What Are the Best Woods to Use With a Scroll Saw?
The first known scroll saws in the United States date to the 1860s. Scrolling is a popular hobby for woodworking enthusiasts. The most popular scroll saw woods are softwoods, hardwoods and plywood. Consider the availability, color, durability, grain characteristics and hardness when selecting wood for your project. Keep the aesthetics of your project in mind.
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Softwoods
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Pine is soft and easy to work with, making it the ideal choice for beginning woodworkers. The common grade often has knots, while the select grade doesn't. Choose the select grade for furniture making. Pine is sold in standard thicknesses and widths. For example, a 1x4 will be 3/4" thick and 3½" wide. Store the wood indoors and place small pieces of scrap wood between the boards. Pine is a soft wood and damages easily.
Hardwoods
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The most popular hardwoods are ash, birch, cherry, maple, oak, poplar and walnut. You can find red oak and poplar at lumberyards and home centers. Specialty stores carry a more diverse selection of woods. Hardwoods are sold in random widths and lengths. Oak and ash stain beautifully. Birch, cherry and maple have a uniform texture. Poplar ranges in color from beige to olive green and is an excellent choice for projects you plan to paint or stain. Hardwoods tend to bend, so weight or clamp the wood down.
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Plywood
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Plywood is made by gluing thin layers of wood in a stack and fusing the layers together. It comes in 4-foot-by-8-foot sheets. Woodworkers often prefer Baltic birch plywood from Finland, Norway and Russia. It contains five layers of wood rather than the three found in ordinary plywood. Furniture grade plywood has a wood veneer, typically birch, cherry or maple, glued to one side.
MDF
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MDF stands for medium-density fiberboard. It is beige to medium brown in color, with a compact sawdust appearance. It has a smooth surface and cuts equally well in all directions. You do need to experiment with it to ensure the coloring works with your project design because you will be able to see the sawdust core. It works well for the interior panels of kitchen cabinetry and is perfect for painting. However, it is fragile and tends to disintegrate when it gets wet.
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