Craftsman 16: Scroll Saw

crocogator106

crocogator106

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I have an older Craftsman 16" scroll saw and was wondering if it would be suitable for cutting metal. I want to use it to cut out my blanks from the steel billets. Are there any specific type blades I need? The saw is not variable speed but works great. I picked it up a few years ago in a pawn shop. The blade I have in it would not cut a 1095 blank I had; at least not very good. Any advice is greatly appreciated because I am new to knifemaking.
 
Did you have a wood blade on it? Metal cutting blades need to have more teeth and smaller teeth.
 
I probably did since the last time I used it was on a wood project. I will check but I also want to get some blades specifically for use on metal, just not sure if there is any one brand or design better than the next.
 
Olson makes metal cutting scroll saw blades, but I can't vouch for their ability to cut through blade thickness steel. The only problem you may encounter is they're "plain end" only and I believe that the Craftsman scroll saw takes pin end blades. You may be able to find a conversion kit, though.
 
I have an angle grinder but I was afraid the steel would get too hot. I was hoping I could use the scroll saw kind of like a portaband.
 
I don't think you can use it for much. I had an older one as well and wanted to cut out scales with it. It didn't do that well and really had trouble on stabilized material. I eventually wised up and bought a 12" bandsaw for the handles and an $80 portaband from Harbor Freight to cut metal. I doubt you'll find any blades to cut metal for it. I'm not aware of any.
 
The problem with a scroll saw is that the same very few teeth on the saw blade cut the material over and over again, if you are cutting 1/4" thick material on a scroll saw, only about 1 1/4" of the blade is doing all the work. Even if you can find a blade for your scroll saw that will cut steel, the blade will dull quickly compared with the 44" of blade on a "Porta-band" saw. That said, a scroll saw can be useful cutting softer materials like brass liners or spacers, etc.
 
I tried it with good quality metal blades....it works for 20 gauge sheet silver and brass, but not for bars of blade steel.
 
Thanks guys, that makes sense. I was just trying to find a cheap way out. I guess I will have to get a porta-band or try to find a cheap band saw (yeah right).
 
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