Spiral blades

[Fish]

Anyone else ever use your hammer to flatten the ends of a spiral blade a little more so it was easier to get in the clamps? I never thought of it before. It works fine so far and hasn't weakened the metal. Time will tell.

[Foxfold]

Yep, guilty as charged. I find it much easier to 'hit' it than to try and get it untwisted as my hands are not good. !!  Never had a problem doing this. 

[Denny Knappen]

Here I am a Pegas dealer, but Flying Dutchman sells flat end spiral blades.

[Fish]

I’ll look in to those next time I need blades.  Thanks.  

[Bill WIlson]

Flying Dutchman does offer flat end blades, but not in their smallest sizes.  I generally use the 2/0 spiral, sometimes a 3/0 and they aren't available in the flat end, so I end up untwisting them.  I use 2 pair of pliers.  I grip the end of the blade, about an inch or so from the end with one pair and use it to hold it like a vise.  Then I use the other pair to untwist the blade.  The important thing is to get both ends in approximately the same plane, when flattening/untwisting.  Makes getting them in the clamps easier.

I tried the hammer it flat method when I first started using spirals.  I didn't have much luck with it.  Many of the blades broke shortly after applying tension.  I think I had a bad batch of blades, but I've developed my technique for straightening them with the pliers and it works for me, so I haven't gone back to hammering them.

[Iguanadon]

I use a hammer on spiral blades to crush them into tiny balls, then burn them, then bury them.  DEEP.  They are pure evil and I don't want them coming back to life.

[Wilson142]

26 minutes ago, Iguanadon said:

I use a hammer on spiral blades to crush them into tiny balls, then burn them, then bury them.  DEEP.  They are pure evil and I don't want them coming back to life.

A clear case of operator error. lol

[Norm Fengstad]

hadn't thought about hammering the spirals flat, maybe I will give it a try. I have been squishing them flat when installing using the screw blade holder to do the job. 

[amazingkevin]

That's what I liked so much about the old Delta spring loaded blade holders .They loved spirals and would grip and hold the first time!

[Frank Pellow]

4 hours ago, Bill WIlson said:

Flying Dutchman does offer flat end blades, but not in their smallest sizes.  I generally use the 2/0 spiral, sometimes a 3/0 and they aren't available in the flat end, so I end up untwisting them.  I use 2 pair of pliers.  I grip the end of the blade, about an inch or so from the end with one pair and use it to hold it like a vise.  Then I use the other pair to untwist the blade.  The important thing is to get both ends in approximately the same plane, when flattening/untwisting.  Makes getting them in the clamps easier.

I tried the hammer it flat method when I first started using spirals.  I didn't have much luck with it.  Many of the blades broke shortly after applying tension.  I think I had a bad batch of blades, but I've developed my technique for straightening them with the pliers and it works for me, so I haven't gone back to hammering them.

That's a good tip Bill and I will ty it.  I, too, mostly use 2/0 spiral and, since they are so fragile, don't take well to hammering.

[OzarkSawdust]

6 hours ago, Iguanadon said:

I use a hammer on spiral blades to crush them into tiny balls, then burn them, then bury them.  DEEP.  They are pure evil and I don't want them coming back to life.

I agree with Iggy!! 

[stoney]

The issue I have found with Flying Dutchman flat end spirals is the ends are not on the same plane and have to be tweaked.   They are not ready to use right out of the packaging.

[dvdneal]

I just used some the other day.  They don't work as well as a regular blade, but I had no problem getting my dewalt to clamp them down.  I believe I was using a 2/0, but I could have been under the influence.  I was using a spiral blade afterall.