Getting use to smaller blades

[jpfire59]

Hello everyone, I just received my new Dewalt 788. I've been use to working with my old Ryobi saw that took pin blandes so the smalles blade i worked with was a #5, I started playing around with the new one and purchased some blades,2.0 and boy let me tell you that I thought I was going to go crazy, just tring to see it was hard enough but when I started cutting. wow. I guess it's just going to take some time. Any pointers?

[GrayBeard Phil]

Bright lights.

See if you can get a lighted magnifier light. Office Depot, and Office Max sells them as well as other places like Wal-Mart.

I hope this link works:
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...g=true&An=text

This is only to illustrate what I am talking about. Many others carry this type of product. Do shop around.

Phil

[Carter-Johnson]

For magnification when cutting my puzzles with 2/0 blades, I use 3.0 reading glasses, which also serve as eye protection.

Practice, practice, practice. You'll quickly learn how to let the saw do the work and yet be controlled by the slightest touch of your fingertips. One of the first things to learn is how to back off when turning so the saw doesn't continue to cut until you want it to. Slow the speed down at first and then gradually increase it as your confidence builds.

Also, remember that the smaller the blade, the smaller the possibility of your fingers being cut. You can work with your fingers very close to the blade and, if you slip, touching the blade will probably not produce a cut. The smaller blades are pretty safe. So get in close without worry.

Best wishes.....Carter

[jpfire59]

Thanks for all your help

I go out and get one of them lights, Thanks for all the advise

[Carter-Johnson]

Train your Brain

There's another factor that comes into play when you're making very fine cuts with thin blades. I've always wanted to express it but never found the forum. Maybe this is an appropriate time.

Suppose you're sawing with a very fine blade and you approach a 120-degree turn. If you wait until you are at the point where the sharp turn starts and then decide to turn the piece, you're too late. The millisecond it takes for your eyes to tell your brain about the turn and your brain to tell your fingers to turn is enough that you will likely overshoot the turn. You must train your brain to tell your fingers to start the turn BEFORE YOUR EYES SEE THAT YOU'RE THERE.

I suspect that every scrollsawer does this intuitively with experience, but I recognized the problem early in my puzzle making and somehow trained my brain to anticipate what needed to be done and send the required signal to my fingertips IN ADVANCE of my eyes telling me what was needed. I did it consciously for awhile and then it became unconscious.

Oh well, enuf pop psychology (or brain surgery). Just a thought I've had for a few years.

Above all, have phun.....Carter

[Marcel in Longueuil]

Carter,

You bring up a good point, and the distance will vary from one individual to another.

It is the reaction time: same as catching a ball or driving a vehicle; you need to anticipate the move if you don't want to get hit, or hit.

Not an easy thing to master, and that's why some are better than others at anything (and I do not think, say, mean or infer that I'm better than anyone) faster reflexes, better eye/hand coordination, a better "feeling" of the machine (and I don't know how to quantify that one)

Health and age will also come into the equation, I suspect.

Respectfully,
Marcel

[William Young (SE BC)]

Carter;
Great point and explanation.. I often have woodworkers from afar drop in and see me when travelling across the country on holidays etc and when some ask to see me scrollsawing , I have had several comments from them on the way I start spinning my wood before I actually reach the corner and they are a little more than amazed the way I do that. Up until them pointing it out I didn't realize at all that I was doing it. SO it is something that comes with time and practice and apparently some pick it up easily and naturally without even knowing they are doing it while others have to work at it to acheive it.

Havn't been here or on any other site much recently because another one of my sons from yet another province just spent a week here while on holidays and now my brother and his wife from Ontario are here for a week for a visit. Busy time of year and always nice to have family visit from across the country and give them lots of scrolled and lathe turned gifts to take back home with them.

W.Y.

[sheltiecarver]

JPFire,
You've gotten some great advice so far - you'll greatly improve by heeding them all. Another thing I've found when using teensy blades (and I haven't yet mastered this) is that they are so fine and the kerf is so small, that just cutting on the line is not enough. If you waver around in the line, your cut will look wavey. The lines in most patterns are just way fatter than your blade. So you need to pick a place - inside line edge, outside line edge, exact center of the line (hardest), and try to stay there throughout the cutting. Another trick that some folks use, but that I haven't tried yet, is to get your pattern printed in red. It is supposed to be easier to see just where your blade is in the line with the contrast. If this sounds like it is do-able for you, you might try it. I usually count myself lucky if I just get to a B&W copier for my copies, but I keep telling myself that next time I'll try it.
And please let us know if any of this helps you. If not, we can probably make up something else! Oops! I mean, help you some more...
Sandy

[lucky788scroller]

Practice, practice, patience, and good blades! all the rest falls into place after those four things are achieved. Good luck. dale

[Rolf]

I never gave the anticipation of the turn a thought that is why the long term scrollers make it look so easy. That also explains why I have difficulties when I experiment with different blades manufacturers. The blades along with the scroller have different cutting characteristics.
JPfire59, with out getting into another blade hoopla I would just like to mention that not all blades are created equal. Now that I have collected blades from all of the top manufacturers I have realized that I need to stick with one brand that works for me and get used to the way it cuts.
As said by all, Light, Magnification, and lots of practice, you will be amazed at how guickly your skills grow. The nice thing about scrolling, if you go off the line it usually doesn't matter, it is just you adding your personal touch.

[minowevie]

I never gave the anticipation of the turn a thought that is why the long term scrollers make it look so easy. That also explains why I have difficulties when I experiment with different blades manufacturers. The blades along with the scroller have different cutting characteristics.
JPfire59, with out getting into another blade hoopla I would just like to mention that not all blades are created equal. Now that I have collected blades from all of the top manufacturers I have realized that I need to stick with one brand that works for me and get used to the way it cuts.
As said by all, Light, Magnification, and lots of practice, you will be amazed at how guickly your skills grow. The nice thing about scrolling, if you go off the line it usually doesn't matter, it is just you adding your personal touch.

Rolf your so smart. and i think your getting it. and Sandy your so funny. the one thing i haven't heard here is . if you are pushing at all. like i do. sometimes you have to stop and let the blade cacth up. its amaizing how much the blade travales. I think the red copy thing is a great idea. never thought of that. thanks. that would make it better to see the cutting line that is in the color of the wood. i cut just outside the line. sometimes the black line and the blade gets lost. I use small blades all the time. and have a hard time turning with big blades. just becouse the weidth of the blade leaves a big hole. it also depends on the amount of teeth. and the tention. I for one don't like to have a very tight blade. for some reason i like alittle slack in my blade. just a c note if you will. push on your blade while tighting it. and let it go back just about 1/16th of a inch. when i get to a tight corner. i wait for my blade to catch up then go just the distance of the blade thickness past the v point. and then back up. turn around in the waist wood. and back up again into the cut with the burr on the cutting side. and contenue. the burr on the right side helps me get back into the wood. i do fretwork of a small size so maybe this is what works for me. i do mostly 1/4 inch wood so when i have some thicker wood. i ues less teeth per inch. but still stay with small blades. if i am in a sqaur corner. i just whip it around like the above said. you can get pretty close to the blade. it will burn you if your saw is going fast. but wont cut you , unless you are infront where the teeth are. i always stay close to my blade. whith my finguers. holding it down. spinnig with the other hand. that way if your wood is just alittle warped like mine is all the time. you have some good controle. hope this helps. your friend evie

[sawdustus]

sawdustus of hiawatha

All great tips for using small blades. If possible slow your saw speed down to 600-800 spm or even slower. This gives you more control than higher speeds. Side benefit, fewer broken blades. I often cut very thin, 1/8 solid walnut is my favorite), to 1/32 birch ply using a #2 reverse tooth Olsen blade on a very aggressive Delta Q3 saw and this works well for me. Takes longer to cut a pattern but the results are worth it. Backing up a bit, cutting into the waste area and approching an acute angle from the other side is a trick I always use when I want a sharp corner. Good luck.

[Minnesota scroller]

The nice thing about scrolling, if you go off the line it usually doesn't matter, it is just you adding your personal touch.

Unless of course you get far enough off that you run into another cut and something falls out of the piece that should have stayed.

One thing I want to mention when doing sharp turns is to make sure you keep your fingers on the wood as close to the blade as you can. Otherwise, if you removed the hold down foot like I did, the wood will want to lift off the table occasionally. When the wood jumps up an inch,it is really difficult to control the cut. Just one more part of the amazing and widening learning curve.

Good luck and enjoy,
Mike

[Mick Walker]

Just wanted to add my 2¢ worth. I have found that patterns that are any color other than black work great for me. I get them copied at Staples in light blue, light green, lavender, grey or silver, haven't tried red yet. I lose the blade in the black patterns. Couldn't possibly be my 70 year old eyes. Mick P-20.