New Scroller Wannabbee in E. Tenn.

[Don R]

Hello, I am a brand new wannabee scroller who knows absolutely nothing about scroll saws. I bought mine, a Craftsman, primarily to make cut outs for my other hobby, woodcarving. However, for practice on the saw I tried portraits and forest leaf designs in both scrap plywood and 1/4 inch oak and became addicted. Both turned out OK but not great and at least I didn't have to use much glue and surprisingly no bandaids. I have been using #1 Flying Dutchman spiral blades with mixed rates of success. Am I using the correct blades for that kind of work or would I have better luck with a different blade? This question has probably been asked and answered before and for that I apologize and would appreciate being pointed in the right direction as far as blade selection is concerned. Sorry for rambling.

[lucky788scroller]

Welcome aboard. You can use whatever blade your comfortable with. For me, I prefer a flat blade, with either reverse teeth on the bottom, ir the ones known as twoway cut, with teeth in both directions. For the leaf designs. I would use a #3 or a #5, and stack cut two of your 1/4th inch layers at a time for better control.Im sure with a little browsing, you will find a lot of info on blades, so Ill just let you look around and meet the folks here. Happy Scrolling, Dale

[Charlie_1]

Welcome to the group Don

[PuzzledMoose]

I'm with Dale on using flat reverse tooth blades for things like forest leaves, I use mainly #3s or #1s on 1/2 inch oak - occasionally #5s to cut out the outside of the shape.

I haven't used spirals a great deal - though I don't hate them as much as I did at my first attempts ..lol I did find that I got better results cutting with #2/0 spiarl blades rather than #1s (that was cutting 7/32inch ply)

[Greenfield_Bob]

Hi Don, welcome to a great scrolling forum.

Bob

[NC Scroller]

Welcome to our little family Don. Like was previously stated, I use flat baldes on the leaf designs. #3 and #5 reverse blade. I use Olsen blades but use whatever brand you prefer. Some people like Ford and some like Chevy but they both get you from point A to point B. I also use them on portraits. I have tried the spiral blades and have not be able to master them but I have not even up.

[Steviegwood]

Welcome to the family Don. Steve

[popsshop]

Welcome aboard, Don.
A wealth of knowledge is here just for the asking.
Regarding blades - as others have said, use whatever gives you the best results. I think most of us now use flat blades simply because (1) we have learned how to use them and (2) the smooth side edges they provide. Personally, I live with either #3 or #5 depending on wood type and thickness.
Just my humble opinion (but I'm stickin with it)

[Scroller Patroller]

Welcome aboard Don! I don't care for the Spiral Blades basically because of all the "frizzies" left after using them. I know that it seems to be a current trend for many of the portrait scrollers, but just starting out, you might want to try "flat blading" first. Buy an assortment and find the type of blades that work best for your type of scrolling.

Good Luck,
Rick

[Mackem]

Welcome to the club Don.