Plywood

[Rainman2014]

I Dont Get It. Why Is Plywood So Popular Is Scrolling ? The Thing That I Love About Working With Wood Is Working With Beautiful Wood. I Once Saw A Dome Clock And As I Walked Up To It I Became So Disappointed When I Saw It Was Done In Oak Plywood. Ugh !!! I Can See Using It As A Beginner And Maybe For Cheap Gifts, But For A Keeper Piece, It Just Dosent Do It For Me. I've Been Scrolling For 18 Yrs Now And I Have Always Used The Most Beautiful Piece Of Wood That Enhances The Pattern. Jeff Z. Has Some Of The Most Detailed Patterns Out There And I Have Cut A Few. The Problem Is That Most His Patterns Dont Complement The Wood-they Chew It Up. Is That Why People Use Plywood. I Love Scrolling But I Love A Beautiful Piece Of Wood More. I Actually Have A Few Pieces Hanging Around With Nothing Cut Out Because Of Their Beauty. I Like Complicated Patterns, But It Has To Enhance The Wood Piece To Get My Attention. Just A Thought ! Rain-man

[minowevie]

I Dont Get It. Why Is Plywood So Popular Is Scrolling ? The Thing That I Love About Working With Wood Is Working With Beautiful Wood. I Once Saw A Dome Clock And As I Walked Up To It I Became So Disappointed When I Saw It Was Done In Oak Plywood. Ugh !!! I Can See Using It As A Beginner And Maybe For Cheap Gifts, But For A Keeper Piece, It Just Dosent Do It For Me. I've Been Scrolling For 18 Yrs Now And I Have Always Used The Most Beautiful Piece Of Wood That Enhances The Pattern. Jeff Z. Has Some Of The Most Detailed Patterns Out There And I Have Cut A Few. The Problem Is That Most His Patterns Dont Complement The Wood-they Chew It Up. Is That Why People Use Plywood. I Love Scrolling But I Love A Beautiful Piece Of Wood More. I Actually Have A Few Pieces Hanging Around With Nothing Cut Out Because Of Their Beauty. I Like Complicated Patterns, But It Has To Enhance The Wood Piece To Get My Attention. Just A Thought ! Rain-man

I like using Ply wood. wish I could afford to make every thing out of the woods I love. But just wont to keep my projects going. and sometimes Ply wood works fine for me. In some ways, its really more durabale. on small fretwork. and I don't mind the ends. sometimes that adds some nice contrast. I agree, with , when I wont something to be a treasure. I do use the best wood I can find. but ply wood keeps me going when I don't have the other wood. here is a couple of my projects, cut from 1/4 oak ply wood. and I think they are great. they would of corse. look better out of white or red oak. but I can always cut them latter. if it requiers it. or if i wont to sell. or give as a fine gift. what you think Rain-Man. your friend Evie

[Rainman2014]

Using Plywood

Evie, I Like Everyone Else In Here Am Impressed With Your Work, It Is Great !!! Show Off-lol-- And I Get Your Point About Keeping Going, But I Compare A Piece Of Work Done With Plywood (of Any Kind) And Compare It To Say A Piece Of Cherry And Threris No Comparison. And If You Retail Your Work It Would Go For Twice The Price. I Cut 3/4 Inch Slabs From All Over The Country. I Did A Show And The Other Scroller Used Mostly Ply Wood, There Was No Comparison. My Pieces Were Going For Ten Times The Amount He Was Getting. I Guess If You Dont Retail Your Work It Dosent Matter, I Guess I'm Saying I'm Just Suprised That So Many People Use Ply Wood. No Offence Intended ! Rain Man

[minowevie]

Evie, I Like Everyone Else In Here Am Impressed With Your Work, It Is Great !!! Show Off-lol-- And I Get Your Point About Keeping Going, But I Compare A Piece Of Work Done With Plywood (of Any Kind) And Compare It To Say A Piece Of Cherry And Threris No Comparison. And If You Retail Your Work It Would Go For Twice The Price. I Cut 3/4 Inch Slabs From All Over The Country. I Did A Show And The Other Scroller Used Mostly Ply Wood, There Was No Comparison. My Pieces Were Going For Ten Times The Amount He Was Getting. I Guess If You Dont Retail Your Work It Dosent Matter, I Guess I'm Saying I'm Just Suprised That So Many People Use Ply Wood. No Offence Intended ! Rain Man

Rain-man. your so silly, I'm not offended at all. you did hit on one point though. sometimes , folks can't afford the really good stuff. and if I was to sell things. stack cutting some of the plywoods. I could sell alot more, it is really alot easyer to cut. so I could stack cut more. mmmm maybe not. but I could sell them faster. and they would last . the one thing I do like a bout GOOD ply wood Is. it is glued up in a way , that it is cross grained. and the little pieces wont brake off so easy.( good ply wood , meening not voids inside , and the venear is thick.) I have made some pretty things with oak. and the pieces brock in a hart beat. hear is a exsampale of one. It was made of quoter sawn white oak. it brock , just changing the battery. had to hold it just right, or the flowers would breack off. a costumer.(not wonting to fix it or even nowing how.) would not like that. not that plywood would not break. but not as easy. just my oppionion. your freind Evie

[Rolf]

Plywood

Rainman
It really depends on what the project calls for, and personal taste. I do some very delcate and detailed ornaments with lots of veining in 1/16 plywood. The details would be lost in a darker exotic. I have tried cutting them in cherry, it just doesn't look right. I also wouldn't like to handle 1/16 solid wood.
On the other hand I wouldn't do a clock or something like that in plywood.
I have a bloodwood plank that I has been waiting for a project for at least a year, can't bring myself to cut it.

[minowevie]

sorry , It seems I can't seem to get the pictuer up. but here is another try. this clock is only. 5"x7". and very fragile. your friend Evie

[Rainman2014]

plywood

Evie, I'd Buy Anything You Make, Even If It Was Cut Out Of Paper !!! Rain Man

[Mick Walker]

RAIN MAN, some people like Chevys some like Fords. Some like solid wood some like plywood. To each his own. Mick.

[CanadianScroller]

I read somewhere long ago in a place far far away that Plywood was invented for scrolling and fretwork. The lamination's gave the pieces the strength required to be durable. Also the sice of a piece was easier to cut as a panel.
Volumes could be written on the choice of materials and each one has its own merits.

Some people hate veneers, Others take the veneers and create wonderful marquetry pictures with them.
Some people hate MDF, it is ideal for making jigs, and with proper construction practices can make durable furniture.

I have to admit that I love cutting cherry and black walnut, but I also love cutting BBply. I find it strong and durable, it takes a finish well. If the piece is thin and the edges are stained dark you cannot see the plies, If the edges are thick you can use the plies as a decoration.

Evie has mentioned two good points, cost and strength.
When I first started scrolling I wondered just the same as RainMan did why people would consider ply, That is because I was using garbage I had wood panelling and it didn't even make good sawdust.

Baltic Birch cant be beat for so many projects, Give it a try.

[GrayBeard Phil]

Rain Man (and others)

From Personal experience when I started to scroll saw:

There is a common phenomenon I have run into with thin woods: Case Hardened. This does occur more often on woods I resaw and plane to 1/4 inch thick. After cutting the fretwork, the released wood finishes drying out, and the resulting product is nothing but twisted, cupped, or racked useless "exercise in practice cutting."

Never use general plywood, nor the so called furniture grade plywood. You really need to get hold of any of the following brand named multi-veneered wood: Appleply, Baltic Birch, Finish Birch, and so forth. Birch Plywood is not Baltic Birch, since the latter is a trade name of a specific product.

Some of the WEB companies listed in this site's "Other Great Sites" offer scroll saw grade multi-veneered wood with the top veneer is a specific hard wood. Again These are not 'Furniture Grade' Plywood. Don't take my word for it, Carter uses these woods all the time for his puzzles.

In short, solid wood made into fretwork has a chance of warping, BB mulit-veneered wood won't. (At least not that I have heard on this forum anyway.)

Your choice, your projects, your decision. What ever you choose, is the correct choice for you. Period. No second guessing.

Try some real Baltic Birch, you could always hide the results and never tell anyone. Go ahead, try the Dark Side, Turn your back on the Wood Pruist Force. Join us on the Dark Side, and united with my MASTER we could rule the .....
{sorry wrong movie script}

Phil

[William Young (SE BC)]

I have made hundreds of clocks over the years including the Dome Clock, the Roman Cathedral and three Rhinelanders all out of solid oak and solid walnut.
But in recent years with the cost of transporting the hardwoods from the east to out west where I live due to increase in fuel costs etc the cost of hardwoods has gone through the roof and is no longer a viable option for me. Those hardwoods don't grow out here in softwood forest land. I envy people that live where hardwood is plentifull.
So after advocating using solids for many years , I reluctantly switched to baltic birch plywood and was surprised at my increase in sales by being able to sell for less and make more on each one.. I guess I can quote Evie on that one.
I still make solid wood ones on special request as long as the customer doesn't mind paying $100.00 more for the price of the wood and the time it takes to mill it into panels.
Below are pictures of clocks made with BB. At three feet distance it is almost impossible to tell them from solid woods and some people not familiar with woods could care less. I also agree they are much stronger. I will ship a BB clock because of its strength but never a solid wood clock. Solid ones are picked up here and it is the buyers responsibilty for damage as soon as they leave and I make that clear. Proper staining and finishing is the secret to nice looking BB clocks..
These Worthingtons were stained to resemble red oak


And this Manchester was finished in cherry to match my customer's furniture.
I have made literally dozens of these two clocks and I still keep getting referral sales from them so at least for me, I guess BB is not all that bad after all..


W.Y.

[minowevie]

Will , I guess it just goes to show ya. what a pro can do with ply. Wow. you sure did a nice job on these. your friend Evie

[Rainman2014]

Using Plywood

William,you And Evie Both Are Two Of The Best Scrollers I've Come Across. I Want To Once Again State That I Mean No Offence To Anyone. The Reason I Bring This Up Is That I Just Did A Show And An Old Timer Came Up , Looked At My Work(keep In Mind-i Do Large Slabs) And Made Negative Comments About My Using Spiral Blades. So I Go Over And Look At His Work, I See Some Beautiful Pieces, But All Was Done Using Plywood, Which To Me Cheapened The Look Of His Work. The Thing Is Bill, He Was Asking Top Dollar If Not More For The Work. I Thought About It For A Couple Of Days And Just Thought I Would Get You All's Input. If Nothing Else, It's Made For An Interesting Thread So Far. All---rain-man

[Jediscroller]

I use both . Why limit yourself to one or the other (although I can understand the cost problem). I really like cutting and designing very intricate patterns, I've cut many out of BB Ply and several out of hardwoods as well. I find Oak about the worst for intricate pieces as it seems to break much easier than other hardwoods. Mahogany, Maple, Lyptus, Padauk, Walnut and Brazilian Cherry have all worked very well for me though. Purple heart has worked well but can be very brittle. With regards to clocks, I use the type of wood as a selling point. What strikes me as funny though is that people (my customers that is) think so highly of oak. I always thought of oak as a cheap fiIler wood yet nonwoodworkers think it's this exotic expensive stuff. If I have 4 models of a clock in Oak, Cherry, Walnut and Mahogany, this is the order they'll sell in. The Oak always sells first, Mahogany is just not popular for clocks for some reason. On the other hand, portraits cut in mahogany slabs sell almost instantly and for hundreds of dollars. I've never made a clock out of plywood so I don't know how they would sell around here.

Kevin

[Rolf]

Picture ?

Evie,

That clock is beautiful, but what really intrests me is that unusual piece of wood next to it. Would you mind posting a picture of it.
It looks like driftwood.