breaking 2/0 blades

[americancanuck]

Next question in my list of 1000. This will be 999. I don't seem to be able to use 2/0 blades. I suspect it is a tension problem but don't have enough experience to be able to figure it out. either I have no control or the blade breaks as soon as I turn the saw on. what am I doing wrong.

[daliclimbs]

Can we get a little more info? What type of blades? Are they Dutchman? I use quite a bit of tension with a 2/0 and find that's better than not enough.. it could actually be an issue of Not enough tension. To little tension and you will force the work piece and break blades.. what size stock are you cutting with them?

[UHMNL]

You need most likely more tension. The blade should give a nice high ping sound.
It should not move sideways more than 1/8" in that is almost too much. Have good speed
and push very slow into the blade or the blade will start cutting with a bevel and you loose control. Let the blade do the cutting, they say. You never can be in a hurry cutting with a scroll saw.
FD Mike

[countryscroller]

For the nice ping sound, on Steve's site he has a little program on the left hand side of the page. It goes through each sound of the tension until you get where you want the sound to be.

[LHayes]

I agree it's a tension problem...if you are set to loose, your blade will flex when you turn on the saw and that small of blade just might break...I used to say puck the blade until you heard the letter "C" on a music scale, then it's tight enough.

[americancanuck]

very good advise. I will try and check for lateral movement when I set the tension. the other methods are out of the question for me as I am both hearing impaired and tone deaf.

[beginner]

I like the idea of the ping to know when the blade is at the correct tension, but can someone explain to me how the H___ you can get the ping when you have the blade in the hole?

[dgman]

I like the idea of the ping to know when the blade is at the correct tension, but can someone explain to me how the H___ you can get the ping when you have the blade in the hole?

Your right Jim, you can't hear the ping when you are in a small tight hole, but you should be able to develop a "feel" for the correct tension once you know it.

[GrayBeard]

Once you have the blade in the hole just wiggle the workpiece side to side and you will be able to see how much the blade flexes. If it flexes more than a 32nd of an inch 'tighten up brother'!
With a new blade and making a long cut I often stop at a convenient place and adjust the tension again...blades DO STRETCH.
You'll get the hang of it...

~~~GB~~~