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#1
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scrol saw
Guys I recently bought a scroll saw and thought that there was a blade to cut in any direction without rotating the wood. Is there such a thing or was I dreaming? Will -- http://www.geocities.com/hush88ca/Mi..._Carvings.html |
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#2
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Greetings and Salutations.
On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 02:42:01 GMT, "turtle" wrote: Guys I recently bought a scroll saw and thought that there was a blade to cut in any direction without rotating the wood. Is there such a thing or was I dreaming? Will You are not dreaming. They are called "Spiral blades", and, while they work, I think they suck big time. I have tried using them in the past and found several problems. 1) the kerf they leave is REALLY big (on a scrollsaw scale). Since in most cases, I am using the scrollsaw for fine work and I want nice, sharp corners when I change directions, this is a big problem. 2) Accuracy. The fact they can cut in any direction means that (at least for me) it is harder to get a nice, smooth curved cut, or, straight cuts tend to wobble. The blade that cuts on one edge has a "self-guiding" effect from the smooth sides of the blade. 3) Speaking of smooth...smoothness of cut. I find that the walls of the cut with a spiral blade are always rather rougher than cuts with a regular blade. One of the joys of scrollsawing is the fact that, with a good blade and smooth technique, no sanding is necessary. I hate to sand, and, again, in many cases, the things I am working on are small enough that sanding would be a challenge. 4) Accuracy, part B. This could simply be because I did not cut with the spiral blade all that much, but, I find it very easy to move the stock in a straight line, in the same direction, all the time and get a good cut. When I tried pulling it in different directions with the spiral blade, I found it harder to keep the same even pressure on the blade - which lead to cuts angling off in directions I did not want, and, in thicker stock, a greater chance that the blade would bow inside the stock. I think that one "attraction" of the spiral blade is the 'difficulty' of turning the stock accurately around the blade when making a turn. It DOES require skill to turn the stock accurately enough that the blade simply rotates and does not cut into the sides of the cut. However, that is NOT that hard a skill to acquire and tends to come quickly with practice. Speaking of which...since you just got the saw, it would be a VERY good thing to make some practice pieces out of scrap stock before you "practice" on your REAL project. The end results will be much happier, and, it is a lot less painful to toss a piece of scrap you have messed up than it is the top of a jewelry case one already has quite a number of hours invested in. DAMHIKT. Although I don't do THAT much scrollsaw work, I enjoy it quite a bit when I do. It is very satisfying to see such interesting things emerge from the stock. Regards Dave Mundt |
#3
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"Dave Mundt" wrote in message .. . Greetings and Salutations. Dave Thank you very much. Your reply was much more info than I would have aquired on my own. What is your optimum speed for softwood, basswood for example? WIll |
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