where to get wood for scrolling

[boffius]

Hi - I'm more or less new to scrolling and wondered if anyone can suggest where to get suitable wood from.

All I can find at the moment is the 18mm planed stuff that wickes sell (too thick) , MDF or plywood.

any help would be appreciated!

thanks,
Jon

 

[Gill]

Hi Jon

Welcome to the forum .

Where are you based? You don't need to be specific but it would help if you could give us an idea of the general area because someone here might know of a nearby source. There again, there's always the general list of timber merchants here that Chris (waterhead37) maintains.

Hang on... I should be getting indignant here... just what is wrong with MDF?!?!

:lol:

Gill

 

[Keith Smith]

Hi Jon,

Welcome to the forum.

The sort of sizes you need for scrolling would be considered scrap by many woodworkers. I normally have a pile of off cuts and I burn a whole lot more. If you find a local workshop you may find they are happy to give you some for the price of a pint.

Keith (who's just had his extensive pile of off cuts saved from a fiery end)

:lol:

 

[boffius]

thanks for the replies - I'm in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

I have plenty of offcuts in my outhouses (in fact I can't get in them!), but it's finding stuff thin enough that I have trouble with.

cheers

 

[Keith Smith]

thanks for the replies - I'm in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

I have plenty of offcuts in my outhouses (in fact I can't get in them!), but it's finding stuff thin enough that I have trouble with.

cheers

In which case you could do with a thicknesser, as long as your off-cuts aren't too short :wink:

 

[Gill]

I can relate to your problem, Boffius, says the scroller who has just saved an extensive pile of off cuts from a fiery end :lol: !

I have a planer thicknesser and unfortunately it can be very difficult to get it to dimension wood accurately for scrolling. In an ideal world, I would have enough money to buy a drum sanderwhich could do this, but unfortunately I'm rather impecunious. There are plans available for making these yourself which will reduce costs considerably, but I wouldn't trust myself to mount electric motors and such like. However, I could provide you with further details if you would like to explore this option further.

Until a couple of days ago I didn't even have a workbench. I've just acquired one and I'm wondering if I can produce a bench mounted sanding station which might be capable of dimensioning thin timbers accurately. I've got one or two ideas floating through my head based on adaptations of the New-Fangled Workbench concept, but nothing that I'd be happy to discuss openly yet.

Gill

 

[boffius]

Must admit I'm not keen on planer thicknessers and dont have room/cash for one anyway, but a good idea. I'll just have to keep my eyes out a bit more!

What thickness material do you two scroll with, by the way?

PS - I have an SIP scrollsaw - I'll reserve comment for now as it's not been put through its paces yet!

 

[CHJ]

Gill, I know someone not too distant from you who has a lathe, now these devices have a motor conveniently mounted to a rotating shaft, and this rotating shaft usually has a means of rotating a drum sized spindle on which to mount a length of sanding cloth. 8-[

If you can find someone close who has a nice kitty saw :lol: you should be able to make an adjustable platform to fit under said drum that might just do the job.

I have seen an easy to construct plan recently but for the life of me I can't put my finger on it at the mo' will keep looking.

EDIT: 'Twas here I seed it' and I'm sure I've seen the build details as well somewhere

 

[Gill]

:idea: That's definitely an option which is worth pursuing, Chas . It's about time said lathe was put to work but it would even be worthwhile buying a cheap lathe which I could dedicate to the task in my own workshop!

Boffius, one of the reasons I work principally in MDF is because, like you, I don't find it easy to source suitable wood for scrolling. I usually work in thicknesses between 4 and 18mm. I get the impression that most scrollers rarely work on wood that's thicker than 25mm unless it's fairly soft or they're stack cutting, especially intricate projects with dozens of piercing cuts. I have cut 100mm maple before - never again!

Gill

 

[CHJ]

Gill check PM.

 

[Paul.J]

I'm sure i saw something rigged up some where using a normal 3 or 4" belt sander inverted held in a vice for thinning down and smoothing small strips:?
Paul.J.