Question about woodworking project

My girlfriend has a question for anyone who knows about woodworking: I need to know the best type of wood for creating children’s wall letters to be mounted on the wall. She has been using solid aspen but found the durability is not to par (1 letter broke when dropped and another snapped as she was cutting it). She uses a scroll saw for the cutting. Should she use something like birch plywood or would that be to hard on her blades? Anything that is durable and easy to cut is what she wants (not pine). Thank you in advance.

Don’t claim to be any kind of expert, but we do a lot of woodworking. Aspen is quite a brittle wood, as is ash, black walnut, and a few others. Oak, birch, or maple are easy to cut on a scroll saw, and are durable. As far as birch ply, you would want to use baltic birch ply, rather than the standard birch ply, as the standard has a lot of voids that would show when you cut it. I think Menards, Home Depot, and other lumber supply places have 1/4 and 1/2 sheets of baltic birch ply, so she could get a small piece and give it a try.

June

Are you going to paint the letters?? If so I would get some mdf and use that. Great stuff to work with and takes paint great. No plugs, voids, and no plys to see on the edges. I use it alot in the woodshop for alot of things that I am going to paint. Just my 2 cents.

If you use oak, be sure to use a good sealer on it to avoid splinters… if there is one to be found, a kid will find it.

Im not sure about birch, but maple will hold up and doesnt tend to splinter too bad. Poplar would be another very good choice. Its a little harder to cut but very durable.

you may want to look at yellow poplar, it comes in wide widths, is easy to cut and is strong. it also has a differnt look. lots of green yellow and white grain.
it sands easy. the price is not bad ether.

for finish try GEMVAR catalyzed lacquer its east to spray or brush on and is hard as nails when cured. you can get it at Diamond Vogel Paints.
it also keeps well in the fridge, it is a 2 part product
I mix up about 1/4 can at a time and it will last about 6 weeks if you keep it cold.

I just started using some Hickory for a project and it is nice to work with. I believe it is pretty tight grained, and would work well for smaller thinner pieces, like letters. A little spendy, but I think it will last

big G

well for kids letters that you are going to paint. look at birch, pine, maple. they will take paint really well. be sure to use like a sealer, like a spray can of kilz or prep right (sherwin williams). then you can use any latex paint you want over the top of that after a light sand. if you are going to clear coat, try some of the hard wood, hten if you want, you can brush some poly or laquer over it. if you are going to spray, or have equipment to spray them, you can use Sherwin pre catalized laquer, sand up nice and lays down smooth. if you are going to brush a coat of poly, add a little bit not much, but a little bit of paint thinner to the product in a different cup, that will help the brush strokes lay down a little better and not be so noticeable. if you have any other questions, shoot me a pm.

shane

I’m with dodge Boy. MDF is the way to go.

If your going to paint then MDF is the way to go.

Hickory is nice looking but can be a little hard to work with, but it looks real nice.

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I’m with dodge Boy. MDF is the way to go.

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MDF is ok too….I just hate the mess it makes…….even with a mask, that dust just seems to bother me a lot.