Which spiral blade

[Tom Gi]

I am ordering some Flying Dutchman blades and I want to try some spiral blades

what size and style fd would you suggest trying 

.25 inch Baltic birch

.5 cherry

.5 poplar 

[kmmcrafts]

Do they have some sample packs? If so that's probably what I would do. or just buy a dozen of a few different sizes.. Everyone has different cutting speeds and what they're comfortable with.. 

That said, spirals because of them being twisted end up making a wide kerf... they're also somewhat more aggressive and they're hard to cut and have a smooth edge. I primarily used them for cutting thin BBply and usually never cut anything thicker than 3/8 with them. ie stack cutting 3 sometimes 4 1/8" thick BBplywood stacks. 

My favorite most used blade has been the 2/0 FD- New Spiral as they're a bit easier to control than the others.. though I've used both and also Olsen and Pegas spirals without issues too. I also use them to widen the kerf on thick wood like 3/4" Cherry, Poplar etc after cutting with a flat blade. 

Spirals will sort of have a mind of their own.. in that they take the path of least resistance so you can cut along and hit a softer spot in the wood grain and it'll try to pull into the softer wood.. sort of like hitting a big puddle of water in your car.. for a lack of better description. So with that, I suggest getting used to them some with BBplywood as it's usually more consistent in density. I have used #1 size too and that is what I use for the Pegas brand as they're number system runs slightly smaller than the other brands in my experience.. so a #1 is like between a 2/0 and 1 in a FD brand.

[Wichman]

I use the FD 2/0 new spiral.

A note about spirals in the blade clamps:

The bottom clamp is pretty straight forward but the quick clamp, it's easier to start with the blade outside the clamp, then position the blade so that the flattest part of the blade is aligned with the clamp screw, move the blade backwards into the clamp, gently top out the blade in the clamp and tighten.

Sounds complicated but it's really not, this just avoids the blade catching on the clamps internal parts.

[Scrappile]

I use the FD 3/0 quite often for veining.   I put the top of the blade in the bottom clamp first While it is in the holder and clamp it down, the helps straighten the spiral at the top of the blade.  I use it as a sorta mini vice, before clamping the bottom of the blade in it.  It is not perfect but it helps.  

[kmmcrafts]

Too bad they couldn't make spirals easy for us to mount into the saw.. While it's not really that bad once you get used to doing them but I've ruined my share of blades trying to clamp and or tension them. Spirals also tend to be a bit more difficult to feed through a pilot hole too if the hole isn't plenty big.. since there are teeth all the way around the blade they tend to catch onto the edges of the wood as you try feeding through.. again it's just different than a flat blade and you'll get the hang of it but at first expect to break a few blades before you even get to run the saw, LOL.. Also spirals do seem to get dull faster than a flat blade and they don't cut the same speed / aggressiveness at the sides or back side as they do straight in front. I believe it's because the saw does have a slight forward motion as the blade makes the down stroke so if you're cutting from the back side of the blade the saw moves the blade forward away from the wood rather than bite into the wood like it does on the front side of the blade.. 

Years ago I found it easier to get them to mount into the saw by taking two pair of needle nose pliers and grabbing the blade close to the teeth and then with the other pair grab the blade at the tip and untwist the spiral to make my blade have flat ends.. worked well for me in the beginning.. I no longer need to do that now that I've had more experience but I just thought I'd also mention that.. I've heard of people flattening the ends with a hammer too but I've never tried that.. and the way I swing a hammer I'd probably hit the blade in the middle where the teeth are, LOL 

[Tom Gi]

3 hours ago, Wichman said:

I use the FD 2/0 new spiral.

A note about spirals in the blade clamps:

The bottom clamp is pretty straight forward but the quick clamp, it's easier to start with the blade outside the clamp, then position the blade so that the flattest part of the blade is aligned with the clamp screw, move the blade backwards into the clamp, gently top out the blade in the clamp and tighten.

Sounds complicated but it's really not, this just avoids the blade catching on the clamps internal parts.

Thanks for the help