Practice wood?

[nickpoore]

What do you guys use to practice.

I just ordered a new machine, and know I'm going to screw up a lot.
I was thinking about starting off with MDF.

Also, in addition to the machine, what do I need to look at?
Do I need rollers, or anthing special?

[Azbear]

I use cheap pine from old discarded pallets. It takes some prep of the boards to get a decent one to carve well, but hey, it's free. Nail pulling, cutting a straight edge for the sensor to read, stuff like that. My customers don't mind the 1st article run on this type of wood.

Some old discarded pallets have pretty fine oak after the prep if that is your fancy. Again, free is free.

If old pallets are not what you have in mind, cabinet shops have discards at times for free, construction sights as well.

[Reset]

Most Home Depot stores have a cart in the lumber section for "culls", boards and such for 50¢ and a $1. Pine, MDF, etc. Just sort through it an leave the warped boards... :D

Tommy

[Digitalwoodshop]

See my post's for the Carrier board. You can use short boards as long as you don't do a cut path.

Remember a poor quality board that is tapered in height or width will cause a jam and tear a sand paper belt or break a X drive gear.

A free source of Wood I found was a Lear Truck Cap dealer. Every Cap comes with 2 boards bolted to the bottom for transit. I have a 8 foot pile of boards from my local dealer. With a thickness planer and jointer your all set. Ask around you would be surprised the places you could find wood. Working for Sony in San Diego I had access to lots of quality plywood that packed the space between the last pallet in the trailer and the back of the trailer. Made some nice stuff with it. That place is now a empty lot, long gone but you might find local sources.

Good Luck,

AL

[pkunk]

I use my scrap (mostly) for CW projects and give some away. Find a cabinet shop & ask.

[liquidguitars]

Number #2 pine 1x12X8 are good for testing shapes. For guitars I cut the knots away and glue the clear strips of pine into wider planks of 14" works well for body testing.

LG

[pkunk]

Glue ups of narrow pieces if you can sand or plane them flat are much more stable (resistant to warp & twist) than full size pieces of wood from the tree.
Center cut 1x12 of almost any species, when carved, stands a very good chance of warping once the carving has reduced some of the tension that is inherent in most wood. If you glue the same piece of wood cut into 3 strips, but reverse the growth rings, it will remain flat and true.