lake9guy Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 1. Pinned blades vs plain end blades- On my inexpensive scroll saw (Task Force from the orange store long ago) it is so easy to change pinned blades and difficult to change plain end blades. Looking over Olsen blade catalog, I see just a few pinned blades and many plain end. What am I missing here? Does (almost) every experience scroller use plain ends? (I tried one plain end and gave up). 2. I recently reviewed several new scroll saws on the market. Many reviews talk about how difficult it is to frequently change plain end blades. Some of the mid-price saws like the Porter Cable say they make it easy. What has been your experience? 3. Yesterday I tried making long scroll cuts with an Olsen FR42401 .070 x .010 and could not control it nearly as good as the wider .100 x .018 blade. Turned a perfectly good piece of 3/4 birch plywood into almost trash can stock. Thinking about using only the .100 size. Any comments from you experienced scrollers? Thanks for you help-- as an engineer I tend to focus on detailed stuff and it kinda bugs me that the mechanical design of even low price saws don't make plain end saw change easy. Edward AKA lake9guy amazingkevin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpardue Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 All i use are Olson plain blades. My Dewalt saw will not take pin blades. My porter cable will take both. You have a larger choice when it comes to plain blades. I know there is already been several posts on what blades everyone uses & why. I cut 1" hardwoods from intarsia and dont have a problem with the right blade it cuts like butter. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Couple simple answers: If you do detail fret work you need to us plain end blades because you need to be able to thread the blade through a very small hole in the wood. I do not think it is hard at all to install the plain end blades, the clamps on saws made to use them are quick and easy to use. Maybe just a little more practice and it will become easier on your saw. i do no know what the clamps are like on your saw. Here is a pretty good article on what blade to use for different types/thickness' of wood. http://mikesworkshop.com/whatblad.htm there are many charts on the internet also that will show which thickness each blade is made for. I this there is a good one the Olsen has. I use to have it printed and kept it by my saw when I first started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredfret Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Plain end blades are for doing fretwork is small areas with much smaller blades than can be made using pins. I have a Dewalt 788 and a RBI Hawk both use ONLY plain end blades. I can usually change from one type/size blade to another is about 30 sec. Tension adjustment can take longer on the RBI only when changing from Large to Small blades because the tension adjust is on the rear of the saw. I think many of the complaints you are reading about are from people who have to use additional tools to change blades. My old Dremel saw took about 3 min to change plain end blades (the prime reason I got rid of it) Fredfret Wichita, Ks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryEA Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) It takes me about 15 to 20 seconds to change blades, thread and begin cutting. Primarily I use .026 x .011 blades. Others are .022 x .008 ... .029 x .013 Largest blade I use is about .035 x .015 When I am finished cutting a piece of fretwork..... some of what I have already cut is still too small to fit a .100 x .018 blade in. I have Delta saws..... 40-690 & 40-694 (I think thats the numbers) Edited January 25, 2016 by LarryEA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lake9guy Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 To Bpardue, Scrappile, Fredfret and LarryEA: thanks for your quick response-- I read all of these comments with good interest! This is what I was hoping for to help me learn. Edward AKA lake9guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkey Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Most of us are doing detailed work so we use plain end blades. I have a Dewalt scroll saw and it is easy to change holes and blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Monk Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 I have a Porter Cable and I don't think it is very handy to changed unpinned blade. I'm anxious to upgrade. dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky2 Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Edward, nowadays most new better quality saws only take plain end blades. It's generally the cheaper saws that take pinned end blades, but, most of them now will take a plain end blade also. The quality of the saw, along with the quality of the blades will make a difference in the quality of your cutting. Plus, as others have mentioned, you need plain end blades to do fretwork and fine detail cuts. So yes, it's easier to load a pinned blade on your saw, but, if you only use pinned blades your missing out. Len Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryEA Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Changing a blade can make you or break you from scrolling. Hard to change a blade can actually be the draw back that has you stop scrolling. When it isn't fun........ If you are considering an upgrade..... blade change is a feature to check out. Hey, hope this makes cents(:>) ... it is 1:40 am here... just woke to potty... now maybe make a sandwich... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amazingkevin Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 1. Pinned blades vs plain end blades- On my inexpensive scroll saw (Task Force from the orange store long ago) it is so easy to change pinned blades and difficult to change plain end blades. Looking over Olsen blade catalog, I see just a few pinned blades and many plain end. What am I missing here? Does (almost) every experience scroller use plain ends? (I tried one plain end and gave up). 2. I recently reviewed several new scroll saws on the market. Many reviews talk about how difficult it is to frequently change plain end blades. Some of the mid-price saws like the Porter Cable say they make it easy. What has been your experience? 3. Yesterday I tried making long scroll cuts with an Olsen FR42401 .070 x .010 and could not control it nearly as good as the wider .100 x .018 blade. Turned a perfectly good piece of 3/4 birch plywood into almost trash can stock. Thinking about using only the .100 size. Any comments from you experienced scrollers? Thanks for you help-- as an engineer I tend to focus on detailed stuff and it kinda bugs me that the mechanical design of even low price saws don't make plain end saw change easy. Edward AKA lake9guy My take on the pinned blade is that's what was used first and then the straight blades came out.In over 4000 projects i've done i can't remember using a pinned blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lake9guy Posted January 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 Thanks to all of you for your interest, information and response. You have definitely helped me with my understanding of why plain end blades are the predominant blade of choice. Guess I'll buy me some plain end blades and try them out. Particularly taken with AmazingKevin's comment: "In over 4000 projects i've done i can't remember using a pinned blade." Edward AKA lake9guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young_Scroller Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 If you need a tool to tighten in the plain blades that is probably what is so hard, my craftsman saw requires a tool and was the biggest pain in the you know what until I took the little screws out and put in some thumb screws that were the same size so now I have a tool less blade change and It is SO much easier LarryEA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ike Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 What spreed was you unseeing to cut with try slowing the speed down to about 1/2 speed. IKE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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