Choosing the Right Blade for Your Scroll Saw

 

Handmade Wooden Toy Dinosaur Figurine On My Scroll Saw

See my dinosaurs here.

 This is the best description I have seen for selecting a scroll saw blade.

From Steve Good Blog Post Edited grammer and punctuation,
https://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2024/05/welcome-gnome-scroll-saw-pattern.html

If you're new to scroll sawing, you may wonder which blade to use for different wood or cuts. While there are general guidelines, the truth is that different saws, blades, and people have different preferences and skills. As an experienced scroller, I can tell you what works for me and offer some tips that may help you get started.

First of all, I rarely choose a blade for the wood. Instead, I select the blade based on the pattern I'm cutting. If the pattern has small interior cuts, I use a #3 or whatever blade I need to get into the small holes. It will cut slowly, but it will cut accurately. When you see people talking about using a #9 blade to cut thicker or harder wood or a #3 for thinner or softer wood, they are talking about the efficiency of the cut. A #9 blade will cut thicker, harder wood faster and break fewer blades, but if the #9 blade won't allow you to get into the interior hole or make the tight turns, it does not work. As a scroller, I care about making accurate cuts, even if they are slow.

I use a #5 scroll reverse or a #3 scroll reverse 95% of the time. Occasionally, if I have a rough cut, I grab a larger blade. I own a lot of blades, and many only get used if I run into a special project.

Some materials require special blades. Metal and Corian are two that come to mind. When cutting metal, you need a blade specifically designed for that purpose. Corian is a type of solid surface material that is very dense and abrasive. You need a blade that can handle the wear and tear of cutting Corian without breaking or dulling too quickly.



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