Tried spiral blades.

[greatdane2]

I have had these blades for several years and decided it was about time to try them. I think I need a lot more practice before I try another project with them. Just could not follow the lines threw a curve, tried different speeds and tension but it was not good. I was trying out stack cutting as well,with 4 pieces of 1/8 bb ply. with a #5 blade. Any coments would be welcome cause this was horible.
I gave up and started over with regular blades, and that was ok other than the fuzzies and the points on the lower sheets broke off. I was using a #5 skiptooth which I thunk was a bit to aggressive. But it turned out ok I think.

Alan.

[lucky788scroller]

Alan, I think considering everything it turned out ok. I think your choice of doing it with a spiral in the first place was a horrible decision.In my opinion, any pattern that has multiple straight lines, like the lettering, and the perimeter, is not designed to be cut using a spiral. Also, I think the chosen font is not a good choice,I prefer fonts that do not let key pieces drop out, mainly on that number 8 and in the O's . Me, i would have stacked it 4 layers high (1/8th inch thick) and used a #1 or #3 FD-TC blade.

[greatdane2]

I was trying to use the spiral on the smaller letters only. You are right about the font, By the time I figured out that they were wrong I just said #$%^ and kept going. Lesson learned.

Alan.

[guitarman]

Alan, get some of Mike's new spirals. I didn't like spirals until I tried a sample from Mike. I use the 2/0 spiral blades on a lot of projects now. They work great for me. David

[marshall]

Alan : I know that trying new things in life is good , but in my option on these Spiral blades> I think I hate them !! My luck with them was not good, I thought that they would be the cats meow, and I have heard of other scrollers that don't like them either . I'll just stay away from them, Thank you very much !!! Marshall

[Jim McDonald]

I still use spirals on a few things, but after having spent a few months on this board, I have seen the light and converted most stuff to smaller flat blades.

There is a certain "siren's song" for spirals: You don't have to twist the piece around for that "upside down cut", you can do pieces far larger than the throat on the saw would normally allow and a buch of other reasons, but when that blade starts to "go south", it is a quick trip onto the rocks.

And yes, the FD spirals are better than the hardware store versions, but they still exhibit the same tendencies for grabbing and running.

I keep a few spirals around, but they are not my favorites now. And for those you cutting with Hitachis, you must get the new flat end spirals from Mike--it is the only thing I have found that won't squeeze out of the blade holders. I just donated about 2 1/2 dozen regular spirals to the high school art department.