Need advice, please....jig saw blade burning my wood.....

[geneinmurphy]

[sad]I have a Festool 420 EBQ jig saw and recently someone told me about a new blade that is on the market......Spyder brand blades, and that the 300002 blade they make is really good for small curves on a jigsaw; it has teeth on BOTH sides of the blade.  I tried cutting some 1/2 maple using the speed of 3 1/2 and almost every side of the wood I cut was burned.  What am I doing wrong?? Thanks for any tips!

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

Maple, especially the "hard rock" kind like to burn. You might try lowering the blade speed and/or the orbit setting. With new blades, it's best to test them in scrap wood similar to what you might use, to see how they cut, and to tweek settings. You can also lubricate the blade with wax, but this may not be a great idea, depending on the finish you're using.

 

[geneinmurphy]

Rip....My orbit setting at the time was 3......I will try 0 next time......

 

[semenza]

Rip....My orbit setting at the time was 3......I will try 0 next time......

    Hi,

  Welcome to the forum!  [smile]

      Yeah, a high orbit setting is not going to do well on curves especially tight curves. The blade is swinging for and aft so it is running up against the curve. In effect it would be almost like trying to make curved cuts with a really wide blade.

      BTW, those are interesting blades.

Seth

 

[geneinmurphy]

Seth.....good point.  The guy that told me about these blades raves about them and their ability to cut tight curves.  The 300010 blade is 4.5" and like I said, has teeth on both sides.  I will try again with the setting at 0 and see what happens.......it would be interesting to hear from others on here that have tried this blade and how they like them.  I got mine at Lowes.....came in a pack of two for around $6....

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

Seth.....good point.  The guy that told me about these blades raves about them and their ability to cut tight curves.  The 300010 blade is 4.5" and like I said, has teeth on both sides.  I will try again with the setting at 0 and see what happens.......it would be interesting to hear from others on here that have tried this blade and how they like them.  I got mine at Lowes.....came in a pack of two for around $6....

I didn't know Lowes carried those blades. I saw them a while back in some Ebay search. I think they may be manufactured in Germany by MPS. I was thinking of trying them but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm wondering how well they work too. [unsure]

 

[Wuffles]

Anyone any information on where these might be for sale and under what name in the UK or Europe? I'd like to try one and see how it performs on tight curves.

 

[John Bates]

Wuffles, look no further!

 

[geneinmurphy]

Latest update.......I tried cutting with the same blade again, but changed the orbit to 0.  I cut 3/4" red oak and it still burns the wood......thinking maybe I am going to fast or too slow a speed? I cut at a speed of 4......

 

[semenza]

Hmmmmm,

    Just for the sake of completeness ....... are the blade guides adjusted correctly?  How does it compare to the Festool FSG Carvex blade on the same cuts?  If you could post some pictures of the blade , cuts, etc. that might help figure it out?

    How tight are the curves you are cutting? If you are moving really slow do to the tight curve then maybe you do need to slow the blade speed more?

    I did note that in at least one review of the blade the reviewer said the cuts are almost polished smooth. To me that indicates a cut that is at a state just prior to becoming burned.

Seth

 

[geneinmurphy]

Seth.....I have not tried the Festool FSG blades because I am trying tight curves about the size of a half dollar.  I do not have a digital camera, unfortunately.  I will try a new blade and will try again to adjust the blade this afternoon....

 

[Holmz]

You can probably figure what sort of taper you need if you know the radius of the hole and the fore-aft width of the blade.
The taper should be ~ invtan (blade-width/hole-radius).
It either needs a lot of taper or to be thin fore-aft.

I just bought a stack of jig saw blades ~ mostly Bosch 'T'.
However Timberwolf sells the Mafell blades.
They, Mafell/Timberwolf, have one (maybe their W1 ??) which is two blades thick at the cutting side and then ground back at the tail-end to 1 blade thick or maybe less.
They are not cheap, but I am intending to get a pack or three of them in case I need to do some curve work.