# Scrolling walnut end grain



## Ken74 (1 mo ago)

I have several walnut live edge rounds each approximately 15" diameter and 2 1/4" thick. My plan is to reduce thickness to 1 3/4" with router sled. Then mill out the center design area to about 3/4" thick to the inside edge of the sapwood. The sapwood and attached bark will become the picture frame. My question is can a design be scroll sawed on end grain?


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## John Smith_inFL (Dec 15, 2017)

Ken, do you have any wood similar to the round that you can practice on?
When were the cookies cut? Is the wood still green or high moisture content?


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## Davevand (Feb 10, 2016)

It will depend on the rounds. Are they checked or have cracks in them? If so I don't think scrolling them will work very well. The rounds will also need to be dry, if not they will crack after you saw them and they dry out.


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

You will be fine. Here is one such example I've done - a red oak potpourri box. The box was turned on the lathe, with the lid having the center reduced similar to what you describe. Then the top was cut out on the scroll saw. I didn't leave the live edge, but you can see how the sapwood 'frames' the piece before it turns into heartwood (more at outside the box scroll saw projects):










As Dave mentions, you probably want to make sure the wood is dry and repair any cracks before cutting - as otherwise it might be difficult to get to them. You can see a couple of very small cracks in the above photo that I filled with (black) epoxy before being turned/cut.

Cheers,
Brad


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## Ken74 (1 mo ago)

The wood has been kiln dried. I sanded both sides on drum sander so they are smooth, parallel and any flaws are more visible. There doesn't appear to be any cracks in heartwood. The sapwood is free of any cracks so it should hold together for the frame. I shellacked sapwood to bark seam then epoxy this entire seam. Any cracks that show up after milling the center out hopefully will be removed during scroll sawing. Thanks for the pictures Brad. That is similar to what I plan to do on this end grain cookie except I don't know what my design will be yet.


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## DanKrager (Apr 13, 2012)

I'm really surprised a walnut cookie survived drying without cracking. It does happen though and you are fortunate. If your scroll sawing will remove material relatively uniformly distributed then I don't foresee any issues. In fact, removing material from the center can significantly reduce tension that causes splits, depending upon the pattern. A relatively coarse blade may work better because the grain orientation will produce a stringy waste instead of short grain dust. You've made it this far, so far so good! 
Merry Christmas!
DanK


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## blaughn (Jul 23, 2016)

I do a lot of scrolling. The biggest concern I would have is the drop-outs. End grain is far weaker than cross grain material. I would suggest you seek advice at Scrollsawvillage.com Folks there are scroll saw fanatics and you will certainly find several who can answer your questions first hand.


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## GrumpyGolfGuy (Apr 29, 2020)

I scroll end grain all the time. The thin parts will have a tendency to curl on your you may need to alter the plan slightly otherwise you should be fine.

Chris


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