What Wood for Ornaments?

[Toneman]

Just trying to get opinions and advice on tree ornament wood?
I plan on stack cutting several ornaments and need ya'll's advce on which is the best wood. I have cut some already, using poplar hardwood and baltic plywood. They are both easy to cut, but, are they really strong enough for fancy fret ornaments like snow flakes,etc.?

Tony,aka,Toneman

[scrollgirl]

Hi, Tony:

The ply will definitely be strong enough.  I am not sure about the poplar.  Poplar is really a soft wood and the grain can be rather 'loose'.  If it were me, I would prefer to use something more on the line of maple.  Maple is light in color like the poplar, but the grain is much tighter and very even, which holds up to small details well.  I would hate to see you make beautiful poplar ornaments only to have them break!     Good luck.  Let us know how you do.

Sheila

[GrayBeard]

Follow Sheila's advice...for some 'thicker' ornaments I have used Ash, Oak, Walnut and thicker Maple.

~~~GB~~~

[cameronj]

I use mostly 1/8" baltic birch and cut lots of detail with no problem.  Last year, I planed some walnut to 3/16", and made some nice ornaments from that wood.
Jim

[mrsn]

I like using maple, cherry and walnut for ornaments. I use different thicknesses depending on what I have and the pattern I am cutting, usually between 1/8" to 1/2".
I also use 1/8 Baltic birch ply. Ply will hold up to many more cuts then hardwoods. I like dyeing ply ornaments with food coloring. (Super easy way to add color) there is also a clear glitter spray paint that is useful.

[edward]

 I generally use 1/4" oak for my ornaments, like the way they finish.  Edward

[dgman]

So Tony, As you can see, you can use just about any kind of wood for your ornaments! Try them all and use what works for you. You defiantly want to have an assortment of different woods and thickness's and even finishes.
I use hardwoods in thickness's of 1/8", 3/16" and 1/4". The woods I have used are Cherry, Walnut, Maple, Red Oak, Mahogany, Sapele, poplar, Yellow heart, Purple heart, Red heart and Padauk. Basically, I use what ever I have on hand.

[Toneman]

Thank ya'll so much for your advice and opinions. I ordered a variety of wood last night and will get started in a couple of weeks on the ornaments.(doc said 3 weeks after cataract surgery). I plan on working in the ornaments between other projects so I don't get bored with just them.

Tony,aka,Toneman

[UHMNL]

Last year I cut 550 X-Mas ornaments from 1/16" BB. I always used 1/8" but with the 1/16" I could stack more, for the easy patterns up to 10, for the intricate patterns I stacked about 7 or 8 high.
People liked the thin once.
You can try this company: http://www.sigmfg.com/cgi-bin/dpsmart.exe/MainMenuFV5.html?E+Sig
FD Mike

[maritimer]

I myself like thin ornaments so I use 1/8" maple and oak and don't have any problems.  Good luck with whatever you choose.

[tux_linux]

Last year I used a lot of the Aircraft ply too, that Mike suggested. It's a really fine quality and YES - it goes with the most fret ornaments. One needs a good zero clearance insert to do so.

I guess I will use some again this year (still in planing mode...)