Blade help

I have a Dremel 1800 scroll saw (I had the 16", but traded up). The 16" worked fine but right before I traded up, I started having trouble with the blades. I try to put them in and the quick release tension lever snaps open. I can't seem to get the blades to stay in most of the time, and if they do stay in, they bend after just a little bit of cutting (or they break).

Anyone have suggestions for me? I'm pretty new at this and have been successful up until now. Now I'm getting frustrated! Thanks for the help.

jeremyd

[jttheclockman]

Jeremyd

I am not sure if what I am going to tell you is going to help but it is good practice anyway. These are some basic things. Let us start with the blade. You need to use good quality blades and as many will tell you there is no better blade than the Flying Dutchman blades. You can get them from Mike at www.mikesworkshop.com He will set you up with the right blade for what you are cutting because there are so many different types of blades and you want to use the right one when cutting. The more you do this the easier it is to know which blade to use.

Now when gettting blades from wherever they will come through with some oil residue on them due to the manufactoring process. To remove this you can use some denature alcohol or what I like to use is acetone and wipe the ends off where they go into the clamps. You can also use some sandpaper and lightly hit the ends. I do not like to use mineral spirits but if that is all you have you can.

Now to the saw I assume the dremel uses thumb screws to hold the blades in. You need to back the screw out and hit the end with some sandpaper to roughen the end of the bolt up because what happens is it gets a shiny spot on it from the constant tightening against the blade. Metal rubbing against metal will leave a shiny spot after awhile.

Now you need to read the instructions for tensioning your saw. What you are after is a high pitched plunk with your finger when it is properly tensioned. It is like tuning a guitar. Too much tension will cause the blade to break prematurely and too little tension will cause the blade to bend and break prematurely. When cutting you have to learn to let the blade do the cutting and not push so hard both straight ahead and sideways which could lead to premature breaking. This takes practice but is quite easy. I do not know what type of quick tensioning lever is used but I know on my RBI there is a small setscrew under the arm where the quick tension lever is and you can adjust the tension on it. If this is the same on yours it maybe too loose. Read the manual it should help in this area. One cause for the lever to come loose is if the blade is slipping out of the clamps the tension becomes too loose and the arm will release. The blade breaks because on the up and down motion it snaps back causing the blade to break.

So to sum this up proper blade, clean the ends of the blades, clean the ends of the thumbscrews, tension correctly, check for setscrew under arm, and read the manual. Practice practice and more practice and you to will be scrolling with the big boys. Happy Scrolling and hope some of this was of help.