Chippygeoff
Established Member
I finally received my order of Olsen blades from America. I had ordered three different types, double tooth, reverse tooth and mach speed. As I only wanted the minimum quantity of each type and size I had packets of a dozen blades with the idea I would test each type to see what was the best blade siuted for cutting 20mm thick hardwoods for the things I make.and here is my conclusion.
I had a number of hearts to cut out between 5 and 8 inches across and on some there were some internal cuts. I started off by using a number 7 double tooth blade to cut the outside of some of the hearts. I found the blade to be very accurate. I was happy with the speed of the cut and it did not seem to vary if I was cutting across the grain or with the grain. The side of the hearts were exceptionally smooth with very little fuzziness on the underside. With this blade there are no upward facing teeth, just double sets of teeth well spaced out.
The next blade I tried, again cutting the outside shape of the hearts was a reverse tooth number 8 blade. Looking at the blade with normal eyesight it was difficult to determine the configuration of the blade so looking at it under the magnifying lamp by the scroll saw I could clearly see from the bottom of the blade 8 teeth facing upward and then a gap with the remainder of the teeth facing downward. The first thing I noticed after starting to cut the outside of a heart was that the blade was considerably slower than the double tooth blade. The finish on the side was good and there was no fuzziness to speak off, I just ran a piece of sandpaper round the edges and it was as clean as a whistle.
The final blade in my test was the mach speed 647R. I used a number 7 to cut the outside of the last two hearts and then used a number 5 blade for the internal cuts and as internal cuts go there were no small ones and only one tight cut where I had to back the blade up and reverse up the cut line to start on the new line. On looking at the blade under the magnifier I could see that the teeth were well spaced out, which signified rapid sawdust removal. The bottom 5 teeth were facing upward and then the next tooth was at right angles, or 90 degrees to the blade, and then all the remaining teeth were facing downward. On starting to cut the outside I was amazed at the speed at which it cut and initially I struggled to keep up with it. It cut as quicly across the grain as it did going with the grain. Like the double toothed blade it was very accurate and I had no problem following the line of the pattern, even at the fast speed the blade was moving at. On removing the heart from the rest of the wood the sides were exceptionally clean and were even glossy. Another surprise was that there were no fuzzies at all.
CONCLUSION. When I looked at all the Olsen blades that were available, which was vast, there were basically three choices that I felt would suit the things that I make and I ordered accordingly. The double toothed blade is good and In feel this would be a good all round blade and if I were just scrolling as a hobby this would be my first choice. With the reverse toothed blades I found them slow going. The 20mm thick oak I used was kiln dried so this is a very hard wood to cut. Having said that I feel this would be the perfect blade for cutting birch plywood of any thickness but using the right blade number to suit the thickness being cut. The mach speed blade is in a world all on it’s own, every thing it did it did exceptionally well; it went way passed all my expectations. It was very fast, left very clean sides and left no fuzzies to speak of and I tried these blades on Oak, Sapele, Maple and Beech. Once I had got used to the blades behaviour it cut through all these hardwoods with ease. It was easy to follow the lines on the patterns and even on a difficult hardwood like the Maple it performed very well indeed. It is a little more expensive than the other blades but cheaper than some of the Pegus blades and obviously a lot better than FD blades. At least I have not had any of the Olsen blades break on me and I think as I go on I will find that they wear out rather than break.
Most saws have a top speed of around 1400 and when I first started using 20mm thick hardwoods it was like watching paint dry as it was so slow cutting. Those of you who have this sort of speed would benefit greatly from using the mach speed blade. I am fortunate that I had my hegners speed increased to 1650 and with the mach speed blade I can now cut the things I make in half the time. A truly amazing blade. You can guess which ones out of the test I will now be ordering in bulk.
I had a number of hearts to cut out between 5 and 8 inches across and on some there were some internal cuts. I started off by using a number 7 double tooth blade to cut the outside of some of the hearts. I found the blade to be very accurate. I was happy with the speed of the cut and it did not seem to vary if I was cutting across the grain or with the grain. The side of the hearts were exceptionally smooth with very little fuzziness on the underside. With this blade there are no upward facing teeth, just double sets of teeth well spaced out.
The next blade I tried, again cutting the outside shape of the hearts was a reverse tooth number 8 blade. Looking at the blade with normal eyesight it was difficult to determine the configuration of the blade so looking at it under the magnifying lamp by the scroll saw I could clearly see from the bottom of the blade 8 teeth facing upward and then a gap with the remainder of the teeth facing downward. The first thing I noticed after starting to cut the outside of a heart was that the blade was considerably slower than the double tooth blade. The finish on the side was good and there was no fuzziness to speak off, I just ran a piece of sandpaper round the edges and it was as clean as a whistle.
The final blade in my test was the mach speed 647R. I used a number 7 to cut the outside of the last two hearts and then used a number 5 blade for the internal cuts and as internal cuts go there were no small ones and only one tight cut where I had to back the blade up and reverse up the cut line to start on the new line. On looking at the blade under the magnifier I could see that the teeth were well spaced out, which signified rapid sawdust removal. The bottom 5 teeth were facing upward and then the next tooth was at right angles, or 90 degrees to the blade, and then all the remaining teeth were facing downward. On starting to cut the outside I was amazed at the speed at which it cut and initially I struggled to keep up with it. It cut as quicly across the grain as it did going with the grain. Like the double toothed blade it was very accurate and I had no problem following the line of the pattern, even at the fast speed the blade was moving at. On removing the heart from the rest of the wood the sides were exceptionally clean and were even glossy. Another surprise was that there were no fuzzies at all.
CONCLUSION. When I looked at all the Olsen blades that were available, which was vast, there were basically three choices that I felt would suit the things that I make and I ordered accordingly. The double toothed blade is good and In feel this would be a good all round blade and if I were just scrolling as a hobby this would be my first choice. With the reverse toothed blades I found them slow going. The 20mm thick oak I used was kiln dried so this is a very hard wood to cut. Having said that I feel this would be the perfect blade for cutting birch plywood of any thickness but using the right blade number to suit the thickness being cut. The mach speed blade is in a world all on it’s own, every thing it did it did exceptionally well; it went way passed all my expectations. It was very fast, left very clean sides and left no fuzzies to speak of and I tried these blades on Oak, Sapele, Maple and Beech. Once I had got used to the blades behaviour it cut through all these hardwoods with ease. It was easy to follow the lines on the patterns and even on a difficult hardwood like the Maple it performed very well indeed. It is a little more expensive than the other blades but cheaper than some of the Pegus blades and obviously a lot better than FD blades. At least I have not had any of the Olsen blades break on me and I think as I go on I will find that they wear out rather than break.
Most saws have a top speed of around 1400 and when I first started using 20mm thick hardwoods it was like watching paint dry as it was so slow cutting. Those of you who have this sort of speed would benefit greatly from using the mach speed blade. I am fortunate that I had my hegners speed increased to 1650 and with the mach speed blade I can now cut the things I make in half the time. A truly amazing blade. You can guess which ones out of the test I will now be ordering in bulk.
