blade choice for cutting wood gears

[deemon328]

Hello,

I'm pretty uneducated regarding the scroll saw, so I was hoping to get some advice on good blade choices for the clock project in the current issue of the magazine.

I have a 16" Craftsman VS scroll saw (that accepts the flat style blades, not the pin type) with a spiral blade. On the tooth cutting, would the spiral blade be a good choice, or is a regular blade better?

Any tips or tricks would be much appreciated

[MikeDingas]

The article suggests a #1 reverse tooth. Why don't you try that?

[BobD]

I wouldn't use spirals at all. Marc said the cuts need to be VERY accurate for the clock to run properly. I'd use the #1 that he suggests!

Bob Duncan
Technical Editor

[miamw]

I'm really new at this too and have done some practice or test cuts with spiral blades. What a waste of money! The blade seems to shread the heck out of the top and bottom of the wood and requires a lot of sanding to finish it properly. Not only that, but gaining control over the sprial for intricate cutting is a very difficult task. I've basically thrown the spirals to the back of my drawer and have resolved myself to practicing with the regular blades.

[BobD]

I use both blades pretty interchangably now, but it took some practice. I found it easier to learn with straight blades, then learn how sprials cut differently and go from there.

You can't go wrong learning to use both!

Bob

[JWH]

Hi All
This may seem like a silly question.But what do the numbres mean when deciding on which blade to use.Right now I am flying by the seat of my pantsand picking one that does the right job without a lot of extra work.
Thanks
JWH.

[chrispuzzle]

JWH -

The bigger the number, the thicker the blade and the fewer teeth per inch - which will be a more aggressive, coarser cut. Mike's Workshop has excellent information about blades http://www.mikesworkshop.com/blades.htm and choosing them http://www.mikesworkshop.com/whatblad.htm and Mike is a pleasure to deal with.

Slightly confusingly, when the blade numbers get down to 0 they then go 2/0, 3/0 etc... for even finer blades.

The trade-off is between intricate cutting of thin wood with lots of control (low numbers, lots of teeth per inch) and fast cutting of thick, hard wood (high numbers, fewer teeth per inch).

It's a bit like picking golf clubs. It's nice to have a wide range of choice, but most scrollers get by with a few personal favorites that they use all the time.

[JWH]

Thanks for the info I have printed a copy off and I willbe ordering blades in the next couple of days.
Thanks again.
JWH

[William Young (SE BC)]

Hi JWH;
Check you PM's

[Smitty1]

In a recent email from Marc Tovar, here is his blade choice
for cutting wooden gears =
I use all the blades of the Flying Dutchman-2-way cut.
Thats two teeth down and one up.
I use the No. 3 for 1/8" material,
the No. 5 for 1/4" to 1/2".
The No 7 for 1/2" and
the No. 9 for thicker material.
The 5 and 7 are the two I mostly use and buy them by the gross.

Smitty