plywood

[dainge]

Has anyone tryed to use plywood for test patterens? I have been useing pine but would like to use something cheeper.

Thanks
Dale Ainge

[David McVicker]

Pine is about the cheapest wood you can get, however some of the guys and gals on the forum have talked about using "blue insulation foam." I'm not sure how cheap that is? One of the things I do is to make a carrier board for those carvings I want to do more than one of. The extra 7 inches for each board you carve can get quite expensive, and there's not a lot you can do with 2 pieces of 3 1/2" cut offs from each carving. I use plywood for my carrier boards. Someone around always has plywood they want to get rid of. You might even try one of your local lumber yards and see if they have any cut-offs you can have or buy at an even cheaper price.

[Jeff_Birt]

Plywood is not great for testing, you will undoubtedly find voids in the inner layers and you cannot relate the result you get back to solid wood. I have used a lot of MDF in the past to test patterns. I can get a full sheet of 3/4" MDF around $25 here, and test a lot of patterns on it. The problem is that the dust is VERY fine and is not really good for you to inhale; not to mention it really makes a mess of the machine. My advise is: If you have a downdraft system try some MDF, if not stick with pine.

[TIMCOSBY]

bussinesses that have pallets they usually throw away. take apark and glue up. can't get cheaper than free. honestly though i just hate to see anything go to waste just the way i am.

[TIMCOSBY]

pallets have tiger oak 1/2" boards on top. sometimes you can't tell till you run it through the planer sometimes you can.

[Ropdoc]

Is plywood hard on the carve bit or cut bit? Seems with the glue it would dull the tools real fast.

[Kenm810]

I ordered and carved several pieces of Baltic Birch 3/4'' Plywood, 1' x 1' Squares 15-Ply
It carved at .250 to .50" about the same as Maple with no problems -- Stained and Finished up nice with minimal sanding

[lawrence]

+1 on Jeff's suggestion for MDF-- consistent material that is truly flat. It actually takes a paint finish very nicely if you prime it properly. It is also the cheapest material I have found to carve, however you MUST put masking tape on the bottom so the roller has something to grip-- it is just too slick otherwise.


Lawrence

[lynnfrwd]

+1 on Jeff's suggestion for MDF-- consistent material that is truly flat. It actually takes a paint finish very nicely if you prime it properly. It is also the cheapest material I have found to carve, however you MUST put masking tape on the bottom so the roller has something to grip-- it is just too slick otherwise.


Lawrence

Another thing to keep in mind about the MDF is: If you live in a high humidity area, that MDF dust can turn into concrete inside your machine. Dust collection, as suggested already, is very important!

[lawrence]

Another thing to keep in mind about the MDF is: If you live in a high humidity area, that MDF dust can turn into concrete inside your machine. Dust collection, as suggested already, is very important!

Great point-- I would certainly not recommend carving (or cutting) MDF without good dust collection. The sawdust is simply nasty (and as it usually contains formaldehyde, dangerous) The sawdust has the consistancy of baking flour, so it does "collect" very well with a DC.

Heres a couple of videos I did recently showing how using above AND below the workpiece dust collection can work with MDF
(turn down your sound for this one!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DapHPycGs64 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DapHPycGs64)
and the final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYBGV5OvEh4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYBGV5OvEh4)

Hope this helps
Lawrence

[jaroot]

I've used plywood for a couple of projects. If you pick good, void free, plywood the results can be very nice!