Whats the best wood for carving photos in ?

Post by **RTM** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 2:51 am

I have been playing with the demo, (carved the puppy sample about ten times).Was wondering what the best type of wood for carving in is.
I've tried oak without very good results.hard maple works fair,but the material I have is'nt the best.I've got one pic carved good and the others don't show up real good. I thank it might be the grain.
Before I tryed anythin else I thought I would ask what has worked best for you ALL.

THANKS Ralph

Post by **CRFultz** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:54 am

Hey Ralph

Welcome to the Vectric forum

The tighter the grain the better the picture.....Most clear maple works great...
I have used maple veneer plywood and kept the depth shallow and that works good to.
Finland Birch plywood works good...there are no voids and you can get it down to 1/32 thick
so your picture can be glued to something round.
Any hobby shop has nice clean plywood that will work but make sure you seal it before the stain so it doesn't bleed.
Hope this helps ya out, and please ask questions and keep us posted on your work.

Chuck

Post by **CRFultz** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:04 am

I forgot to add that when I started cutting pics I used regular kitchen cutting boards from Wally World.
There about 5 bucks each and the wood is clear and flat...
They make nice pieces to hang up in Mom's kitchen.

Chuck

Post by **RTM** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 1:51 am

Thanks for the reply, I suspected that a harder streight grain wood would be the best.
the maple i used was just some left over scraps, which the grain was'nt real good and was discolored. I will have to get some better.
When cutting plywood dos'nt the venear get cut off expsosing the core ?

Post by **CRFultz** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:33 am

RTM wrote:Thanks for the reply, I suspected that a harder streight grain wood would be the best.
the maple i used was just some left over scraps, which the grain was'nt real good and was discolored. I will have to get some better.
When cutting plywood dos'nt the venear get cut off expsosing the core ?

If you use a high quality Birch with no inner voids, it will be ok....

Give Sloan's Wood Shop a call and they will get ya fixed up.
They sell plywood and hardwoods for scroll saw folks.
I recommend the Finland birch...really nice wood.
They have 9" wide by 1/4" thick by 24" long, Hard maple that works great for Photo Vcarving for $6.58.

There web site is here
http://www.sloanswoodshop.com/default.htm
There nav buttons won't work on my computer so I use the links at the bottom of the page

Good luck...keep us posted.

Chuck