Thread: Circular Blades for GMC scrollsaw

Do you mean a 'spiral' blade? If thats what you mean, yes you can buy spiral blades for the scrollsaw. I have never used one myself but have been told they eliminate the need for rotating the piece of wood as they allow you to cut in any direction. But you will need to take it a little slower because they may want to follow the grain of wood by themselves.

As far as using them to make puzzles im not sure how they would go as I have never tried doing those with a spiral blade, I would think it would make the gap between the pieces too large but I could be wrong. I make some simple ones I got from Patrick Spielman scrollsaw pattern book that I got from the library out of 3/4" pine and just use a regular #5 blade for those and the pieces fit nice and tight after being cut.

Hope this has helped.

BTW I have a GMC scrollsaw too, does your still have the standard pinned blade attachment? I dont know if they make the spiral blades with pins, you would need to check.

Brett,

Thank you for your information. I have also made simple puzzles using MDF with the normal blade but I just thought the spiral blade would be easier to use. Thank you for your help.

Yes, the blades I use are pins. I find the GMC blades a lot better to use for most thicknesses. The others I have tried from Bunnings etc. usually come in a mixture of thicknesses and I find the thin ones virtually useless unless I am using 3mm.

thank you again.

Happy scrollsawing

CraftyMum

I didnt know GMC sold blades, I converted mine over to using pinless blades a few months ago so I could do more intricate work.

I used MDF to scroll with at first but was told the dust isnt too good if you dont have a mask on, not that any wood dust is good for you. I now use mainly ply, or a solid wood if the occasion calls for it as I wasnt happy with the sanding of the edges of the mdf after the cuts, they would go fuzzy instead of a nice clean edge.

Now get some dust flying.

A spiral blade will leave a large gap and there is no reason why a blade up to #5 cannot be used for intricate patterns.
You should be able to turn the workpiece back on itself without a 'hole' appearing on the turn.
This does take a little practice but once achieved you will not need the spirals.
I use spiral blades for veining cuts on detail where the wood almost needs carving to shape, apart from that they are too slow and not as clean.
As for MDF, do use a mask as a scrollsaw does put out an incredible amount of dust and you are inclined to be fairly close to the source with your nose if you are like most scrollers.
A #3-#5 should cut 3/4" hard or softwood, just take your time and use good blades.

Hi Crafty, if you're breaking blades often, it may be that you're tending to push sideways on the blade. Easy to do, especially as most blades tend to cut on a slight angle. Concentrate on using a steady pressure, not to hard, directly along the line that the blade's cutting. You'll get a much finer cut with flat blades than with spiral.

Also, I'll add my voice to the advice to use a mask. At the minimum, use a felt dust mask, but you're better off with a pressurised face mask or hooking a vacuum cleaner up to the saw.