Choosing the best wood for your latest scroll saw project can be a daunting task. Hardness, strength, color and availability are some of the things you need to consider. Depending on the type of project you are doing, these factors can greatly affect the outcome. But with all the different species of wood available, choosing the right one can be confusing. Below is a listing of the most commonly available North American hardwoods available to scroll sawyers and also some of their most predominant characteristics.
Ash - Ash grain is very pronounced which looks great in some places, but not so much when used on intricate scroll saw fretwork or portrait patterns. - Generally the heartwood is brown in color while the sapwood is light brown. - While being lighter in weight, ash is relatively close to birch, maple and oak on the hardness scale although it does tend to be more difficult to cut. - Ash is ring porous, which means you have to use a pore filler if you are looking for a glass-like finish. - Grain looks similar to that of oak and, with the right color stain, ash can be made to resemble oak.
Basswood - Very soft and light (about equal to pine in hardness), basswood is often used for carving. - The grain is fine and even, again lending well to carving but it can also be used for less delicate scroll work - most notably segmentations where shaping is required. - Basswood heartwood is pale brown with dark streaks while the sapwood is creamy-white.
Birch, Yellow - Being quite hard, strong and even-grained, yellow birch is very good for cutting delicate fretwork and small pieces with little difficulty. - One of the cheapest hardwoods available. - The biggest downsides are that the grain isnt very pronounced and it often doesnt take well to stain - Birch veneered 1/8" plywood, being cheap and strong with tight grain, is widely used in scroll saw portraits (Although usually Finnish or Baltic birch ply is used for these). - Yellow birch heartwood is reddish-brown while the sapwood is white.
Cherry - Cherry heartwood is brown and the sapwood is light yellow. However, these colors darken over time and when exposed to sunlight, they then take on a reddish-brown hue with the heartwood remaining darker than sapwood. - Although softer than all but basswood and poplar, cherry has fairly straight grain and is quite strong. - Being easy to cut and finish while also being strong and having a very beautiful natural color makes cherry a great choice for most any scroll saw patterns. - If not properly dried, cherry is more prone to warp than most species.
Hickory - As well as being strong, hickory is significantly harder than the other woods listed here, making it difficult to cut and sand. - When drying, it is prone to warp and end crack, especially when air drying. Sealing the ends is recommended when drying and finishing. - Heartwood is brown or reddish-brown with sapwood being near white. - If you are willing to put up with the drying and cutting difficulties, what you are left with is a beautiful variation in color and grain pattern that look great on the right project.
Holly - Holly is very easy to work with. It has even grain and is quite strong. - Softer than most it is quite close to cherry in hardness. - Being quite uncommon and also difficult to dry without warping makes holly the most expensive wood listed here. - Almost pure white in color with barely visible grain make holly THE choice for white when doing intarsia as well as inlay.
Maple - Maple behaves in many ways like yellow birch. It is just as hard and strong and cuts the same in general although there are many species of maple and some are softer. - Relatively inexpensive, starting around the same price as yellow birch. However, figured wood such as birdseye, quilted or curly maple is more expensive. - Like birch, maple can get blotchy when stained although with figured maple this can be a pleasant effect. - Heartwood is medium brown and the sapwood is white with a slight pink-red hue. - Maple has a wide variety of grain patterns, colors and features in one type of wood. This combined with being strong, relatively inexpensive and beautiful when properly finished make maple a favorite choice for many woodworking projects, scroll saw or otherwise.
Oak, Red - Heartwood is tan with a slight pink hue and sapwood in near white - In relation to scroll saw work, red oak behaves much like white oak. The grain, however, is coarser making it even more prone to chip and crack along the edges. - Red oak lacks the cellular quality that makes white oak water resistant and can actually turn black when wet due to a reaction with tannic acid found throughout.
Oak, White - Heartwood is light brown with sapwood being paler - White oak has a less porous grain than red oak and is somewhat rot resistant and is well suited for outdoor use. - On the hardness scale it is close to maple and birch however it is harder to cut especially on the scroll saw due to the blade wanting to follow the grain - Because of its heavy grain, oak will chip and cracks easily on its edges making it ill-suited for delicate or complicated fretwork and requiring care when routing, etc.
Poplar - Poplar is soft, being not much harder than most pine. Its even grained and relatively lightweight. - Heartwood can vary from tan to yellow, blue, green or even purple while the sapwood is near white. - Poplar is too fragile for more delicate scroll work although the colors and grain patterns can be useful in intarsia.
Walnut, Black - Heartwood is chocolate with a creamy white sapwood. When air dried the heartwood can take on a slight purple hue. - On the hardness scale walnut is softer than maple, birch and ash and slightly harder than cherry. - Walnut is relatively easy to work with, finished easily and is quite strong. - When used for overlay or trim in contrast with lighter woods, walnut can be most useful as it is the only dark North American hardwood.
Although there are many types of wood available to scroll sawyers for their projects, choosing the type that best suits your pattern and personal taste doesnt have to be difficult. Knowing the basic characteristics of the most common wood available to scroll sawyers will help you decide which one will offer your best results.
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