Not sure what blade to use

[mamell]

I've been away from the scroll saw awhile concentrating more on other things, but now I'm trying to cut through 1/2 inch oak and getting nowhere really quick.  I'm pretty patient, but so far the blades I've used with the Dremel 2 speed are taking about 10 minutes per inch. I'm not really even sure that I'm using the right blades and my collection of blades got knocked on the floor and scattered so telling one from the rest isn't real easy either.  I don't have the eagle eyes I once had.
Anyway..any suggestions?  I have quite a bit to cut here and would prefer it to not take me 32 years..

[Bill Wilson]

Hard to say what the problem is, without knowing what blade is in the saw now.  Typically for wood that thick, I would probably choose something at least #3 or larger.  I've cut 1/2" thick oak with #2 reverse tooth blades.  It's slow, but not as slow as 10 minutes per inch.  Just about any sharp blade should cut faster than that. 

[mamell]

Hard to say what the problem is, without knowing what blade is in the saw now.  Typically for wood that thick, I would probably choose something at least #3 or larger.  I've cut 1/2" thick oak with #2 reverse tooth blades.  It's slow, but not as slow as 10 minutes per inch.  Just about any sharp blade should cut faster than that.

I think I have it.. It's slow, but sure and straight which was another concern..Since basic math never was my strong suit I couldn't tell you what number I'm using..At least I'm not chopping my finger tips off like I nearly did with the table saw a few months ago.. I just need to take a breath and realize this isn't a race..

Thanks.

[OPi]

Could be that the blade is dull. I set a timer for 20 minutes and change the blade when it goes off - no matter what!!! For  very dense wood - purpleheart, bloodwood, et al, - 15 minutes max.  Since I started doing this, production has increased, errors have decreased. I would say that this is my two cents worth, but this is worth at least a nickel.

[dirtrider73068]

Oak is pretty hard wood anyway and may cut slow and also dull blades faster about like cutting pylwood due to the glue dulls and eats blades up. If I am in doubt the blade is getting dull or think it is I change it for a fresh blade. They are cheap and have plenty.

[mamell]

I made the mistake of not getting my blades organized from the very beginning and instead just lumped them all together and as time has gone on I've acquired more and more small tools that get mixed up with the others.
I'm kind of in the process of getting reorganized and building a new work bench along with storage racks.. Just keeping my chisels organized and the sharp ends away from other things seems to be an after thought . I was originally geared up for working on cars and so on, but it's taking me awhile to realize that it's a completely different setup organizing for working with wood.. I've kind of lost the desire to spend all day turning nuts and bolts so keeping the grease off things is kind of important now days..

[sawdust703]

First, Welcome back to the world of scrolling! I commend you for your interest. Oak is one of the "easier" hardwoods to cut on a scroll saw. As you've found out, a scroll saw takes time & patience. Its not designed to cut at high speed per say a table saw. Next, 1/2" material is the ideal thickness for most any scroll project you want to do. The next thing is blade selection. For 1/2" material, & hardwood, my suggestion would be a #3 or #4 skip tooth, or #3 reverse blade. Blade speed, that has a lot to do with blade selection. The skip tooth can handle a fair speed, & steady feed rate. The reverse cut, if you can manage it, will handle a higher speed, & last just long. My experience has been that patience & a practice are better teachers than most realize. JMO.

[mamell]

Thanks for the suggestions  and...

My experience has been that patience & a practice are better teachers than most realize.

We seem to live in the instant world where practice is a relic of the past and there's always someone willing to sell us a way to bypass the very concept of practice and patience. None the less I still practice a lot. I recently built a nice little towel rack for my daughter and along the way I practiced chisel cuts over and over till I was completely confident with making the cuts needed. This of course left me with plenty of chunks of wood that are now for all intents and purposes pretty useless, but I can look at them and see how my own skills have evolved and improved. I have an entire box of scraps that can be seen as mistakes, but I prefer to look at them as a time line of learning.

[Jim Finn]

I am cutting 3/4" wood all the time and use #5 blades.  #7 also work but seem to cut a bit slower for me.