July 26, 2011
Wood Toy News www.toymakerpress.com
Scroll Saw Blade Basics
How to choose which scroll saw blade to use for scroll sawing wood toy projects.
Learn about Olson’s new scroll saw files and sanders that fit scroll saws like blades. www.toymakerpress.com
First, what is a scroll saw? A scroll saw can be used for everything from making intricate wood pieces to cutting through metal pipe. It’s often confused with a jigsaw, but a scroll saw is more heavy-duty and may be used to cut several materials. The scroll saw’s ability to make intricate cuts is due to its small blade.
Modern scroll saws have a knob that permits the machine to be adjusted to different speeds. Most scroll saws can make between 400 and 1,800 strokes per minute. The saw's table tilts and may be locked into place at various angles for cutting bevels.
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This Porter Cable scroll saw is a pin-blade model for under $200 with a floor stand. It’s available through Lowe’s on the internet. I’ve used one of these for years for my toymaking. It’s great for toys that do not require intricate fretwork. You’ll need to buy a pinless blade model for delicate fret work. A pinless scroll saw blade allows you to thread the blade through a tiny hole in your material for sawing delicate fretwork.
Blades are measured in TPI (teeth per inch), and the more teeth per inch, the more intricate work the saw can do. The greater the TPI, the faster a blade can make tight turns.
A popular scroll saw among the professional scrollers is this Excalibur model available online for under $1,000. It’s a pinless model that is great for fine fretwork. It’s solid construction and durability work well for scrollers that want to produce higher production quantities.
Wood Toy News July 26, 2010
This massive 6 ft. tall scroll saw is used for wood toy manufacturing in the orient.
Look at the length of that blade! The blade length and the horsepower of this scroll saw can accommodate the thickest and hardest of materials.This is a scroll saw to die for. Well, I don’t think I’ll be picking one of these up any time soon. It weighs so much that I’d have to strengthen the floor of my shop to support it! Maybe someday...
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Scroll Saw Blade Rules Start the machine and gently feed the blade into the work piece along your marked line. Hold the work piece down on the table and move it steadily to obtain a good finish. When negotiating particularly tight corners you may need to pull the work piece gently towards you to stop the blade cutting as you turn the work. Be careful not to exert any sideways pressure on the blade. If you need to reverse out of a cut, it is better to switch the machine off first and then carefully withdraw the blade. The secret of successful scroll sawing is to use a light touch and be patient. When making a cut with a scroll saw, make sure the tension is set properly. To set blade tension, place a piece of wood at the front of the blade. Tighten the blade until it can move only about 1/8 inch. Stamped scroll saw blades tend to veer over to the side, so when making a straight cut, the wood must be fed into the machine at an angle from the right. To cut out a corner, put a little pressure on the side of the blade, and spin the wood around. Do not use dull blades. Scroll-saw blades are inexpensive costing from 15 to 75 cents each and easy to replace. To remove a blade, unlock the tension, pull down the chuck and pull out the blade. Clean blades with turpentine or steel wool.
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Wood Toy News July 26, 2010
Blades are measured in TPI or teeth per inch. More teeth per inch increases the blade’s ability to cut the details required for fine work. SOME BASIC SCROLL SAW BLADE TYPES: Available in both pin-ended and plain ended styles.
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1. Standard Tooth Blades: Available for both wood and metal. Teeth are the same size and distance apart. Wood blades have large teeth and more space between the teeth which easily clear out sawdust when cutting. Standard metal blades have small teeth and less space between teeth. 2. Double-tooth Blades: A double-tooth blade is a skip-tooth blade with a large space between sets of two teeth. This blade require slow cutting but will create a fine smooth cut. 3. Skip-tooth Blades: These blades are the same as standard tooth blades with every other tooth missing. The gullet between teeth is widened to keep the blade cool. Skip-tooth blades are a great blade to use for most toymaking. 4. Reverse Skip-tooth Blades: These blades are the same as regular skip-tooth blades but have a select number of bottom teeth pointing upward. The novel design prevents most splintering on the underside of the cut. This blade is preferred when sawing plywood. If your saw allows it, place the blade so that only two or three teeth are above the table top with the saw arm in the highest position. 5. Crown-tooth Blades: With this innovative design, the teeth are crowned with a space between each crown. The blade can be placed in the saw in either direction. There is no up and down when installing this type of blade. Slower than a regular blade, they are great for cutting plastic or Plexiglas®. As the blade dulls it can be reversed for more sharp sawing. 6. Precision-ground Blades: These blades are actually a skiptooth blade with small teeth that have been ground to shape rather than simply filed. These blades are much sharper, cut a precision line and leave a very smooth surface. I prefer Precision Ground Tooth (PGT) blades because it’s easier to follow a pattern line. 7. Spiral Blades: These blades are simply a group of blades twisted together so there are teeth all the way around. You can cut in all directions without turning the wood. There are a few applications for this kind of blade, but they leave a very rough, wide cut surface, can’t make a tight or sharp corner and have a tendency to stretch as you use them. I do not recommend these blades except for special applications. 8. Specialty Blades: There are numerous special blades designed to cut metal, plastic and even glass. There are also bladetype scroll saw inserts for sanding and filing that are featured on page 9 of this issue.
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Scrolling is a lot easier and much more fun when blades are understood and the right blade is used. Choosing the right scroll saw blade for the job increases your chances of success and makes scrolling a lot safer. The type of blade that you choose is based on the thickness and hardness of the type of wood you’re using for your project. Materials like Plexiglas and aluminum require a blade made especially for that material. Almost all wood is cut with standard blades. All types of scroll saw blades are manufactured by stamping from steel blanks which can leave small burrs on the blade. PGT scroll saw blades are stamped, hardened and then finished by grinding. These types of blades stay sharper longer and are less likely to break.
The highest quality scroll saw blades also use top quality steel and a refined tempering process.
using a blade with less teeth will increase the speed of cutting. The cut will be a little rougher but your sawing speed will increase greatly.
If you are new to scrolling, be conservative with blade selection. When scroll sawing thick wood choose a blade with less teeth per inch. With thin wood choose a blade with more teeth per inch. A good rule of thumb is to keep at least 4 teeth in the wood at all times on thick wood stock and at least 3 teeth per inch in the wood at all times in thin wood stock. A scroll saw blade with too many teeth for the job keeps the sawdust from clearing out. The blade soon can get too hot causing the wood to burn. A scroll saw blade with too few teeth will snag the wood. This causes the wood to jump up and down on the table and sometimes become completely out of control.
This is important when cutting difficult hardwoods. Hardwoods require a higher number blade, where the blade kerf (width of cut) is larger allowing for easier dust clear out. This type of blade is also useful with oily woods.
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The greater blade thickness also results in a longer blade life when used on denser woods. Gummy white pine works best with a skip tooth blade. With more space between the teeth of a skip tooth there’s more efficient dust removal.
When scroll sawing delicate fretwork patterns use a high toothcount blade to maintain better control when sawing. When scroll sawing long gentle curves for outside cuts on a piece of wood,
Wood Toy News July 26, 2010
If you are a beginning scroller it is best to choose a blade that has a high number of teeth and is of a heavier gauge steel. This will help to minimize the number of broken blades. It will also make the blade easier to control. For example, a blade with 12 TPI (teeth per inch) will provide good control but will require sawing a little slower than a blade of 8 TPI. The number given to a scroll saw blade gets larger with the increase of thickness with each blade. A #9 blade is made of much thicker steel than a #3 blade. The thicker the blade steel, the less likely the blade will break. Much more tension and pressure can be applied to a #9 blade than a #3 blade and with less deflection from #9 blade’s vertical path. This is important to consider when increasing cutting speed. Keep in mind that higher cutting speeds can create a need for more sanding.
Scroll saw blade selection requires choosing between blade life, speed of sawing, quality of the finished edge and controlling the saw blade’s path. The most important thing to remember when trying to control sawing with a scroll saw is to not go too fast. Many retail store scroll saws have small motors with fine blades and are not designed for speed cutting. When sawing too fast on hard woods the
Use this Universal Blade Number chart when you are choosing the blade type based on the wood thickness.
blade will walk with a mind of it’s own. Blade breakage is an indication of excessive speed and push against the blade when sawing.
When sawing, use an even consistent pressure. Push the wood into the front of the blade, NOT the side. When sawing long, sweeping curves use the movement of your body to help guide the work piece into the blade. This will work better than trying to use just your hands to constantly make small adjustments as you guide the work piece into the blade. You can practice this on a piece of scrap wood until you perfect the technique used by many pro-scrollers.
Always use the largest blade you can get away with, since small blades are more likely to break and are much more sensitive to correct blade tension and operating speed.
the blades into fine holes when cutting highly detailed fretwork.
When drilling initial pilot holes use a scrap board under the work piece to prevent tear out from the blade. This is especially useful when making tight cuts and you don’t want the drill hole to interrupt your pattern lines. Place pilot holes near to a corner if turn room is needed. Pinless blades can be sharpened on the end to make it easier to insert
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Antique industrial scroll saw shown on blog at www.practicalmachinist.com.
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Review this before buying your next batch of scroll saw blades. There are many factors to consider when choosing a scroll saw blade for your project. Thickness and hardness of wood as well as intricacy of the pattern are important factors. Review the complexity of the pattern that is to be cut out with a scroll saw. Choose a blade that is small enough to easily cut into the tightest areas of the pattern. Thicker and harder wood requires larger and thicker blades. The blade being used must be able to turn within the radius of the sharpest corners of the scroll saw pattern. Scroll saw blade sizes are listed using numbers. The higher the number, the bigger the blade. The numbers can range from as large as #12 to sizes below #0, such as #2/0 (pronounced two aught), #3/0, etc. Generally you won't be needing anything that's smaller than #3/0 as they are usually considered jeweler's blades. Bigger blades will be both thicker and wider with less teeth per inch. There is no standard governing these specifications so there is a slight variation between manufacturers and between different series of blades by the same manufacturer. Size of the blade is not the only factor that affects turning ability. Different manufacturing techniques make similar looking blades act vastly different. Experimentation may be required to find what brands work best. There is a great difference between standard stamped blades and Precision Ground Tooth (PGT) blades. PGT's are a little more expensive. PGT’s are sharper and stay sharp longer than stamped blades. PGT’s do not have a stamping burr on one side. This allows PGT blades to cut perpendicular to the blade rather than at the 10-15 degrees to the right required when using stamped blades. This alone makes the higher cost more than worth it.
Great for Metal Crafting 5 inch Plain End and Pin End fit most scroll saws
New Scroll Saw Files from Olson 5” long x .156” wide x .056” thick, plain end Olson Scroll Saw Files convert your scroll saw into a power sander that’s ideal for metal crafters and artists! Fine grit Scroll Saw Files can smooth, sand, shape, and correct even complex contours and forms, eliminating hand sanding in hard and soft wood, plaster, greenware, soapstone, and nonferrous metals including copper and brass.
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Made from a durable tempered spring steel core coated with a silicon carbide abrasive, they work in most scroll saws taking plain end blades. They can also be used in pin vises, craft knife handles, mini hack, jeweler and hand fret saws.
Wood Toy News July 26, 2010
ScrollSander sanding belts easily smooth the edges of scroll saw projects in wood, plastic, metal, and composites. These durable, fabricbacked belts have molded polycarbonate ends for attaching to most scroll saws that take 5 blades. ScrollSander belts rapidly remove bumps, burns, and feathering, and correct wandering from a cutting line. They also work great on curves, concave or convex edges, and can reach into intersections. ScrollSander belts come with pin and plain ends in 1/4“ and 1/2 “ widths in a choice of 80, 120, 180 and 220 grits. Mount Scroll Sander belts as easily as a blade. Remount with opposite side up to extend the life of ScrollSanders.
Made in USA
Sand convex or concave edges
The Olson Saw Company 16 Stony Hill Rd,Bethel, CT 06801 USA
Tel.: 203-792-8622 Fax: 203-796-7861 Contact us by email:
Reach into inter sections
sales.olsonsaw@blackstoneind.com
www.olsonsaw.com
Correct wandering from a cutting line Remove bumps, burns, and feathering
Packaged to sell with Olson Scroll Saw Blades
plain end shown
Recommendations: Fits most scroll saws (Craftsman® , Delta® , DeWalt® , Excalibur® , Ryobi® ), but modifications may be required to throat insert or table opening depending upon width of sander used. Be sure to check your table/ throat plate opening before purchasing sanders. DeWalt® & Excalibur® Scroll Saws only accept the 1/4 sanders unless you drill the table hole larger . Dremel® 1670,1671 & 1680:use pin end sanders . Remove nub of plastic at gate to fit into clampif necessary. Delta® : use side mount, cut table insert to fit sander, or remove table insert. Ryobi® SC 160: use pin end sanders. Ryobi® SC 162, 162VS & 165: use plain end sanders only. Hegner® : use pin end sanders. ® , Does not fit RBI® , Reliant or Moto-Shop® . Plain end sanders fit most conversion kits for mounting blades with plain ends on pin end saws. U.S. Patent No.: 6,129,617
pin end shown
4-pk Part No.
1/4 wide 4-pk Part No.
SC91262BL SC91212BL
Grit
Pin End Grit
Pin End Assorted: 180, 220 and (2) 120 120
SC91564BL
80
SC91512BL
120
SC91518BL
180
180
SC91522BL
SC91222BL
220
Plain End
Plain End
Assorted 80, 120, 180, 220
SC91508BL
SC91218BL
SC92564BL
220
Assorted 80, 120, 180, 220
SC92262BL
Assorted: 180, 220 and (2) 120
SC92508BL
80
SC92212BL
120
SC92512BL
120
SC92218BL
180
SC92518BL
180
SC92222BL Form OL232 n 12/09
1/2 wide
220
SC92522BL
220
Printed in USA
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The Toymaker’s Library Volume 2 All 4 Books for
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Build Wood Toy Trains
Book 2
Little Village Toy Plans for Table Saws
Book 3
Snazzy Toys for Scrollsawers
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Build Big Wood Toy Trucks
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Order online at www.toymakerpress.com or Call 1-888-962-4714
Wood Toy News July 26, 2010