Spiral Blades

[kmmcrafts]

Anyone use the Pegas spiral blades? Do they have flat ends? I don't use spirals much.. and have always used FD New spirals.. Tried the flat end ones once and while they wasn't as twisted up as the regular spirals they was still twisted up some..

Quite a while back there was a topic about the flat ends of the FD vrs Olsen.. many people talked up on the Olsen brand so I bought some Olsen brand... however they didn't have any flat end ones.. Today while doing some cutting with spirals I thought I'd try them.. I thought they cut better than the FD ones I'd been using.. 

Anyway  was thinking about trying a pack of the Pegas.. 

Also who sells the Olsen flat end spirals.. are they essentially the same blade? other than the ends? I see the FD blades have different specs for the same size number of each of their styles of blades.. Really liked the Olsen ones I tried today.. other than the ends seem more twisted up than the FD blades.. 

On the FD blades I always used 2 needle nose pliers and would untwist the ends.. can't do that with the Olsen without breaking it or at least weakening it :( 

[SCROLLSAW703]

Have you looked at wooden teddy bear, Kevin? They had some flat end spiral blades on one of their blade pages, but I don't remember if it was Olson or FD. I don't use spirals enough to look at them that close. I keep 2 or 3 sizes in inventory, but they aren't flat ends. 

What I do is use a ball peen hammer & flatten the ends of a dozen or so. I don't have any issues doin' it that way

[amazingkevin]

2 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Anyone use the Pegas spiral blades? Do they have flat ends? I don't use spirals much.. and have always used FD New spirals.. Tried the flat end ones once and while they wasn't as twisted up as the regular spirals they was still twisted up some..

Quite a while back there was a topic about the flat ends of the FD vrs Olsen.. many people talked up on the Olsen brand so I bought some Olsen brand... however they didn't have any flat end ones.. Today while doing some cutting with spirals I thought I'd try them.. I thought they cut better than the FD ones I'd been using.. 

Anyway  was thinking about trying a pack of the Pegas.. 

Also who sells the Olsen flat end spirals.. are they essentially the same blade? other than the ends? I see the FD blades have different specs for the same size number of each of their styles of blades.. Really liked the Olsen ones I tried today.. other than the ends seem more twisted up than the FD blades.. 

On the FD blades I always used 2 needle nose pliers and would untwist the ends.. can't do that with the Olsen without breaking it or at least weakening it :( 

Sounds like i wanted to hear this , blades snapping means very hard steel and longer cutting time,Thanks!

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I think using spiral blades is like going to the dark side I never could get the hang of using them. I cut my teeth on pinned end blades many moons ago and went to flat blades and have been a happy camper ever since. I use to test drive blades for Mike Moorloch when he was running Mike's Workshop. (Lost a great man there that is for sure) He did send me some spiral blades and they had flat ends. I remember this because the rage at the time the spiral blades came out people were having problems with the round blade slipping out of the blade holder. So if I were to make a guess FD blades can be what you are looking for. Love the FD line of blades. 

[kmmcrafts]

7 hours ago, SCROLLSAW703 said:

Have you looked at wooden teddy bear, Kevin? They had some flat end spiral blades on one of their blade pages, but I don't remember if it was Olson or FD. I don't use spirals enough to look at them that close. I keep 2 or 3 sizes in inventory, but they aren't flat ends. 

What I do is use a ball peen hammer & flatten the ends of a dozen or so. I don't have any issues doin' it that way

Yes I did ind them on there.. took some searching through the pages but found them, Thank you.. Also found that Sloans has them.. Love doing business with them! Very nice people to deal with..

[kmmcrafts]

6 hours ago, amazingkevin said:

Sounds like i wanted to hear this , blades snapping means very hard steel and longer cutting time,Thanks!

Yes, I've been impressed with the Olsen brand.. Used a #0 and cut much cleaner smoother less fuzzies than the New Spiral by FD. Was hoping someone had some experience with the Pegas Spirals.. I may just order a sample pack...

[kmmcrafts]

5 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

I think using spiral blades is like going to the dark side I never could get the hang of using them. I cut my teeth on pinned end blades many moons ago and went to flat blades and have been a happy camper ever since. I use to test drive blades for Mike Moorloch when he was running Mike's Workshop. (Lost a great man there that is for sure) He did send me some spiral blades and they had flat ends. I remember this because the rage at the time the spiral blades came out people were having problems with the round blade slipping out of the blade holder. So if I were to make a guess FD blades can be what you are looking for. Love the FD line of blades. 

I rarely use spirals.. Bought a sample pack about 10 years ago from Mike of the FD blades.. only ones I'd tried.. I like to try several brands to see what one actually works best for me.. Seen the spirals yesterday while cutting some portrait style work and thought I'd try again.. then remembered I bought the Olsens at the Lowes store a year ago to try..

I feel like spiral blades is cheating me out of the challenge for portrait cutting LOL.. Short of doing some veining I really never used them..

The portrait I posted in the works in progress forum I started with flat blades.. then went through the size of blades I have for the FD spirals.. and then the one  pack of Olsen blades.. So far.. I like the way the Olsens cut.. but I'm also breaking a lot of them.. trying to get the tension etc right.   

[stoney]

I ordered some flat end FD spiral blades back when Mike Moorloch ( a very good man) was still with us.   I thought that they would eliminate having to straighten the ends of the blades.   Wrong!!   Yes the ends are flat but not parallel so you still have to align the ends. 

I use spiral blades pretty much exclusively for portraits and like the FD new spirals the best. 

[TripleJScroller]

I use a lot of spiral blades.  I tried the FD straight ends and didn't like them, but I've never tried the straight ends on other brands.  I like both the Olsen and FD for spirals, but lean towards the FD new spiral.  I keep hearing about Pegas blades and really need to give them a shot.   Problem is I fear change...lol.  I tend to find something I like and stick with it.

[kmmcrafts]

5 minutes ago, TripleJScroller said:

I use a lot of spiral blades.  I tried the FD straight ends and didn't like them, but I've never tried the straight ends on other brands.  I like both the Olsen and FD for spirals, but lean towards the FD new spiral.  I keep hearing about Pegas blades and really need to give them a shot.   Problem is I fear change...lol.  I tend to find something I like and stick with it.

I guess I am an experimenter LOL I've tied a lot of blades.. styles of cutting. etc.. I enjoy tinkering around during the slow months.. Maybe it's the challenge.. I've even put blades in upside down, backwards etc etc.. just to see if I can cut like that.. LOL    

[fredfret]

Charles dearing did a side by side of FD and Pegas you can watch it on youtube. I dont know all the titles and stuff but it was recently. He liked the speed of the Pegas better. By the way he only uses spirals.

Fredfret

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, fredfret said:

Charles dearing did a side by side of FD and Pegas you can watch it on youtube. I dont know all the titles and stuff but it was recently. He liked the speed of the Pegas better. By the way he only uses spirals.

Fredfret

Just watched the video.. thank you for telling me about it.. Going to purchase a sample pack of pegas.. before I do a larger order..

[Scrappile]

The only spiral I use to us was the FD New Spiral in the 3/0 size.  A while back I tried a Pegas 2/0 spiral and it work very well for me.  More aggressive than the FD 3/0 but very controllable for me.  Those are the only two spirals I use.  I do not care for bigger sizes.

Kevin, you are correct, the sample pack is the way to go.

[Doug]

I switched from FD to Pegas 2/0 spiral and use them almost exclusively for what I cut.  They do not have flat ends but I have not found that to be a problem if you are using a DeWalt, EX or clone of EX, or Seyco - not sure about Jet.  I did have a problem with clamping spirals with a Hawk.  The others have a swivel end on the thumb screw for clamping and the Hawk did not which I think makes a difference on clamping spirals without a flat end.  I found the Pegas more suited to my cutting which is primarily 5/8s hardwood.  Also FD has a film (or at least used to) over the blades which I had to remove to avoid getting on clamping surfaces and causing slippage.  I always soaked the ends in denatured alcohol, wiped down, and then before using the blade ran the ends over 220 grit sandpaper.  I still do that with Pegas just to try and assure no slippage but I do not think Pegas has any film on it - at least I have not noticed it on my blade wiping cloth.

By the way Pegas 2/0 spiral is about $6.00 a gross cheaper here http://www.dndsawbladesonline.com/page/79798238 than at Bear Woods.

Edited February 22, 2018 by Doug
where to buy

[JustLarry]

I posted this history on the FD spiral last February. 

Posted February 9, 2017 (edited)

If My memory is correct and if I understand what I just looked up:

Spiral Blades came first and are pretty much a flat blade that has been twisted into a spiral.  Pretty much needed to use pliers to un-twist the end to get it to stay in the holders.  hard to control - hard to get into holder but the best there was at the time.

The Flat End Spiral was brought out (The flat end spiral - as stated above is not really flat.  It is close to half spiral and half flat making it easier to get ready to place in the holders.) 

To bring about better control, The New Spiral Blade was developed several years ago and has teeth on both sides of the blade - a flat blade with teeth on both sides and twisted into a spiral.   better control. Still has some twist on the ends. Sometimes I flatten the ends some and sometimes I put them in right out of the package. 

Spiral Reverse is latest design of the spiral. - spiral blades for all around cutting with reverse teeth on the bottom for a close to sand free finish. These just caught my interest.

I use the new spiral.  Have not tried the spiral reverse but will have to give them a try.

Larry

Edited February 22, 2018 by JustLarry

[TripleJScroller]

4 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I guess I am an experimenter LOL I've tied a lot of blades.. styles of cutting. etc.. I enjoy tinkering around during the slow months.. Maybe it's the challenge.. I've even put blades in upside down, backwards etc etc.. just to see if I can cut like that.. LOL    

LOL Upside down I've done, just not on purpose!  I love to experiment with styles of cutting and different woods and such, but for some reason things like blades and whatnot I've just never been much into trying different stuff.  I'm definitely going to try some of these Pegas blades though as I keep reading so much good stuff about them on here. 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, TripleJScroller said:

LOL Upside down I've done, just not on purpose!  I love to experiment with styles of cutting and different woods and such, but for some reason things like blades and whatnot I've just never been much into trying different stuff.  I'm definitely going to try some of these Pegas blades though as I keep reading so much good stuff about them on here. 

Yeah, back in the day if the blade got dull on one side I would turn it upside down.. still sharp on the other end..  You've heard it all now..