Choosing the Right Scroll Saw Blades

There are a variety of blades available for scroll saws from 2/0 to 12, what does all that mean? Well, that's what I'm gonna help you with. I've got five of the more popular scroll saw blade sizes, here in front of me, we're gonna talk about each of those five, talk about what they do, where you should use them, and where you shouldn't use them to make sure that the next time you power up your scroll saw you're getting the right blade on there and it's going to perform as well as it possibly can. I've got five commonly used sizes of scroll saw blades right here. Number 2, 5, 7, 9, and a 12. Let's start with the little guy first, a #2 blade, let's help that lay sideways so you can see it, is 29 thousandths of an inch wide, and 12 thousandths of an inch thick with 20 teeth per inch. You're going to use blades like this for material that's a quarter inch thick and less. Next to that one, we've got a #5 blade, gonna get a little bit bigger. 38 thousandths of an inch wide and 16 thousandths of an inch thick, 12 1/2 teeth per inch. This is a blade that you want to choose when you're cutting 3/4 inch softwoods. Next to that one, we've got a #7. 45 thousandths of an inch wide, 17 thousandths of an inch thick, 11 1/2 teeth per inch. This is your blade of choice for 3/4 to 1 1/2 thick hardwoods. Next to that one, we've got a #9. 53 thousandths of an inch wide, 18 thousandths of an inch thick, 11 1/2 teeth per inch. So, same tooth count, but a little bit more robust blade. This is our blade for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inch thick hardwoods. Last guy, here on the end, quite a bit bigger. That's a #12, 62 thousandths of an inch wide, 24 thousandths of an inch thick, and only 9 1/2 teeth per inch. Commonly used when you want to do a straight line on your scroll saw. That gives you an overview of all the blades. Now, let's get each of those blades in the scroll saw and really see what it can do. Remember that that #2 blade is for materials a 1/4 thick and less. And this is a pretty cool thing to do with it. You can glue a picture to a board and then turn that into a jigsaw puzzle. So. some animal that you particularly like, like Mr. Bear, or maybe a family photo. What a cool thing that you can give to friends, a real personalized jigsaw puzzle. Look at that, I'm cutting my name out of a piece of wood. What blade am I using? A #5 blade, remember that the #5 is your blade of choice for 3/4 inch softwoods, like I have here. This in fact is a piece of Ponderosa pine. It's really a nice chunk of wood. It's a salvaged piece of wood, it's older than I am even. So, back to our blade choice, #5 for 3/4 inch softwoods, like this material There it is, very delicate. And what a great surface finish on those edges. No sanding required, all about picking the right blade for the job. Now, we've got the #7 blade in there. Remember, its mission in life is material hardwood that is 3/4 of an inch up to 1 1/4 inch thick. This is a piece of Rosewood I have in here now. And what I'm going to do is turn this whole thing into a puzzle just by cutting these jigsaw pieces from one end to the other. So, it's going to be pretty cool when it's done. Of course, one of the things we don't want to do is have to get in there, and try to sand each of those intricate little pieces. Not gonna have to happen 'cause of the great surface finish that we're getting off of the blade that we have in there now. So, again, #7 blade 3/4 to 1 1/2 inch hardwood. And I'm going to keep on going 'cause I got a lot of cuts to do yet. How is that for a cool jigsaw puzzle. Now, go back and sand that surface just a little bit and it'll really highlight the grain. And then, the challenge is to get this whole thing disassembled. Pay attention to the grain direction, and put it back together. Like I said earlier, wonderful cut on that end grain and no sanding required which is, of course, imperative for our jigsaw puzzle. So, all those pieces work nicely together. And that takes care of what we're gonna do with a #7 blade. This is gonna be so cool, we're going to release a chess piece from captivity, come on. This is really neat, I'm working in Alder using a #9 blade. Our application for the #9 is hardwoods, like Alder, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches thick. Great application for that blade compound cutting parts like this chess piece here on the scroll saw. A #12 blade is kind of the ripping blade of the scroll saw world that's a blade that, as I said earlier, is really designed to do a straight line cut for you. So, that takes you through this assortment of commonly used blades 2, 5, 7, 9, 12. Make sure the next time you're loading up your scroll saw with a blade you're putting the right one in there and you're gonna see the great cut quality in your projects that I've shown you here today.