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General Category => General Scroll Saw Talk => Topic started by: TripleB on April 12, 2011, 10:28:40 pm

Title: Speed to wood Thickness
Post by: TripleB on April 12, 2011, 10:28:40 pm
Do any of you have a rule of thumb or some sort of guideline for matching blades speed to wood thickness? Such as "I'm cutting 3/4" Red oak and I'm going to use a number 7 blade at X speed" or " I'm cutting 1/8th" Baltic Birch with a #5sr blade at X speed" It seems to me that different types of woods might cut better at different speeds, so basically how do you figure out the best speed for your saw on various thickness and types of wood? I hope that all makes sense!

Bob
Title: Re: Speed to wood Thickness
Post by: dgman on April 12, 2011, 11:19:53 pm
Hey Bob, I don't have a rule of thumb for exact speed, just how it is cutting. Basically if it seems like it is cutting to slow, speed it up. If I feel I can't control the cut, I slow it down. Start with a medium speed, Then adjust from there.
Title: Re: Speed to wood Thickness
Post by: mrsn on April 12, 2011, 11:39:21 pm
My hegner is a single speed, and I rarely changed the speed of my hitachi. I change my feed rate frequently with different materials and thicknesses.
when teaching my high school kids, I tell them to start at a medium to high medium speed and adjust until it cuts smoothly.
MrsN
Title: Re: Speed to wood Thickness
Post by: Bill P on April 13, 2011, 07:54:42 am
I start pretty slow to get the feel of the wood and blade, then adjust up. 

Bill
Title: Re: Speed to wood Thickness
Post by: julief on April 13, 2011, 08:14:29 am
This is one of those "what feels right to you" questions.  Everybody is different.  I cut at a pretty fast speed most of the time but I do slow down when cutting really thin wood or very detailed patterns.  That is what feels right to me.
Title: Re: Speed to wood Thickness
Post by: TripleB on April 14, 2011, 02:31:28 am
Thanks everybody, thats pretty much what I thought, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Bob