I need some blade advice for this compound cut.

[OCtoolguy]

I'm going to be cutting some compound cuts on the attached patterns. I will be needing 8 of this piece. The wood is 1 x 2 approx. red cedar. I have been doing some practice cuts in junk pine/fir and have gotten some blade drift on the wide side. That would be the pattern on the left. It would be cutting down through the 2" part of the wood. I was thinking about FD-UR in a #5. Can anybody give me their advice on whether I'm on the right track?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Edited September 12, 2018 by octoolguy

[Scrolling Steve]

The FD ur #5 should work fine...if you have any Pegas MG #5 they should also work fine !.. I have used both with good results !

[Sycamore67]

I do not think that a ultra reverse is right for this as you are not interested in chip out on the bottom.  A better choice is a skip tooth blade like the FD Polar.  The short teeth on the UR do not do a good job of clearing the sawdust like the skip tooth blade.  When doing thick wood you need to go slow and let the blade cut without forcing it.  Also, keep a sharp blade in your saw.  Lastly, with thick cuts the grain lines can push your blade one way or the other.

I believe the absolutely best blade is the PS Woods Super Sharps.  But they are much more expensive.  

Be certain to check that your blade is perpendicular to the table.

Good Luck

[OCtoolguy]

11 minutes ago, Sycamore67 said:

I do not think that a ultra reverse is right for this as you are not interested in chip out on the bottom.  A better choice is a skip tooth blade like the FD Polar.  The short teeth on the UR do not do a good job of clearing the sawdust like the skip tooth blade.  When doing thick wood you need to go slow and let the blade cut without forcing it.  Also, keep a sharp blade in your saw.  Lastly, with thick cuts the grain lines can push your blade one way or the other.

I believe the absolutely best blade is the PS Woods Super Sharps.  But they are much more expensive.  

Be certain to check that your blade is perpendicular to the table.

Good Luck

You mentioned the PS Woods blades. When I bought my EX the fellow who had it before me had a ton of Olsen and PS blades. I'm not sure whether they are the "super sharps" but I probably got a $100 dollars worth of them with the saw. The Olsens, I got a ton of them too. I'll give the PS blades a try. Thanks.

 

[OCtoolguy]

23 minutes ago, Scrolling Steve said:

The FD ur #5 should work fine...if you have any Pegas MG #5 they should also work fine !.. I have used both with good results !

Thanks Steve. I think I have both. Not a bunch but a few.

 

[meflick]

When I tried cutting some compound cuts last year, I missed where Charley and some others said not to use the reverse teeth blades.  As Sycamore67 noted, they are not the best because they do not do a good job clearing out the sawdust.  When I went back to the threads about doing compounds cuts, and reread them, I found where they indicated this and indicated that it would be better to use skip tooth blades in doing compound cuts.  Once I switched over to a skip tooth blade, it did much better.

The thread I am taking about, Charley gave detailed instructions on doing compound cuts.  I even printed it out as I recall to keep because it gave such good information.  I can see if I can find it.

[meflick]

I found the thread from last year that had a lot of information and detail about doing compound cutting.  CharleyL and several others gave a lot of good information throughout the thread so be sure to look for info. throughout that thread. It can be found here: http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/topic/24171-compound-cutting-wood/

Then, when I shared photos of my first try with compound cutting, I noted I forgot to use a skip tooth blade to start and use a reverse tooth blade and had some issues.  In that thread, I asked what the difference would be in using one versus the other and Bill Wilson gave a great explanation for it in that thread he said:  (found in this thread: http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/topic/27019-first-try-compound-cutting/?tab=comments#comment-298486 but shown below for ease of seeing his explanation:)

 

 

On 12/15/2017 at 3:14 PM, Bill WIlson said:

The simplest explanation is that skip tooth blades clear the kerf of sawdust better than reverse tooth blades.  There are deeper gullets between the teeth and generally fewer teeth per inch, so the teeth are spaced further apart.  This helps carry the saw dust away, preventing heat build up and allowing the blade to cut more aggressively.  Also, without reverse teeth on the bottom, the sawdust is more easily evacuated, instead of being trapped within the piece.

 

[Gonzo]

Pegas modified geometry #5

[Sycamore67]

Awhile ago, I did my own test comparing the FD Polar, Pegas MG and the PS Super Sharps.  The PS Super Sharps cut much faster and easier than the other two although more expensive.  The Pegas Modified Geometry did well and was better than the FD Polar.  The test was done was done with thick oak and was just a straight cut.  I have attached a picture which shows the teeth on several different blades.  It is interesting to me that the FD Polar and Super Sharp look so similar but cut very differently.  

Of course, your results will vary.  

 

[Bill WIlson]

You've gotten plenty of good advice on blade choice.  Next is set-up and technique.  Compound cutting thick stock presents a different set of challenges.  It is absolutely imperative that your blade be perfectly perpendicular to your table, side to side and that it cuts perpendicular.  Any variance will be transferred and magnified in 2" stock.  Also, take special care when applying the pattern to the stock.  It must be placed precisely, in order to get the best results.

 Also, we all have a tendency to apply side pressure when cutting, to help us stay on the line.  This is even more tempting when cutting thick stock.  For most fretwork, in 3/4" thick stock, or thinner, this doesn't really hurt that much.  But in thick stock, problems with bowed cuts, over or under cutting, misalignment, etc will be amplified.  The piece will be harder to remove from the stock.  The corners won't line up and the piece will look lop-sided. 

Good luck.  Compound cutting can be really fun. 

[scrollerpete]

From my experience the FDUR are way better than the FD polar, I don't know if I used a bad batch on Polar blades but I threw them in the garbage.

[Sycamore67]

34 minutes ago, scrollerpete said:

From my experience the FDUR are way better than the FD polar, I don't know if I used a bad batch on Polar blades but I threw them in the garbage.

What were you cutting that the FD UR blades were better?  

[scrollerpete]

Miniature bird houses and the wood that I used was scraps pieces of oak, maple, walnut, Cherry even blood wood.

[OCtoolguy]

All very interesting info. I think I have all the above-mentioned blades. Since I am practice cutting I will give each of them a try. I'll report back once I have the info in hand. Thanks to all of you. You have a ton more experience than I do so it will all come in handy.

 

[Sycamore67]

Scrollerpete...how thick was the wood you were cutting.  It is difficult to understand how a FD UR will do better in thick wood than the Polar. Please notice how short the teeth are on a UR  blade.

 

 

Edited September 13, 2018 by Sycamore67