Hi all

[_knotty]

What an excellent forum this is. I sure am glad I came across it!

I bought a Ryobi SC-160 scroll saw at a garage sale today for $60 CDN. It looks like it is in good condition so I'm hoping I didn't waste my money!? Anyways, I'm a complete 100% newb. I haven't even powered it up yet! I'm waiting to get a spot cleared in the garage and set up a good sturdy mount for it first. :D

So, from reading through the posts (there sure are a lot) I have pretty much answered most of my initial questions but I would like your opinion on wood. I work in a log home yard and have access to all manner of spruce, cedar, and fir scraps. I am wondering if anyone has worked with these species? Does the dryness/wetness of the wood matter very much? I would imagine dry is better than wet, but will wetter wood break blades or be more difficult to work with? Any suggestions or comments?

Cheers! :)

[Iain]

Wet wood is like soggy blotting paper, gums up the blade and is slow going, dryer the better, thinner is better too, depending upon what you are trying to achieve.
Horses for courses, give a few more clues.

[TEEJAY]

Get a medium blade (3 or 5) - wood not too thick (say 10mm or 1/2 inch) and experiment with different timbers - just do some simple cuts straight/circles and turns on the spot.

Many people use good quality ply as it is stable.

Wet timber cut will release stresses within and quite likely distort as it dries as well as cut badly as Iain said.

You will find a wealth of info on the web and sites worth manyhours viewing - enjoy ;)

[keju]

I agree.. wet's not good for scrolling at all. I did a relief cut eagle in osage orange ones.... broke several blades, had smoke coming out ( great vanilla cookie smell) and then made the additional mistake of putting the background cut out into the window because I had heard it darkens the wood..... it did..... and then didn't fit into it's place anymore!

I also agree with the #5 blade suggestion.... I use modified geometry ... seems it works for most jobs but the very finest.

Seems most folks in the US scroll on lots of ply... haven't seen any good ply over here in the hardware stores.. probably looking in the wrong place? Really do like cutting "real" wood ( quit laughing will you? lol) Love claret ash , white cedar , birdseye elm and my favourite is silky oak.

Juvy