Need recommendations for scrollsaw blades

[dewi1219]

The saw is a Ryobi SC164VS that will accept either plain or pin-end blades. My immediate projects include cutting out letters for door signs for my kids' rooms. Are blades from HD or Lowe's acceptable? I am a tool junkie and have owned scroll saws for several years but am just now getting around to actually using one... Thanks.

[SARGE..g-47]

Google Flying Dutchman scroll saw blades. Not any more expensive than HD or Lowes and he is a wealth of BS knowledge. This is the preferred blades of most serious scrollers from what I found out when I got a DW 735.

[pelligrini]

I can't remember some of the other blades I've tried, but when I had my old Dremel scrollsaw up in my architecture studio at the college I liked the Delta blades the best. There weren't a whole lot of others I tried though.

I'd use pined end as often as I could for the ease of use. For small intricate curves on models a spiral plain end was handy.

[sweensdv]

+1 on the Flying Dutchman blades. A good place to buy them at.

[LCHIEN]

I've made a number of signs from 3/4" material with about 1-1/2" high letters with the Ryobi SC165 scroll saw
using the Vermont American 30409 blade which are 18.5 tpi and fairly thin (front to back). I think they worked satisfactorily. Readily available at Lowes, HD, Ace. I drill starter holes at all the inside curves. They are pinned and i find the pin very convenient for quickly loading and retensioning to the same point.

I have some flying dutchman blade assortment I got but have not tried many of them yet... guess i should. One thing i would like to have is a better (more smooth ) finish on the cuts although i guess what i get is satisfactory.

I have tried the FD spiral bits once and got the impression that they are easy to break being very thin but they do cut in all 360° directions, best for very fine work in thin materials, not so much 3/4" hardwood.

[cwsmith]

That makes three, I think!

Here's the link for Mike's Workshop and he sells the "Flying Dutchman" that I believe the previous posts are suggesting:

http://www.mikesworkshop.com/index.htm


He has an assortment pack that is quite economical and gives you about a dozen each of his most popular blades.

These are all first quality blades and they don't break nearly as easily at the locally purchased (Home Depot and Lowels) products. By comparison, the Flying Dutchman blades are cheaper too.

These are all pinless blades, I believe, as they are the preferred blades for most veteran scrollers (which I am certainly NOT). However, I have had no problems securely holding them in my Ryobi 18-inch scroll saw.

I hope this helps,

CWS

[pelligrini]

I have tried the FD spiral bits once and got the impression that they are easy to break being very thin but they do cut in all 360° directions, best for very fine work in thin materials, not so much 3/4" hardwood.

Agreed, I was mostly using them on less than 1/2" thick basswood on our architectural models. 3/4" hardwood would be slow going.

One neat tool another guy had in our studio was some little sanders that would be put in place of the scrollsaw blades. I think the widest one was 1/4". Those worked fairly well.