which saw

[SpunkyMama]

I want to make wood animals and building blocks for ds. Which type of saw should I get? Coping, scroll, dremel rotarty tool? others?

[katiemfree]

Hello! I have a scroll saw that is really fun to use and you can cut up to 1" thick, so it would be great for the animals, not so much for the blocks. Maybe other scroll saw models can cut thicker wood.

I have used a band saw before and and they are fantastic, but you might as well just buy some blocks, they are pricey. I do like using a hand saw for some things, and a coping saw would work for the animals, I think I would probably use a soft wood like pine if I was working with hand tools.

I have a small Dremel tool and it's ok, but doesn't seem powerful enough to actually do a lot of work, but mine only has sanding attachments I think. Good luck, sounds fun!

[SpunkyMama]

What kind of scroll saw do you have?

[bluebird68]

I would try and explore getting a used bandsaw. I borrowed my brother's to make a lot of wooden animals last year, and it was awesome. I had to return it, and am in the midst of making a farm set of animals for my youngest (tomorrow he is 2!), and went back to my scroll saw-- what a difference! I much prefer the bandsaw-- so much easier to feed the wood and handle it, IMO. There is a guard on the scroll saw that makes it hard to see the cut very well (guess i could just remove it). Anyway, the scroll is easy for the curvy cuts, but you can do much more substantial cutting with the band saw. Do you have a Craigs' List city near you? Hope that helps... have fun and good luck-- super fun to make wooden toys (oh! cutting stacking puzzles/nesting pieces is so doable with a band saw, too, and you can make thicker ones than one inch this way). Michelle

[SpunkyMama]

There are some band saws on sale off of Craigslist. What should I look for?

[bluebird68]

Good question, lol! My brother's was just a basic $99 model from Lowes, and I think was a 9" heighth, and did fine with up to 2.5" or so thick cuts, but when the wood got much thicker than that, the blade wavered and it seemed to make the wood feel like it was getting stuck. I think I read that the deeper blades (14 ") can cut really deep cuts, but are much more expensive.
I did use the scroll saw after writing the post to you, and removed the safety guard, and liked the saw much better than I had (I cut my finger when the guard was on, lol-- trying to cut too small a piece without a wedge of wood to feed it through-- not too smart!). Anyway, sorry not much help about specs to look for with a bandsaw. Just wanted you to know that my bro's worked fine, and was a very basic model. Good luck!

[sweetpeppers]

Originally Posted by bluebird68

Good question, lol! My brother's was just a basic $99 model from Lowes, and I think was a 9" heighth, and did fine with up to 2.5" or so thick cuts, but when the wood got much thicker than that, the blade wavered and it seemed to make the wood feel like it was getting stuck. I think I read that the deeper blades (14 ") can cut really deep cuts, but are much more expensive.
I did use the scroll saw after writing the post to you, and removed the safety guard, and liked the saw much better than I had (I cut my finger when the guard was on, lol-- trying to cut too small a piece without a wedge of wood to feed it through-- not too smart!). Anyway, sorry not much help about specs to look for with a bandsaw. Just wanted you to know that my bro's worked fine, and was a very basic model. Good luck!

I'm curious about how you cut out animals with a bandsaw. I have a decent benchtop model, and I could never do the intricate cuts required to make animals. If I could find a way to do it, I would love to. Bandsaws are so much more powerful. What size blade did you use? Mine only takes down to an 1/8 blade.