Need Advice on Blade/Wood

[Toneman]

I need advice from you experienced scrollers out there. I thought I had it all figured out! HAHA! I have been using #3  and #5 Olson blades on all my work , which has been out of 1/2 to 3/4 hard wood, mostly poplar, and baltic burch plywood. I have my saw (EX21) set about 85% speed and my blade tension set just fine. I was not making mistakes(not too many anyway HA). Anyway, I  decided to cut out the rifle Steve has on the pattern site, so went and bought 1/8 and 1/4 baltic plywood and put in a #2 Olson blade. I could not control my cutting! Way to fast, so I turned down the saw speed, but, did not want to put load on saw cutting that slow. I thought the smaller the blade, the slower the cut. Am I wrong? Should I even use smaller blades on the thinner material? I know the longer I scroll, I will choose my own blade preference, but, sort of like playing golf, bad habits are hard to break! HA!

Tony,aka,Toneman

[newfie]

i never used Olson blades before,i have used #2 FD blade on 1/8" birch plywood. i would try stack cutting a few pieces together and see what happens, alot of scrollers stack cut for better control of there work.

[dgman]

Hey Tony, Todd above is correct. I use both Olsen and Flying Dutchman blades and have no trouble cutting at higher speeds. I never cut anything thinner than 1/4". Even if I only need a single piece of 1/8" plywood, I will stack another layer of plywood. It will give you better control of the work. If you stack cut you might as well cut two projects as someone will want one anyway!

[UHMNL]

Hey Tony,
Use good speed but slow your feed rate down. Most blades have a burr on the right side, this makes them cut to the right. You have to move the wood some degree to the right to stay on the line.
FD Mike

[Danny]

I agree with all the above.  Lately my experience with cutting projects out of stack of 2 ....1/4", also 1/2" and one using 3/4".  All of these projects were using either BB1/4", Popular 1/2" and Pine 3/4"....I have come to the conclusion that I have almost 100% control of all my cuttings.  All this yacking is because I have been using.....The....  FD....  #1 blade.  Cuts fast enough and has enough speed with cutting to be very relaxing.  Had always used either the
FD#3 or FD#5 for most all projects....Till now....  Danny  :+}

[tux_linux]

I thought the smaller the blade, the slower the cut. Am I wrong? Should I even use smaller blades on the thinner material?

Yes, use smaller blades with thinner material. I'm using a lot of #1 and #0/2 blades, often at high speed.

I use both, FD and Olsen:
FD are more aggressive, are cutting thicker quantities, and staying sharp for a long time.
Olsen are smoother and better to be controlled (all to my point of few) but are fading over time and can become really dull without breaking. One needs to know when to change the blade and not use it until one manages to break it.

One trick is to apply tape on the wood. That helps lubricate the blade and makes a big difference! I use painters tape (easy to remove / to apply pattern on) and sometimes even put some on the back to have even smoother cutting. With this I can also use #1 or even the #2/0 with 3/4" wood on small cut outs.

[Toneman]

Thank you all for your advice! Everything said makes perfect sense to me now. You see, just ask and ye shall receive! We beginners just need to slow down and learn from you guys! We learn from mistakes if we ask for advice! Thank ya'll again!

Tony,aka,Toneman

[tux_linux]

Everybody is learning - at least I am every time I'm in the shop.

[GrayBeard]

The same is true for all blades...run the saw at a speed you feel comfortable with and TAKE YOUR TIME!!!
Last time I looked there was no fire in the shop making me hurry to get done and get out!
This is supposed to be a RELAXING HOBBY and as such it requires that you RELAX and SLOW DOWN!

My rules for 2/0 spirals apply almost universally for every project and blade I use:
1. Fast saw
2. GOOD TENSION!!!
3. SLOOOOOOOOW Feed rate!

~~~GB~~~