scroll saw blades

[bassin brian]

I have a scroll saw and whenever i cut wood the blades break. does anyone have any suggestions as to what i should do. i have read the owners manual and done what it says. thanks

[Postman]

Well I know that if you force the blades to cut instead of letting them cut at their own speed they will sometimes break and almost always not cut at a 90 degree angle. Maybe that will help you.

[Sawduster]

Lots of stuff involved in scroll sawing. Like Joe said, let the blade do the work and don't force it. You need to match the blade to the work being done. If you're using too small a blade for the wood and thickness of the wood, you'll break blades. The type of blade being used is another issue, as is the brand. When I first started doing scrollsaw work, I broke a lot of blades and did really crappy work. A buddy gave me some Flying Dutchman reverse skip tooth blades and my scrolling improved over night and I quit breaking blades. Now they are all that I use. Still got to match the blade size and teeth to the material and let the blade do the cutting for you, but . . .

I get my Flying Dutchman blades from [link:www.mikesworkshop.com/blades.htm|Mike's Workshop]. Check out his site, then give him a call. Tell him what you're wanting to do, and he'll set you up with the blades to do it. A really nice man and a joy to talk to. He also ships really quick. I've called him on a Wednesday morning and the blades were in my mailbox by Friday afternoon.

[TDHofstetter]

What tooth count are the blades you're using? If you're using blades with a high tooth count, you may be just getting impatient with the saw & forcing stuff. Try & use the LOWEST teeth per inch that'll give you the results you want... as long as you keep three teeth in the workpiece at all times, all will go pretty well that way.

Another thing that could possibly cause the problem is trying to turn corners too fast.

Or... how's the tension on your saw? If it's much too high, it'll pop blades like no tomorrow.

Give your blades a good look next time you break one. Lay it out, broken end to broken end, on a tabletop & examine it carefully. Where did it break? Near one end, near the middle, right at the surface of the scrollsaw's table? Is the body of the blade still straight, or is it bowed like an archer's bow?

A break close to - or at - the ends indicates to me that you've got far too much tension on the blade. A blade body that's bowed away from the teeth indicates that you're pushing the blade too hard, not letting it do its own job in its own time. Same goes for a blade that's still pretty straight, but broken right at the top of the teeth, where the toothed section of the body meet the straight top end. Breaks in odd spots (below the table, halfway between the table & the upper arm of the saw) may be caused by trying to turn corners too quickly with too wide a blade.

-- Tim --

Member of the
Robert "Limey" Bolton Memorial
International
Volunteer Mentorship and Assistance
Programme

[bassin brian]

i just checked out his site. they are a very reasonable price. $2.90 per dozen is not bad. Could you give me his email address so that i can send him an email to get a sample blade. Thanks