Edwin. I had placed an order for blades from Mikes workshop but knew I would wait a good week or more for them to arrive so as I was very low on blades I ordered some from Hobbies. I ordered some Niqua blades which I found very good, they were consistent, very sharp and lasted a while. I also ordered the selection pack of Olsen blades. I had heard so much about them I thought I would give them a try but sadly they were rubbish. I don't know if it was just a bad batch but the majority of them were twisted so such an extent that after securing the blade in the bottom clamp the blade at the top was at right angles to the clamp and the only way I could get the blade into the clamp was by using a pair of pliers. I have thrown them all in the bin now. Mike sent me some samples of the ultra reverse blade and I was very impressed. I ordered four gross last week from him and they should arrive today. The thing is Edwin that Mikes blades are so much cheaper than buying them here, he more or less sells them at cost price. They are $29-50 a gross, which is a big saving when you work out the cost of buying a dozen and the postage is only £1-90 as Loftyhermes pointed out, which again is cheaper than the UK.
Blades are a sort of personal thing Edwin, everyone has their favourites and what suits one person may not suit another. There are several factors to take into account when buying blades such as the material being cut, the thickness of the material, you may want to stack cut or maybe the pattern you are using has very tight angles etc and of course it is important to match the speed to the material being cut, you do not want to use force to push the wood through the blade but gentle pressure. In the main I use number 3, 5 and 7 blades but have larger and smaller for other types of work. If I had to use just one blade it would have to a be a number 5 ultra reverse from Mikes workshop.
