I build mountain dulcimers & have run into trouble with my scroll heads. I cut a silhouette through the 2.5"-3" block using a scroll saw. Yeah, not a good option. Broken blades, burned wood, injuries, all sorts of fun stuff!

My designs are mainly a star, sea star, heart, butterfly, & hummingbird. The silhouette is more than just our trademark - removing mass from the scroll head improves the sound of the first 4 frets. I really can't stop making them.

I remove as much wood as possible with a drill press first, but there's still a lot of scroll saw work left over.

Does anyone have better ideas on how to cut these silhouettes out? Lasers don't seem to cut through that thick of wood, from what I've heard. I'm looking into CNCs, but what I know about them could fit on a postage stamp, plus I don't know if they can do the points on the stars & hearts.

And advice, input, or direction is greatly appreciated!