Recommended blades for speed and control?

[oldjohnevans]

I am relatively new to scroll saw cutting and I would like some advice from some of you who have more experience with different types of blades from different brand names.

I am cutting jigsaw puzzles with a lot of very tight curls. These are not random cuts, I have to closely follow a pattern. In other words I do not need speed I need control.

I recently ordered some Pegas Modified Geometry blades. Size #1 and #5. From my reading they seemed like excellent blades. They cut very fast but I find that even at the lowest speed I cannot control them. They wander all over the map.

I also have some blades from Sawbird.com. They don't name their blades, (which are manufactured in Germany), but I think they are "Flying Dutchman". I use Double Tooth Reverse and Double Tooth. Both are advertized as having excellent control. My experience with them is that they do have excellent control. I cut straight lines and easy curves at moderate speed but slow right down when negotiating tight curves.

[lucky788scroller]

To negotiate tighter turns, use the smallest number size blade you can , which will depend on your wood choice and thickness as well.You dont mention what thickness/material you are trying to cut your jigsaw puzzle out of, but if its 1/8th inch thick plywood, you are going to have trouble controlling any of the mentioned blades if your only cutting one thickness. For thin puzzle cuts with tight turns, on fairly thin material, try out some of the 'superior puzzle blades' by Flying Dutchman.they make extremely tight turns and with having so many teeth, they arent overly aggressive like your experiencing with the skip tooth varieties. Dale

[PeteB]

Why not puzzle blades? Are you stack cutting? Puzzle blades are difficult to control for long straight lines or large smooth curves, but for tight curls nothing will beat a puzzle blade, 3/0, or 2/0. Tension should be on the high side for control; slack off if blade breakage is excessive.

You mentioned double tooth blades, which are great for speed but not quite as good as single tooth for control, IMO.

How about your wood? As I recall, you are using thin solid hardwood rather than plywood. I would think this would cause control problems as the blade likes to follow the grain. I suggest you get some Baltic birch from a reputable source to eliminate that variable, at least temporarily while you are working out your methods.

[oldjohnevans]

The problems I am experiencing are with 3/8" Baltic Birch plywood. I don't like it much but it is relatively cheap and I can afford to make mistakes and try again. Once I get my technology and my hand eye skills sorted out I will be moving to 3/8" hardwood panels. (I know this is not how normal people make jigsaw puzzles, but I am not normal, nor am I about to change my mind). I also have settled on relatively large blade size. #3 or #5 when I am stack cutting two layers.

With these points in mind, do any of you with long experience recommend any particular blade that I should try.

On another point. With the puzzles that I am making I have to make 3 critical double layer stack cuts. I was having an awful time until I checked the verticality of the blade with a high quality square. Now the upper and lower level pieces fit together.

[PeteB]

I use both #1 skip tooth and #2 double tooth for easier-fitting puzzles with fairly large pieces (1.25 per square inch), and #3 skip tooth for rather loose-fitting children's puzzles. I have had occasion to cut double thicknesses with these (12mm); it is slow going and I imagine that a total thickness of 28mm as you are trying to do would be excruciating.

I am not that big a fan of BB for making puzzles as it contains a lot of silica and dulls blades quickly, but it is fairly soft, grain direction is not an issue, and it is readily available; this is why I suggested it Some woods I like better are okoume and basswood. If you'll PM me your address, I'll send you some samples, and some additional blades to try.

If I were routinely triple-cutting puzzle pieces such as you are, my own taste would be for a tighter fit and I would stick with a double-tooth puzzle blade and seek easier-cutting 1/4" woods. Even then, I would not expect more than about 5-10 pieces from a blade. I would also experiment with 3/16" thickness.

Cutting a 1-1/8" thickness as you are with a machine that probably has a 3/4" stroke, you are not even clearing the chips. An interesting, expensive gamble would be an Eclipse saw with its vertical cut and 1-1/2" stroke. But, hey, if you are going to paddle upstream you might as well have the best canoe for the job.

[Rolf]

Try the Olson 2/0 reverse from Sloans, It is not aggressive and easy to control and turn, at least for me. The kerf may not be as thin as some of the other blades, but give it a try. I routinely cut my stacked ornaments with it.

[workin for wood]

Practice and experience is what I believe to be the key ingredients. You pick a blade, play with the tension, pick a speed and pretty much stick with it. Any wandering that will happen or problems turning corners will go away once you adjust to how the saw behaves. You do that long enough and then get into a project that you must use a different blade no matter what...well the adjustment time will be far reduced because you know how the saw acts and you have taught yourself how to manipulate wood for making turns. I don't find there to be much of a noticeable difference between different blade manufactures other than how long the blade stays sharp.