Blade moves front to back

[dirtrider73068]

Just joined tonight, am new to scrolling, though do have some knowledge of wood workings. I just got a skil brand scroll saw from lowes. Have had a few days been trying to learn of course broke a few blades so back to reading I went. All was going good until today I noticed the blade will move up down but looks like the bottom half moves front to back of the table? In doing this it makes the wood shake thus blurring my pattern and now makes it kinda hard to control. I looked at the obvious things to see if something is out of adjustment, I even made sure the blade was mounted in the clamps straight and not leaning front to back. But still its not right. I started with pin blades but soon found out the drilled hole has to be big, and also read that plain blades take turns better. I got some new blades skil brand and it was doing fine till today.

I am aggravated as I have some patterns to cut out to give for Christmas presents, and want them to turn out good. Also I am using some thin laun plywood to start with since it was real cheap till I get the hang of it, then will step as my skill with scrolling gets better. Thanks.

[julief]

First and most important - don't buy blades from the box stores.  The are awful and way more expensive than good blades.  Flying dutchman blades are available through mikesworkshop (FD Mike) here on the forum, for far less than you pay at the store.  I don't care what brand of saw you have, your cutting improves with good blades.
Second, cutting one layer of thin plywood is harder than cutting a few layers of plywood.  Try stack cutting 2 or 3 layers.  Luan is a little more difficult because it is poorly made.  It will chip easier and has voids.  We've all used it because it is cheap and practice is practice.

[dirtrider73068]

Ok will keep that mind, and into the flying dutchman blades, from what I have read alot have said they are good blades.

But by the movement what I am talking about is on the upstroke the blade moves forward toward you, on the downstroke it moves back away from you, when it does this while cutting it causes the board to shake vibrate, is this a adjustment or something with the saw or is it with the blades being they are from a box store?

[Billy in Va]

Dirtrider  Go to the very top of the page  in the right hand corner and do a search for  vibration.  read a while then do a search for other key words that you have questions about.  Folks here will also answer your questions.There is a ton of information here to be had.

[rob roy]

Hi Dirtrider, I'm Roy from Scotland, welcome to the forum. Come in and join in the fun. Sounds as if your saw is reciprocating, a bit like a modern jigsaw, but in the wrong direction. It would seem from your description that something is way out of alignment. A warranty job I think??. Not that I'm an expert, DGMAN is the expert, among others. Hope this is of some help.
Rob Roy.

[dgman]

Most saws have some front to back movement. Some saws have an adjustment to help correct it. I don't know about your saw. Make sure your blades are in correctly. The teeth should be pointing down and facing you.
If after all that has been suggested to you does not work, take the saw back and get the Porter Cable saw. It is a much better saw then the Skil saw.
Good luck!

[rob roy]

I said you were the Expert Dan.
Rob Roy.

[GrayBeard]

HI and welcome...

That Skil is basically a saw that has very limited qualifications! As Dan (dgman) said, if you can take it back and get the P-C. It is one of the better entry level saws. You may not get the FD blades in time to finish this project but they are what most of us use and we feel are the very best.  If you have a Rockler of Woodcraft store near you they both carry much better blades than the BORG (big ol' retail giant).
Michael's and Joanne hobby stores carry good 'hobby wood' that is much better than that el cheapo Luan.

From what you are saying about the chatter I feel your 'tension' may not be as tight as needed.

~~~GB~~~

[dirtrider73068]

Well the skill saw is with in my budget untill I can I can afford a better one. I plan on lokking more into it and see if there is any adjustment if not will have to live it I guess. I know my blades are installed right, I already put one in wrong and it was obvious it was when the wood jumped up and it cut funny. One thing I noticed is the clamps screw down there is two holes like the clamps can be flipped over, does this make sense that they need be flipped over to use plain vs pinned? But look doing that the clamps would be far apart for the blade to reach. I will get it figured out one way or another I like the saw.

We do have a joannes here my woman has already been said its a cool craft store, therr is also a WoodCraft store but its a drive in the NW part of the city. If all else I may take some time go find it and see what they have.