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Found a picture of a PBY I really liked. I did one in 2020 but I like this one better. 1/8" BBPW on 1/4" backer. Shellac and Gloss Lacquer.

I did a little practice with spirals for the first time a few days ago and it wasn't much fun attaching the blades, finding the correct tension and trying to guide them where I was hoping they would travel. Today for my second attempt I tried out the Olson "flat end" #2 41TPI on a pattern of my action hero Clint. Getting the blades in the holders was a little better only to bend them trying to fit them through the drilled entry holes. Then it was still hit & miss getting the right tension and me trying to cut straight and curved lines and of course braking a few blades along the way. It was a little nerve racking cutting the close together curves holding down little sections wanting to bounce around. There was a ton of fuzzies to "carefully" remove and I'm glad it's done and I didn't destroy it. I decided to forget about using spirals and concentrate on practicing with regular blades so I can get better with them instead.

Nope, we all were beginners.

I think you did a great job with that pattern. My 2 cents is that I don't care for spirals at all for several reasons. I cut mostly hardwoods and I believe flat blades are better suited for that. As you mentioned spirals do leave more fuzzies and I don't like that. As you also mentioned, if you're using spirals you're not going to get a sharp inside corner. While I certainly don't cut perfectly, I am a perfectionist and I really like precision. Of course that's just my viewpoint and the best blade to use is the one you enjoy using.

Most folks use plain end blades for two reasons. When cutting inside cuts, you have to drill a larger hole to accommodate the pins. It’s virtually impossible to do fine fret work with small cutouts. The second reason is without pins, you can get much smaller blades, in more styles. As you progress, you will want to use smaller, finer blades.

I developed this Roaring Bear Pattern from an Image I found on-line. I invite you to visit my post in Pattern Making for a description of my experiment in creating this pattern. Also, you will note that my pattern is kind of backwards to the way most patterns result in creating a scrolled image. Since the bear is predominately Black, the cut-outs exposing the background are light colors as if sunlight was reflecting off the Bear’s fur. The pattern was sized to fit a 12” by 12” inch panel. I chose to cut the image in a 5/32” thick Walnut Solid Core Ply using Pegas #2/0 Spiral blades. The backer is 1/4” thick BB Ply. Most of the coloring was done with Artist Acrylic Air Brush Paints with a few highlights done by brush. The assembled panel was protected with multiple spray coats of a Clear Gloss Acrylic. I made my usual 1 3/4” wide rail Poplar Frame that I stained and finished with multiple coats of Wipe-On Poly. I ‘m looking forward to your comments and critiques on this experiment in pattern making and my…possibly poor…choice of using Walnut for the cut panel.

My meter will measure below an amp but the line splitter also has a 10x area.

For the sake of simplicity, let's start with the basics. There are essentially 3 main brand names for scroll saw blades that are the most used, at least by the folks on this forum. Those would be Pegas, Flying Dutchman and Olson. Pegas blades, as mentioned, are available from Denny @ Art Crafters. The other 2 are available from Wooden Teddy Bear (among other places). For starters, that will get you going. As for which brand to choose, right now, as a beginner, I don't think it really matters all that much. There really isn't a wrong choice. They all will do the job. Until you get a feel for what blades you want to use, pick a brand and run with it for a while. Many of us have tried a lot of different ones and have a large variety on hand, most of which we don't really use. So take Denny up on his offer. He will point you in the right direction and help you choose what size & type of blade to get you started. And you can always come back here for more advice. Search the forum. Questions about what blade to use come up all the time and there are many threads on the topic. Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

that looks awesome!

No. All the major blades (Pegas, Flying Dutchman, Olsen) will work on your wen.

https://www.artcraftersonline.com

I measured my Hawk yesterday. It was less than one amp. I used a clip on meter with a line splitter. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IRLJTGA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Agree with what Dan said. And a testament to that is the fact that most (if not all) of the better quality scroll saws only accept plain end blades.

I also use both and it depends on the project. I am going to download an Elk from the Pattern Library which I will use Spirals.

I have been scrolling for over 20 years and yes I have tried spirals and I hate them, straight blade all the time for me. You did a terrific job on Clint, well done. Marg

This was a special order from a man whose father and step-mother claimed the zebra as their spirit animal of sorts. Both of these people died and the man that ordered it wants to memorialize his dad and step-mom.

so i got a book that says to not use pined blades sorry if i'm using the terminology. The things on the bottom and top on some blades. I'm just asking what you think which one should i use. Thanks for your help!

The F-5 is an agile , highly maneuverable, reliable supersonic fighter, combining advanced aerodynamic design, engine performance and low operating costs. More than 2,600 were built by Northrop Grumman and under co-production and licensing agreements with Canada, the Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, Spain and Switzerland.

Rechargeable batteries have a max number of cycles that should be charged. So keeping them equally cycled there is a technique. So a method of doing this is keep them in first in to first out stack. After recharging them put the battery in the top of the stack. Pull the out the bottom cell to be used next. No reason to count recharge cycles. The series of pictures show the stack in a different way. Heads is the round peg, tails is the square block. Take the next battery to be used next to the head, and move the head peg counter-clockwise to the next cell. When a freshly charge battery is ready, place it next to the tail and move the tail counter clockwise. My son wanted a first in first out stack. So I came up with this last night. I used scrap wood for a prototype. Shapes and sizes are up to the artist or customer. Me. Mark Eason

Just getting by cutting the patterns, now I need to learn how to modify them.

Good looking plane, RJ

That is a very nice pattern of one of my favourite aircraft. Nice cutting and lovely frame to finish it off. You have done justice to this pattern - very well done. Can I ask where you got the pattern from please?

I would be pleased to help with questions about blades. If you would like to call, we are open Monday through Friday 11 a. t 4 pm Eastern time. Or click on the link below my signature.

Rolf, an aside question, was that meter able to read below an amp?? I am surprised. Those inexpensive meters are really not that accurate.

Yes another beauty! Wouldn't you love a ride in one of those?

would it matter if i'm a beginner scroller

does it matter that i have a wen scroll saw?

I have the Rikon 10" Deluxe. Very good saw, and when you pair it with the Rikon stand it sits at just the right height IMO. Not a lot of power, but it works for what I use it for. I went for the 10" mainly because I have a very small workspace. If I need a full size bandsaw I just use the one we have at work.

Thank you!!!

Going to jump off the Blade topic and make a comment about this Pattern itself. It is a great pattern of Clint but I personally find it terribly difficult to cut any pattern that is just Black and white with no line work visible. I cannot see where the blade is while cutting and the thickness of the actual line work is very wide, so the cut out areas are not well defined, i.e.; the resulting cutouts may actually become somewhat larger than the pattern designers intented. The raggedness I saw in your cutting was definately part of the pattern itself. However, if the line work was thinner and more visible your cut path may have been slightly smoother. Here is the same pattern, converted to a thin red line with a grey fill. I think today, most pattern makers are adopting this way of offering a pattern as I've noted that a lot of the member herein have mentioned that they also prefer to cut patterns that are presented in Red lines with a Grey fill. Just something to think about.

where do you recommend to get a blade?

As always, beautiful work Bernd.

I have both the 9 inch and a 10 inch grizzly bandsaws and they have both been very good saws. I wouldn't pay $200 for that used saw when you can get a brand new saw with a warranty for not much more money. Like Ray mentioned above I would check out the Grizzly saws. Both of mine are 8-10 years old and have not had any problems with either one of them.

Very nice Bernd. One of these days I am going to learn how to make the frame. Jerry

I had hoped this piece of Cedar was the right wood but did not turn out like I had hoped.....Working on a 2nd one on Adler wood...I really liked Charlie's pattern and wanted to do it justice..Thanks for looking. Steve,

thanks for the information!

Thanks. It popped up on Marketplace. I couldn't believe the price but responded immediately that I'd take it. I figured that even if it didn't work I could salvage the bones and make something out of it. She just wanted it gone to make room for something else.

Have a couple of family members who are big Kentucky basketball fans. I made these logos to attach to one of my team spirit frames covered with wildcat fabric. These are approximately 3" wide. Two layers to get all the color margins as close as possible.

Mighty fine cutting and framing too!

I am with Marg - except haven't scrolled for over 20 years. Over 10 for sure!

This time the requested rose color was bright blue, I painted the leaves teal green. The Rose pattern is from Steve Good. The small butterfly shape is from an old Patrick Spielman book, "Scroll Saw Handbook with patterns" and the small heart I found in the font "webdings" (Capital Y ) The letter font is Z003 with the "outline font effect" turned on. The wood is 3/4" Poplar, FD Polar #! blades throughout, Two coats of shellac after painting.

Nice work!

You are correct Frank, patience is definitely not a strong point. maybe the blade is too large because there's no way to get a sharp corner, at least I can't. Pattern called for very small hole in some places and blade wouldn't cooperate getting through without bending. I'm still learning with flats so I'll stick to that for now. Enclosed is copy of pattern.

Ther are die hard straight blade users and die-hard Spiral blade users. And some that use both. I am one that uses both but prefer, for most of my intricate patterns I like to do, to use spirals. They alow me to complete a pattern faster because I don't have to spin the work and stop at tight corners as much. Like everything, if you want to use spiral blades you have to learn how to use them. Part of that includes; clamping, knowing witch way to cut, what size drill holes to use, how to get nice straight or long smooth curved lines, and, yes, how to deal with the fuzzies. All of which I have been able to do fairly succesfully. That being said, I agree, spirals are not for everyone. Yes you should concentrate on perfecting your cutting skills using straight blades if that is how you are most comfortable. If in the future you decide to try spirals again, do so with an open mind and a willingness to learn how, and dedicate a fair amount of time to the learning curve. From the sound of your frustrations I'm guessing patience is not neccessarily your strong suit. Let me say that your cutting of Clint isn't bad, but could probably have been a little less ragged, but I'm not familiar with the pattern, so I don't know if some of that is the pattern itself. However, I would be interested if you cut the same image with straigth blades how much better or worse it would look. Hope you do not take offence to any of this. Just trying to be of some help.

@wagner1958 Contact the manufacturer. It sounds like an unintended design feature that varies the output signal to the vacuum cleaner as you vary the scroll saw speed. I rather suspect that they will want to know about this and will provide a fix for it.

And I third the recommendation to get the workbook. That is the book that use to build my entire curriculum for my scroll saw class. Happy creating!

Welcome from Ohio!

Welcome to the forum from Tennessee. I suggest getting the book which I shared a link. I use this in my lessons. Scroll Saw Workbook, 3rd Edition – Fox Chapel Publishing Co.

Welcome from Pennsylvania. Nice job on your logo! The most important thing to remember is to have fun and find projects that you enjoy cutting. Feel free to ask questions and you will get plenty of answers here.

First off, Welcome, this is a great place for new scrollers!. Second, you did a great job on the Packer logo! We all started, like you with beginner projects. And when you have questions, ask them, theres decades of experience here and everyone here is great and we are more than happy to help anyone who has questions. Also ,tell us more about yourself, your saw and such. all of us here can help even more if we know what you're using. Let the sawdust fly!! Chris