Blades - WOW, I got questions

[Toothpick]

I’m overwhelmed! 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, reverse, skip, reverse skip, spiral, arrrggghhh!!! 

What is “skip” blades? 

Should I buy a set of each and see what I like best?

I read that #3 and #5 will do anything you need - is that true? 

When/why would I use spiral? Are they any good? 

I read that some blades have sand paper on the sides - where do I find those or are they a waste of time? 

I asked this in a welcome thread but what is a “gross” of blades? 

I think that’s it for now...

Thank you!! 

[Bill WIlson]

9 minutes ago, Toothpick said:

I’m overwhelmed! 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, reverse, skip, reverse skip, spiral, arrrggghhh!!! 

What is “skip” blades?  Skip tooth refers to a particular tooth configuration.  Skip tooth blades have wider spaces between the teeth and the teeth all point in the same direction.  This makes them somewhat more aggressive and good for cutting thick stock.

Should I buy a set of each and see what I like best?  It depends on what you are cutting.  Blades are application specific.  The pattern and the material being cut will dictate what blade to use.

I read that #3 and #5 will do anything you need - is that true?  No blade will do everything you need, at least not well.  That said, #3 & #5 reverse tooth blades are pretty reasonable, general purpose blades for fretwork, but that is a pretty broad statement.  See above reply.

When/why would I use spiral? Are they any good?  Spiral blades are excellent blades....for specific types of cutting.  The most common use of spirals is for cutting portraits, typically out of thin plywood stock.  You can use spirals to cut projects that are too big to swing around in your saw.  Spirals leave a little rougher cut edge than straight blades.  I wouldn't recommend them for cutting anything very thick as the saw marks will be very noticeable and practically impossible to get rid of. 

I read that some blades have sand paper on the sides - where do I find those or are they a waste of time?  Personally I think they are a waste of time & money, but others like them. 

I asked this in a welcome thread but what is a “gross” of blades?  A gross of blades is a dozen dozen (144).  Most suppliers offer a slight discount when buying by the gross.  Some even let you mix & match blade types & sizes to arrive at the gross qty.

 Hope that helps.

Thank you!! 

 

[Toothpick]

144 blades! Oh lord, I’m sure I’ll get there soon enough. 

So for other stuff like ornaments and “regular” projects that are not so intricate as a portrait I probalby wouldn’t need a spiral, unless the project is to big to make the turns in the saw.  

Seems like Flying Dutchman blades get lots of love. What other brands are good? I have Bosch now that I got from Lowe’s so I don’t know any better. 

[Bill WIlson]

Flying Dutchman, Olson and Pegas blades are the ones most commonly used, with FD & Olson the most popular, but Pegas seems to be gaining fans.  There are several on-line sources for blades.  Wooden Teddy Bear sells both Olson and FD.  I'm also of the opinion that no brand has the best blade in every size and tooth configuration, so again, you will need to experiment a bit to see what you like best.

[spotsdad]

 There is a blade chart put out by Olsen. I can't remember where I got it but it is very helpful.

Dick aka spotsdad 

[Tomanydogs]

Olson-scrollblade-chart.pdf

Here is the blade chart Dick was referring to  

 

[Toothpick]

Awesome chart! I should print that and hang it in the shop 

[OCtoolguy]

4 hours ago, Toothpick said:

Awesome chart! I should print that and hang it in the shop 

I printed it out and never looked at it again. Experience is what will do more than anything else. First, decide what type of projects you want to cut. What material. Then, buy a gross of whatever blade you need to do your project.. More than likely, you'll end up with some kind of reverse tooth blade. I have homed in on the Pegas #5 MGT for what I like to do. I haven't done much of anything in BB so far. Mostly doing hardwoods. I like projects that fill a need of some kind. I don't do many wall hangers.

[SCROLLSAW703]

Howdy,

I wouldn't start runnin' through gears and gettin' yer brakes scorched about blades this early in your scrollin' career, neighbor. You can spend the time you're frettin' over which blade is which with experience.

I say that because it's a twisted confusion every newbie goes through as they are learning cutting processes, wood species and thicknesses that suit their fancy, blade tension and speed, feed rate, etc.

As you begin to figure out the type of projects that suit your likin' and abilities, whether it be puzzles, fretwork, portraits, whatever it is, along side of the wood thickness and type, your choice of blade breed will begin to come into place. You will find every single project you cut will require more than one size and one type of blade. And, every blade makes its own tune when cutting in different species of wood and specific thickness'.

With all that said, nearly every scroll sawyer acquires his/her own inventory of blades mostly out of preference and necessity. Some use just a few types of blades. Personally, I have 22 different sizes, blade types, and spirals in my inventory. The sky's the limit when it comes to blades. 

If you haven't already, I would highly recommend that you order a dozen of each type of blade you're askin' questions about and test drive them for yourself in your saw, cutting at your preferred feed rate, blade speed, etc. From the experience with each blade, you can then draw your own conclusion to what those blades are, and what they'll do for you. 

Another way of looking at this is, you can ask every scroller on this site that very same question in a poll of sorts, and you're goin' to get that many different answers on that many choices of blades.

It is a near impossibility, imo, to tell someone else what every blade can and will do, and what blade is best for them to start with. That has to be a decision you make with your project selection.

Sawdust703(brad)

[Toothpick]

Finally the Flying Dutchman has arrived. 1, 3, 5, and spiral. Scroll Reverse. 

This is about to get fun!

[don in brooklin on]

Everyone has a favorite and I think that whatever you get used to will be your go to blade.

I have used FD ultra reverse for years and it is my blade of choice 95% of time. I find I get a real smooth cut so no sanding required.

I have tried Olsen and Pegas bladed and they may be fine blades but I can still follow the line with a UR much better.

 

 

[Rolf]

Here is another chart that includes the other brands. 

Spirals are not as easy to use as you may think.  How they perform is also affected by the saw they are on. 

Like Scrollsaw703 said, don't drive yourself nuts with blade selection this early in your scrolling hobby.  Experience and practice will help that selection process as you go along.

We all end up with some favorites that we are comfortable with. For me I use an Olson 2 or 2/0 reverse (28 TPI) teeth per inch for detailed stuff up to 1/2 inch thick. A Olson mach 3  13 TPI for most of my 3/4 stuff. Occasionally I will go bigger depending on the type of wood. I have been trying the Pegas Modified geometry blades. They are good blades and cut a bit faster.

The Teeth per inch  number determines how aggressive they cut.

SS_BLADE_CHART_2-22-2013.pdf

[Rockytime]

Thanks for the heads up on the blade chart. I downloaded it but is too small to read. I downloaded it again from Hawk's catalog on their web site. That also is too small to be useful. It's too bad they don't produce it in multiple pages for readability. I would order blades from them but the web site is a bit too convoluted to search easily. They sell a lot of things which are hard to search. Too bad as I love my Hawk and would support them.

[Toothpick]

Tried out the Flying Dutchman #3 and #5 today. I did this with the #5. I can tell right away they are better blades than I was using (Bosch Pinned). Now the hard part is finding the right tension and keeping it. A few times the blade slipped out of the chuck. The thin blades are also a lot less forgiving of mistakes and bad technique. If you turn to much or come in to sharp you’ll quickly see your error. Doing this I thought “shoot, I’m not as good as I thought I was” haha.

Design from Steve Good’s website

[spotsdad]

Nice job. It's all a learning curve. Just remember "it is supposed to be fun"

Dick aka spotsdad

[Bill WIlson]

One thing to keep in mind is that once the pattern comes off, most people won't be able to tell what it was supposed to look like, therefor slight deviations from the line are less noticeable.

If you do wander off the line, try to compensate gently rather than make a sudden correction.  Often this will be invisible to the untrained eye.  When approaching a sharp turn/corner, use the waste area to your advantage by nibbling away some room to turn your blade without having to make the sudden turn, which can cause you to go off course.  I like to cut sharp corners by cutting along one line to the point, then cutting across the waste area to the intersecting line and then back into the point.  This gives you a place to start and cut out of the corner naturally, without having to spin the piece abruptly during the cut.

[fredfret]

You may want to clean the ends of your blades. There is a small amount of oil left on them from the manufacturing process and while not a problem for the finish the buildup of it on the blade clamps can be a problem. I use s piece of 400 grit paper and just wipe off both sides and ends of every blade I use. Others use solvents but I try to stay clear of them. Way to many baths is weird chemicals from aircraft and equipment than I really needed.

Fredfret

[Toothpick]

Thanks for the tips! Wiping the blades is a good one, never thought of that. When I’m in a 90 degree corner I can handle it ok. It’s the turns that go backward greater than 90 degrees that get me. I will back up and turn in to the waste area and cut to an uncut line until I have a chunk of waste that pops out. Then go back to the corner to clean it up. Time consuming but until I get better it works. 

[Rockytime]

42 minutes ago, Toothpick said:

<SNIP>  When I’m in a 90 degree corner I can handle it ok. It’s the turns that go backward greater than 90 degrees that get me. I will back up and turn in to the waste area and cut to an uncut line until I have a chunk of waste that pops out. Then go back to the corner to clean it up. Time consuming but until I get better it works. 

I often do that. You are not in a race. It works and that's OK.

[Rolf]

Rockytime. The blade chart is in PDF format. In case you did not know that, If you are viewing it on a PC you can enlarge the viewing area by holding down the control key (ctrl) and then pressing the + key.

 

[Rockytime]

Thanks Rolf. I did that and printed it out. Very small to read. I enlarge the pdf on the computer and it reads well.

[OCtoolguy]

On 12/11/2018 at 2:39 PM, Rockytime said:

Thanks for the heads up on the blade chart. I downloaded it but is too small to read. I downloaded it again from Hawk's catalog on their web site. That also is too small to be useful. It's too bad they don't produce it in multiple pages for readability. I would order blades from them but the web site is a bit too convoluted to search easily. They sell a lot of things which are hard to search. Too bad as I love my Hawk and would support them.

Les, if you don't already have it, download the free program Irfanview. You can right click on whatever pic you want to open and on the menu that opens up, it will give you the choice "open with". Click that, click on Irfanview and the pic will open. There you can enlarge it to whatever size suits you.