JimErn Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 That lovely sound when the blade breaks and the upper blade holder tension level flops forward. I was cutting half inch soft basswood with a Pegasus Modified geometry blade, a number 5. Four in a row cut for a short period, and snapped, all from the same package. They all snapped at the point where the teeth change to the reverse cutting position. No changes were made to the machine, blades were installed the same way each time, EX-21 with the Pegasus clamps installed. Must have been a defect, the rest of the blades in that package were fine, but it sure is aggravating, pulling the blade out of the cut. Now I keep a pair of pliers nearby. John B, lawson56, OCtoolguy and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 (edited) I have had the same thing happen with a pkt of spirals. Can't remember which brand, but either FD or Pegas after #3 I ditched the remaining 9. My heart just couldn't take any more surprises. Edited September 10, 2018 by John B spelling SCROLLSAW703 and OCtoolguy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loftyhermes Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 I think bad batches in blades are common and not manufacturer specific, here in the UK a while ago a lot folks were complaining about FD blades breaking. OCtoolguy, SCROLLSAW703 and John B 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 It happens to us all. In fact just the other day I had a #5 blade break. Now I have been cutting for a very long time and it has been quite awhile since I had a blade snap that I did not expect. It did make me jump because I forgot what that sounded like. It startles you for sure but we all know just move on. The thing that is a little disturbing is I have been using FD blades for almost my entire scrolling career and always bought them from Mike Moorloch. Being he is no longer with us I bought my recent blades from I believe it was the teddy bear. There seems to be something different even though they claim to be the same blades. They do not stay as sharp as long any more and seem to have a burr on back edge. I will use these and check other packages before I buy again. I maybe changing blades for the first time in a very long time. SCROLLSAW703 and John B 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoney Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 I have had the same issue from time to time with FD as well as Pegas blades. I know it's not an issue with blade tension or material type. I have been using my Hegner for over ten years and have blade tensioning down pat. It seems to me some blades just get through the inpection process that are defective. Maybe the answer is to not buy allot of the same brand at one time. SCROLLSAW703 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 1 hour ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said: It happens to us all. In fact just the other day I had a #5 blade break. Now I have been cutting for a very long time and it has been quite awhile since I had a blade snap that I did not expect. It did make me jump because I forgot what that sounded like. It startles you for sure but we all know just move on. The thing that is a little disturbing is I have been using FD blades for almost my entire scrolling career and always bought them from Mike Moorloch. Being he is no longer with us I bought my recent blades from I believe it was the teddy bear. There seems to be something different even though they claim to be the same blades. They do not stay as sharp as long any more and seem to have a burr on back edge. I will use these and check other packages before I buy again. I maybe changing blades for the first time in a very long time. You mentioned about the blades dulling fast... that is the same issue I had with a some flying dutchman blade I had received last year... which is partly hat made me go to the Pegas brand.. I still use the FD blades from time to time and ran out of those...bought another gross and they are good and sharp and also last a long time again... must be some bad ones we got.. I also had some of the Pegas that broke like Jim mentioned... I thought it was maybe my saw set up.. as from time to time I have to re-adjust the tension .. I wonder if it has something to do with the quality of steel they get n at the blade making factory.. Doubt it's something on the production end of the blade making but I suppose it could be.. SCROLLSAW703 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 (edited) I've experience it a few times with FD. blades. I figure it is bound to happen once in a while. I will also get FD blades once in a while that are real dirty. Oily grit on the ends. I have a habit of cleaning the ends of my blades with alcohol before putting them on the saw. Part of the cleaning is because I sharpen the top end of each blade on the grinder before hand also. Edited September 12, 2018 by Scrappile SCROLLSAW703 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry1939 Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 Been scrolling since 2011 & have never broken a blade. Use only FD. I sand the ends before installing. jerry SCROLLSAW703 and John B 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodrush Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 I had the same issue with a dozen Olsen 2/0 blades. Frustrating, but not much you can do about it SCROLLSAW703 and John B 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bfreeman Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 I have noticed if I am using #3 and larger blades in the cold weather I break more blades. I started keeping my blades in a warm area like in the house they seem to last longer. It seems to be related to expansion and contraction of the cold blades . Also if the problem doesn’t stop l recheck my tension after a minute or so. It does help. John B and SCROLLSAW703 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 2 hours ago, kmmcrafts said: You mentioned about the blades dulling fast... that is the same issue I had with a some flying dutchman blade I had received last year... which is partly hat made me go to the Pegas brand.. I still use the FD blades from time to time and ran out of those...bought another gross and they are good and sharp and also last a long time again... must be some bad ones we got.. I also had some of the Pegas that broke like Jim mentioned... I thought it was maybe my saw set up.. as from time to time I have to re-adjust the tension .. I wonder if it has something to do with the quality of steel they get n at the blade making factory.. Doubt it's something on the production end of the blade making but I suppose it could be.. I understand there can be material failures but I found it so odd. I use to get all blades from Mike and never had a problem and that was thousands of blades over the years. This last batch just does not seem the same. Now I bought a few gross so will see how they all play out but I find myself changing blades way more often and when that one broke I was doing nothing special and that is why it really took me by surprise. I can see if I were stressing it and making super tight turns but no. As I said we all been there and we move on. I know I have been sawing a long time when I went through the many gross of blades I got from Mike finally. Miss that man. He was one of the good guys. SCROLLSAW703, John B and stoney 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawson56 Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 Oh I have had it happen to me also.Darn blasted aggravating,ya just want ta throw em as far as ya can.The broken blades that is. John B and SCROLLSAW703 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crupiea Posted September 11, 2018 Report Share Posted September 11, 2018 Always get a start when the blade breaks. I feel like will farrell elf when he is cranking the jack in the box. I think we can appreciate this feeling. lol John B 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackman Posted September 11, 2018 Report Share Posted September 11, 2018 On 9/10/2018 at 11:26 AM, jerry1939 said: Been scrolling since 2011 & have never broken a blade. Use only FD. I sand the ends before installing. jerry I am with you Jerry started in 2010 and have never had one to break. Maybe not pushing the blade as hard as the people who break theres. SCROLLSAW703 and John B 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 4 hours ago, trackman said: I am with you Jerry started in 2010 and have never had one to break. Maybe not pushing the blade as hard as the people who break theres. not really some times no rhyme or reason. I was not not pushing hard or stressing the blade at all. It has been a long time between snaps though. I will have to watch this batch of blades. The smaller blades are more suspect and let me tell you Jewelers blades are the worse because they are more brittle and do not flex. SCROLLSAW703 and John B 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 1 hour ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said: not really some times no rhyme or reason. I was not not pushing hard or stressing the blade at all. It has been a long time between snaps though. I will have to watch this batch of blades. The smaller blades are more suspect and let me tell you Jewelers blades are the worse because they are more brittle and do not flex. I gave up on the jewellers/metal cutting blades because of that. Obviously I wasn't doing something right. SCROLLSAW703 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackman Posted September 15, 2018 Report Share Posted September 15, 2018 Steve Good has a video about breaking blades. Seems the threads got worn out and the knob wasn’t staying aligned. Worth watching on his today’s post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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