thought it turned out very well.  My dear sweet wife said it was aweSOME.  There is a fine line between aweSOME and aweFUL (this is especially true when using a scrollsaw).