Is it me or the saw?

[hayu]

My new saw is starting to do what my last one did. The top of the piece is fine but underneath the letters are almost cutting into the next letter or has. The thicker the wood the more pronouced this is. Since I want to get into some compound cutting this is going to be a problem. Is this me or the saw?

[amazingkevin]

try useing scroll reverse blades .They cut going up and going down leaveing a clean cut top and bottom.I was doing a lot of sanding on the bottom of my work and figured there had to be a better way.Now i don't sand at all useing the scroll reverse blades.Have at least three teeth in contact with the wood at all times when cutting.1/4 inch wood you would need 16 teeth per inch as a guide line.Penguin scroll reverse does a great job on 1/4 " wood.I need to keep noise to a minamal here in an apartment with occupants above and below and next to me on both sides and the skip tooth blades really quite things down for me.Each blade has it's own caracteristics, which trial and error and our experiance can save you time and effort.That was a great question and makes me think about it more now.When you order blades they send you a pamplet of what the blades do ,how many teeth and so on.Maybe the plate is wore out to much and does'nt offer stabillity to the thin wood being cut.By plate i mean on your cutting table where the blade goes through to the bottom blade holder.To big of a hole and the wood flexs way to much on small pieces and will want to tear out.Each circumstance is differant and more experiance solves all.If proper tension is to loose the blade wants to grab more wood than it's supposed to.Makeing a tear out situation also.There's probabley more reasons your haveing your problem but thats all i can share with you.

[hayu]

Thank you. Thats what I'm using. Number 5 reverse skip tooth. I actually have three dewalt tables. When Dewalt sent this new saw to replace another. The new saws table wouldn't line up so I could screw it down. I called Dewalt, they had me measure the table. Turned out the blade hole was almost an 8th of inch off center. The middle is 8" the blade touched the left side of the blade hole. They sent me the table off my old one and a new one when another came in.

 

I am thinking of working for 'Consumers Report'. I think I would make a great saw tester.

[Dan]

Sounds like the table isn't exactly 90 degrees to the blade. I see this sometimes and get out my square, and sure enough, I'm off a degree or two. You are right, the thicker the wood, the more pronounced it will be.

 

Dan

[carlton4143]

Another thing you have to watch out for is blade tenson. If your blade is not tight enough and you feed to fast your blade will flex and give you a concave cut.

[two saws]

The blades might be the problem, but I would beleive that the table is not square with the blade. If you have a small machinst square (3" or so) check to see if the blade is a true 90' to the table. Another way of checking is to take a scrap peice of thick wood 3/4" or thicker, and make a cut about 1" or so than place it at the rear of the blade while it is still running. If the table is square the blade should slip into the cut with no or very little resistance. The squareness of the table needs to be checked often and each time that you stack cut or do compound cuts. One word of advise for compound cuts, DO NOT rush the feeding of the wood into the blade, you have to let the blade do the cutting other wise the object will turn out misshapened. This will test your patience because of the slowness but the reward of a perfect project is worth it!!

I hope this helps you and make more sawdust!!

Ervin

[hayu]

Would the garage floor not being level cause this? I dropped my level and found out it wasn't level. The only way I could correct the saw was not trusting the bubble level and cutting into a board till the angle was almost streight.

 

I only have a half inch board to test on. I used the 2x4 to test the router table i'm building. It will be great making my own plaques then buying them from Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

[cyclistjim]

Would the garage floor not being level cause this? I dropped my level and found out it wasn't level. The only way I could correct the saw was not trusting the bubble level and cutting into a board till the angle was almost streight.

 

I only have a half inch board to test on. I used the 2x4 to test the router table i'm building. It will be great making my own plaques then buying them from Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

 

Using a bubble level to set the table level will not make the table level to the blade since the blade is unleveled because of the floor. Does that make sense to you?

[hayu]

Yes it does! Thanks all.

[Dan]

Here's a quick test you can do. Take a piece of scrap wood and make a small cut into the wood. Turn the saw off and move the wood to the back-side of the blade and see if the cut lines up with the blade. If not, the table is not 90 degrees to the blade. I found this to be fairly accurate, but using a small square is a bit more precise.

 

This tip and more can be found here http://www.scrollsawer.com/scroll-saw-tips.php.

 

Dan

[hayu]

When I stopped using the bubble level and just used the saw into a piece of wood and check the angle worked fairly well. Now the top cuts slightly smaller then top. When I get to Lowes I will get a small level. Thanks every one.

[Travis]

You can go to an office supply store and pick up a small protractor to check if your blade is square to the table. Make sure the protractor is small enough to rest up against the blade (1.5" tall or so). This should tell you if you're square or not. You could also pick up a small square (or speed square) to check the squareness of your blade. The advantage of a protractor is that if you do any cutting that requires a specific angle, you can easily find it.

 

As far as the floor not being level, that doesn't make any difference. I think most garages have a slight pitch to them so water/gas would run out of the garage. Plus the fact that houses settle over time, I would doubt your floor is level. The important area is the relation of the saw bed to the saw blade. That is what will create a square cut.

 

And as mentioned before, make sure your blade tension is correct and let the blade do the cutting for you. Toss scroll saw blades as soon as it becomes dull. In a portrait style cutting, I might go through 3 or 4 blades. More if I'm doing stack cutting or cutting especially thick or hard wood.

 

I hope this helps.

[FD Mike]

I have to agree with carlton4143.

When not enough tension, you will loose control over the blade. When not enough speed you have a tendency to start pushing too hard in the blade and the blade starts to cut with a bevel. Let the blade do the cutting.

I am sure that there is nothing wrong with the saw or the blades.

FD Mike

[FD Mike]

Hi Travis,

 

Did see your post too late. I have to agree 100% with you also.

 

FD Mike

[greasemonkeyredneck]

It definately sounds like the table is not square to the blade. It also sounds like a problem we've all had at one time or the other. So, I don't think it's you. There are already some good suggestions here for squareing the blade. The only thing I can add is that to be sure to get that blade square before doing any kind of stack cutting. If you don't, you'll get a big nasty surprise, like I did.

Also, once you get the blade square, never assume it will always stay that way. You have to check it from time to time. The vibration of the saw will get it out of wack from time to time. One thing you can do is this. Most saws have an arrow on the bevel guage that is adjustable. Once you make SURE it is square. I put some epoxy on the back side of the arrow and screwed it back down. That way I know for a fact that from now on the arrow on zero truly means zero.