BBB blades vs tension - Dremel 1800 - Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts Message Board

W9NWR · 02-09-2006, 09:51 PM

My experiance as a scroller is considered novice, matter of fact just installed a Dremel 1800 yesterday. Not a bad unit, fairly robust but had to really work to get the vibration acceptable at high speed. Anyway, It seems to me that somewhere (which I have searched and cannot find) there was an item that explained that if your breaking blades on the bottom holder your doing "xxx"
wrong and if breaking blades on the top holder your doing something else wrong.
Working with the unit for about 6 hours I guess and have done the bottom break 3 times.
I do check the "high C ping" as a tension check, well as near as I can tell.
I am using FD blades. mostly 5 for my general novice work.

If anyone remembers that bottom/top break rule I would appreciate calling it to my attention or maybe any other ideas.

Thank in advance,

Chuck

lucky788scroller · 02-10-2006, 12:05 AM

I dont know of a totally correct rule, many things come in to play. Is it breaking right at the clamp?Perhaps a burr on the clamp screw is partially severing the blade? Is it breaking up a ways? Like perhaps the blade gets a sharp kink in it when you lower your wood to the table?Then, once the saw it started, that weak spot gives way?Too much tension? Too little tension? A #5 blade takes quite a bit of abuse before breakage, so somthings not right. What are you cutting, both thickness and type of wood? Also, where about are you in WI? Im in Racine county, nice to meet ya! Dale

W9NWR · 02-10-2006, 12:14 AM

Hello Dale,
Thanks for the reply. We are located in the St. Germain area about 70 Miles North of Wausau (15 Miles West of Eagle River) where we still have a foot of snow and the snowmobiles are just a buzzin around.

I am going to say its breaking right at the exit point of the lower clamp. I think I will run that "C" note a little bit higher and see how it does. Sure wish I could remember where I read that little rule, maybe on a different forum.

Just cutting 1/4" Baltic Birch plywood, simple pattern, practice.

Thanks again,
Chuck

lucky788scroller · 02-10-2006, 03:53 AM

Well, nice to meet you Chuck! You can keep the snow! I dont want any of that. With 1/4 thick, you should be haveing more trouble with control than anything else. As for the high C note, I never was much of a musician,thats more of a learned thing, it comes with experience.You would be surprised how much tension the blade can handle, perhaps snug it up a bit more and give it a shot. Dale

SharonW0111 · 02-10-2006, 06:13 AM

sorry I don't have a dremel saw - but I do use FDM blades and a #5 breaks on me if I have the tension to tight- I use a Craftsman and had to sand burs of the clamp screw and move the hex screw to be flat with the edge of the slot ,that gave me fits on keeping my blade from popping loose till I tryed sanding and loosing - now I have used the same # 5 blade for almost a whole project- I had to use a spiral on some parts of it - It is the 3 picture picture frame from berry basket I am working on now so there is a lot of scrolling on it. I just tighten just enough to keep me in control.
Sharon

W9NWR · 02-18-2006, 01:40 PM

Thanks for the reply guys and gals,
1. It looks like from time to time I was not properly seating the blade within the clamp, i.e. too shallow within the clamp. I pay more attention now.
The upper arm clamp assembly may hang up high if you don't watch it causing a shallow clamp function.

2. For the other Dremel owners; I got to the 10 hour lube point ( it also started its squeak) as recommended by Dremel so decided to lube per instructions. Well, pulled those lube caps and trying to figure out how to get a "generous" amount of oil to the bearings. I looked at the lube point plugs and noticed they are built with a cup on the inside. I just filled the cup with SAE 20 and quickly replaced the lube cap. Worked great.

3. Sometimes the upper clamp assembly gets in the way of my blade threading. Rubber band from clamp to speed control fixed that during blade threading.

4. Installed a foot switch, love it. During blade change I turn blade power off but leave the Light on. Use the foot switch to turn on light to assist with changing, threading, need all the help I can get with 65 year old eyes.

5. A lot to learn. Why do I always try the hard patterns and reach for the cheap pine? Cheap Charley? Thanks for the hardwood sources Dale, will look into them.

Dale did you get enough snow to last you?? Little cool this morning -24 with a wind chill around -35.

Thanks again for the help folks,

Chuck

lucky788scroller · 02-18-2006, 04:57 PM

Well, its good you have gotten the hang of the saw somewhat, and the rubberband idea sounds like it could be a helpful trick to other dremel owners.Sometimes such a simple thing like that gets overlooked. Most on here tend to agree with a footswitch being almost a necessity. I used to think I would like to have one, but it was pointed out to me once that I'm always dancing around, and cant sit still at the saw. If I had a footswitch, I would probably have to pull a Red Green (if you dont know who Red Green is, you are missing out on life!) and attach the switch to the bottom of my shoe.Ive gotten used to tapping the on off switch pretty good now, so dont think I'd need a footswitch anymore. As for choosing the hard patterns and the cheap wood, thats no problem, you can always use that one to learn the pattern on, and then later redo it again using more expensive wood.Actually, that sentance sounds a little off. I love cheap wood, and I hate expensive wood!Watch for deals and search for some of the little sawmills scattered around in the countryside, theres quite a few in WI.What you now are calling the expensive wood, could really be the cheap wood at another place.
As for the snow...we have maybe an inch on the ground, and yes, thats more then enough for me. Its pretty cold though, too cold for me!A friend in Australia was complaining to me her shop was way to hot to work in yesterday! yes its cold for sure, its still showing -10F here, at 11AM. I cant translate that to Celcius,but trust me, thats a bit chilly!
Glad you touched base on your new saw,And glad your having a ball with it, remember, once the pattern is pulled off,just about every oops becomes unnoticeable.....to a point. Dale

02-09-2006, 09:51 PM	#1
W9NWR Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 6	BBB blades vs tension - Dremel 1800 My experiance as a scroller is considered novice, matter of fact just installed a Dremel 1800 yesterday. Not a bad unit, fairly robust but had to really work to get the vibration acceptable at high speed. Anyway, It seems to me that somewhere (which I have searched and cannot find) there was an item that explained that if your breaking blades on the bottom holder your doing "xxx" wrong and if breaking blades on the top holder your doing something else wrong. Working with the unit for about 6 hours I guess and have done the bottom break 3 times. I do check the "high C ping" as a tension check, well as near as I can tell. I am using FD blades. mostly 5 for my general novice work. If anyone remembers that bottom/top break rule I would appreciate calling it to my attention or maybe any other ideas. Thank in advance, Chuck

02-10-2006, 12:14 AM	#3
W9NWR Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 6	Hello Dale, Thanks for the reply. We are located in the St. Germain area about 70 Miles North of Wausau (15 Miles West of Eagle River) where we still have a foot of snow and the snowmobiles are just a buzzin around. I am going to say its breaking right at the exit point of the lower clamp. I think I will run that "C" note a little bit higher and see how it does. Sure wish I could remember where I read that little rule, maybe on a different forum. Just cutting 1/4" Baltic Birch plywood, simple pattern, practice. Thanks again, Chuck Last edited by W9NWR; 02-10-2006 at 12:16 AM.

02-18-2006, 01:40 PM	#6
W9NWR Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 6	After further review Thanks for the reply guys and gals, 1. It looks like from time to time I was not properly seating the blade within the clamp, i.e. too shallow within the clamp. I pay more attention now. The upper arm clamp assembly may hang up high if you don't watch it causing a shallow clamp function. 2. For the other Dremel owners; I got to the 10 hour lube point ( it also started its squeak) as recommended by Dremel so decided to lube per instructions. Well, pulled those lube caps and trying to figure out how to get a "generous" amount of oil to the bearings. I looked at the lube point plugs and noticed they are built with a cup on the inside. I just filled the cup with SAE 20 and quickly replaced the lube cap. Worked great. 3. Sometimes the upper clamp assembly gets in the way of my blade threading. Rubber band from clamp to speed control fixed that during blade threading. 4. Installed a foot switch, love it. During blade change I turn blade power off but leave the Light on. Use the foot switch to turn on light to assist with changing, threading, need all the help I can get with 65 year old eyes. 5. A lot to learn. Why do I always try the hard patterns and reach for the cheap pine? Cheap Charley? Thanks for the hardwood sources Dale, will look into them. Dale did you get enough snow to last you?? Little cool this morning -24 with a wind chill around -35. Thanks again for the help folks, Chuck Last edited by W9NWR; 02-18-2006 at 01:42 PM.

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02-10-2006, 12:05 AM	#2
lucky788scroller Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: wisconsin Posts: 6,260	I dont know of a totally correct rule, many things come in to play. Is it breaking right at the clamp?Perhaps a burr on the clamp screw is partially severing the blade? Is it breaking up a ways? Like perhaps the blade gets a sharp kink in it when you lower your wood to the table?Then, once the saw it started, that weak spot gives way?Too much tension? Too little tension? A #5 blade takes quite a bit of abuse before breakage, so somthings not right. What are you cutting, both thickness and type of wood? Also, where about are you in WI? Im in Racine county, nice to meet ya! Dale

02-10-2006, 03:53 AM	#4
lucky788scroller Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: wisconsin Posts: 6,260	Well, nice to meet you Chuck! You can keep the snow! I dont want any of that. With 1/4 thick, you should be haveing more trouble with control than anything else. As for the high C note, I never was much of a musician,thats more of a learned thing, it comes with experience.You would be surprised how much tension the blade can handle, perhaps snug it up a bit more and give it a shot. Dale

02-10-2006, 06:13 AM	#5
SharonW0111 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Ne Texas Posts: 889	sorry I don't have a dremel saw - but I do use FDM blades and a #5 breaks on me if I have the tension to tight- I use a Craftsman and had to sand burs of the clamp screw and move the hex screw to be flat with the edge of the slot ,that gave me fits on keeping my blade from popping loose till I tryed sanding and loosing - now I have used the same # 5 blade for almost a whole project- I had to use a spiral on some parts of it - It is the 3 picture picture frame from berry basket I am working on now so there is a lot of scrolling on it. I just tighten just enough to keep me in control. Sharon

02-18-2006, 04:57 PM	#7
lucky788scroller Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: wisconsin Posts: 6,260	Well, its good you have gotten the hang of the saw somewhat, and the rubberband idea sounds like it could be a helpful trick to other dremel owners.Sometimes such a simple thing like that gets overlooked. Most on here tend to agree with a footswitch being almost a necessity. I used to think I would like to have one, but it was pointed out to me once that I'm always dancing around, and cant sit still at the saw. If I had a footswitch, I would probably have to pull a Red Green (if you dont know who Red Green is, you are missing out on life!) and attach the switch to the bottom of my shoe.Ive gotten used to tapping the on off switch pretty good now, so dont think I'd need a footswitch anymore. As for choosing the hard patterns and the cheap wood, thats no problem, you can always use that one to learn the pattern on, and then later redo it again using more expensive wood.Actually, that sentance sounds a little off. I love cheap wood, and I hate expensive wood!Watch for deals and search for some of the little sawmills scattered around in the countryside, theres quite a few in WI.What you now are calling the expensive wood, could really be the cheap wood at another place. As for the snow...we have maybe an inch on the ground, and yes, thats more then enough for me. Its pretty cold though, too cold for me!A friend in Australia was complaining to me her shop was way to hot to work in yesterday! yes its cold for sure, its still showing -10F here, at 11AM. I cant translate that to Celcius,but trust me, thats a bit chilly! Glad you touched base on your new saw,And glad your having a ball with it, remember, once the pattern is pulled off,just about every oops becomes unnoticeable.....to a point. Dale