Blade types for hardwoods?

[jpedersm]

For the people following my previous threads about the 2 craftsmen saws that where junk. Well I finally got some money in the bank and ordered a EX - 16. Tracking say it should arrive next Tuesday. I hat that feeling where you got to wait for something. When this saw is set up I got a lot of extra pine boards that I will be using to get the hang of it again. After I get the hang of it I am going to try to make a clock out of cherry and red oak and a shelf for it to sit on out of Baltic birch. I am curious what blades you would for these wood I know I got to experiment to find what works for me best but, I would like to have a start off point where I can narrow some blades down. I will put the width down below with type of wood. If you have scrolled this stuff before and know blade of blades I should try please let me know.

3/4 Red oak
1/2 Red oak
3/8 Red oak

3/8 Cherry

1/4 BB ply

[pmac53]

On using pine, keep in mind that it is very soft wood, until you hit the line grain in it. Some of it is a lot harder and then when it goes through the blade tends to take off and cut faster. Poplar is a much better choice for practicing and not much more expensive to buy. Just a hint to maybe help learn. The poplar cuts more like the hardwoods. And I buy some blades from PS Wood Machines. Their blades come in a holder mounted to cardboard. On the back is a chart for what blades to use on each thickness. Blades are extra sharp, too. I hope this helps a little.
#9, #11
#5, #7
#3
#0 to #3
This should help somewhat. Also Mike's Workshop sells Flying Dutchman blades, good. Or several places sell Olsen blades, which work good, also.

[wood-n-things]

Those woods you mentioned I'd be using a #7 Ultra reverse from the flying dutchman. You may be able to use a #5 UR on the 1/2 inch maybe even a #3 but some of that goes with experience as well.

On the BB I'd be using a #3 UR on that one maybe a little smaller if I had them on hand. You can go all the way down the the superior puzzle blades on the 1/4" so what ever size you are comfortable with.

[pmac53]

Just remember that different people use different techniques and not everything that works for one will work for another. Experiement and try different things until you are an expert like all the rest of us. Just enjoy and you will learn and get good.

[Greenfield_Bob]

I hardly ever use a blade bigger than #7, then it just depends on my mood after that.
I have no guideline on what to use.
But they are all FD blades that I use.

Bob

[marshall]

I hardly ever use a blade bigger than #7, then it just depends on my mood after that.
I have no guideline on what to use.
But they are all FD blades that I use.

Bob

I'm in total agreement with Bob on the blade { Flying Dutchman Blades only in my shop } ........

[3_M]

This is what I just sent to a new customer.
Most blades have a little burr on the right side what makes them cut to the right. To stay on the line you have to move your wood some degree to the right.
The FD-UR does not have this and again easier to control. It is a skip tooth blade and more aggressive as a double tooth blade, like the FD-PSR or FD-PS this one has no reverse teeth but leaves fuzz on the bottom.
What blades to use depends a lot on the pattern you want to cut and how thick the wood is. 1/4" a # 1 or 3. 1/2" a # 3 or 5. 3/4" a # 5 or # 7.
It does not matter what kind of wood. Hard wood cut slower than soft wood. These are the basic point to remember.
Have good tension, the blade should not move sideways more than 1/8" and that is almost too much. Have good speed if not you might start pushing too hard into the blade and it will starts to cut with a bevel. Scroll sawing takes patience, let the blade do the cutting.
Soft wood will let the blade cut faster. No problem, just slow the pushing in to the blade down. Most people will slow the speed down maybe a little. There are places that you might the speed down but remember the pushing into the blade.
FD Mike

[Tango]

I mostly cut fretwork from hardwood using a #2 blade from PS Wood. This is an aggressive blade, so I use slower speeds to cut thinner boards. My latest project used both 1/8 & 3/4 black walnut. I just adjust the speed & kept cutting with the same #2 blade. I use this small of a blade because I cut very detailed projects with very little room for error.

[Doug Nelson]

As all of the entries point out everybody is a bit different and a lot the same. I use FD blades and trust mike's suggestions. I have an EX16 and find that machine cuts so much better than my old Craftsman I can use almost any kind of blade and cut better than I had in the past. I find that the blade runs so true I can use smaller blades than I did before. All of this said, fasten you saw nice and solid to a sturdy table, bench or stand and practice practice practice. I use blades ranging from #0 thru #7 and learn new things daily. Stand up puzzles made out of hard woods 3/4" thick I use a #5 reverse tooth FD blade with a great finish on the cut, no sanding required. Cutting soft woods pine for example cut so easy I will use a #3. For 1/4" BB I use a FD puzzle blade. Enjoy your new saw, watch the forum here for tune up recommendations, blade alignment for example.
Doug

[Rolf]

I always wonder why people use such large blades unless the projects dont have much detail. As you can see we all have our favorites and blade discussions in the past got a bit heated. It is almost as bad as asking what is the best saw.
I started with Olson blades and got used to them and they are still my blade of prefference.For most of my projects I use the Mach series #3 occasionaly I will go to a PGT5. But for the fine stuff I like to cut (ornaments stacked to 1/2 in) I will use a 2 or 2/0
A suggestion for the Cherry put a layer of packing or blue tape under your pattern it will reduce the burning caused by the pitch pockets in the cherry.

[Lou]

I hear you, Rolf! Trial and error is the only way to learn what works for you, but it never hurts to listen to what others have had success with and give it a try for yourself. It's a small investment that needs to be made.

I'm only joining in here because I have found a blade which works extremely well for hunkering through the really hard woods. I love FD blades, but was looking to buy within Canada if possible, and came upon Garnett Hall's (Intarsia by Garnet Hall - SawBird.com) hook-toothed blades at a wood show. Man, those suckers are sharp! I can go through 3/4 bloodwood with a number 7 like it was butter. Yes, seriously! I use 3 or 5 on oak, maple and the like and a 1 for softwoods or just use a duller blade. I haven't even tried a 9. I might cut my arm off. I do like using smaller blades as I just find I can cut better with them. I don't know why, but it's the way it is.

So if you're having trouble with out of square cuts in super-hard woods like I was, I suggest to you give the hook-toothed blades a try. Worked for me.

Lou

[jpedersm]

Thanks for all the info guys. A qwestion on FD blades. When I had the crafstmen saw I had a couple different blades. I noticed on the regular reverse 5 blades the wood ( 3/4 Pine board) was jumping around a decent amount. I then switched to a 3 two way cut blade and wow the jump is hardly not even there. I loved this I didn't have to put constent presure down on the wodd to keep it on the table. With the new UR blades from mike does the lifting on the wood stay the same reduces or is it more. Also the post above said the the reason why you cant saw straite on a board you got to move it to the right is beacuse there is a bur on the blade. On the new UR blades he also stated these dont have that bur with that being said if I would use one of these and lined my line straite with blade would this saw in a straite line? Or would I still have it a little off center?

[Keith Fenton]

I always wonder why people use such large blades unless the projects dont have much detail. As you can see we all have our favorites and blade discussions in the past got a bit heated. It is almost as bad as asking what is the best saw.
I started with Olson blades and got used to them and they are still my blade of prefference.For most of my projects I use the Mach series #3 occasionaly I will go to a PGT5. But for the fine stuff I like to cut (ornaments stacked to 1/2 in) I will use a 2 or 2/0
A suggestion for the Cherry put a layer of packing or blue tape under your pattern it will reduce the burning caused by the pitch pockets in the cherry.

I very much agree with Rolf on this matter, you need to use a blade size that will allow you to cut the desired pattern without much difficulty. I use smaller blades than what people have generally recommended in this thread so far. I also always use packing tape to reduce chances of burning. The pattern dictates my blade size much more than the wood does. Tight, intricate patterns just can't easily be cut on thick, hard wood because you can't use a blade that's small enough to do the detail work.

I wrote a short article about blade selection awhile back if you want to take a look: Scroll Saw Blade Selection

[Lou]

The lifting of your wood may be from the reverse teeth. I don't use reverse-tooth blades for that very reason, because I found they tended to "pick the wood" up and I had to use more pressure to hold it in place. But I'm an intarsian, so it's not a problem for me if there's a burr on the bottom that needs sanding off. But that's not the case for someone who's doing fretwork. Blade choice is very dependent on the type of work you're doing. If (or when) you're not doing fretwork, you might want to consider a non-reverse-tooth blade.

Lou

[Keith Fenton]

... I love FD blades, but was looking to buy within Canada if possible, and came upon Garnett Hall's (Intarsia by Garnet Hall - SawBird.com) hook-toothed blades at a wood show. Man, those suckers are sharp!...

Lou

The Sawbird blades that I have tried behave very much like FD blades. I couldn't notice any difference. For Canadians, it's something to look into. I have only used hook-toothed blades a little but Garnet did recommend those for thicker material in our correspondence.