Ryobi SC180VS - Manual (Page 16)

Page 16
R
OPERATION
BLADE INFORMATION
■ Scroll saw blades wear out and must be replaced fre-
quently for best cutting results. Scroll saw blades gener-
ally stay sharp for 1/2 hour to 2 hours of cutting, depend-
ing on type of material and speed of operation.
■ In cutting wood, best results are achieved when cutting
wood less than one inch thick.
■ When cutting wood thicker than one inch, the user must
guide the workpiece very slowly into the blade and take
extra care not to bend or twist the blade while cutting.
■ When choosing a blade, carefully consider the following:
• Very fine, narrow blades should be used to scroll cut in
thin material 1/4 in. (6 mm) thick or less.
• Most blade packages state the size or thickness and
type of material which that blade is intended to cut. The
package should also state the radius or size of curve
that can be cut with that blade size.
• Wider blades cannot cut curves as tight or as small as
thinner blades.
■ Blades wear faster when:
• Cutting plywood, hardwood, and other laminates.
• Cutting material thicker than 3/4 in. (19 mm).
• Side pressure is applied to the blade.
LOCK POST
See Figure 14.
To prevent unauthorized use of your scroll saw, we suggest
that you disconnect it from the power supply and lock the
knob in the OFF position. A padlock should be used. When
the lock is installed and locked, as illustrated, the switch is
inoperable. Store the padlock key in another location.
■ To lock the saw in the OFF position, install a padlock
through the lock post beside the knob as illustrated and
lock the padlock. (Padlock is not supplied with the saw.)
CHOICE OF BLADE AND SPEED
The scroll saw accepts a wide variety of blade widths and thicknesses for cutting wood and other fibrous materials. Your saw
uses 5 in. long blades of either the pin end or the plain end style. The blade width and thickness and the number of teeth per
inch to use are determined by the type of material and the size of the radius being cut.
Note: As a general rule, always select narrow blades for intricate curve cutting and wide blades for straight and large curve
cutting.
Speed or
Teeth/Inch Width Thickness Strokes Per Material Cut
Minute
10 .110 in. .020 in. 500-1600 Popular size for cutting hard and soft
(2.8 mm) (0.5 mm) woods 3/16 in. (4.8 mm) up to 2 in. (51 mm)
Plastics, paper, felt, bone, etc.
7 .067 in. .020 in. 750-1250 Wood, plastics, extremely thin cuts on
(1.1 mm) (0.5 mm) materials 3/32 in. (2.4 mm) to 1/2 in.
(13 mm) thick.
13 .037 in. .015 in. 500-1000 For tight radius work in thin materials
(0.5 mm) (0.4 mm) 3/32 in. (2.4 mm) to 1/8 in. (3 mm) wood,
veneer, bone, fiber, ivory, plastic, etc.
PADLOCK
ON / OFF KNOB LOCK POST
Fig. 14
WARNING:
For your own safety, always push the knob OFF when
machine is not in use. Also, in the event of a power failure,
push knob OFF. Lock the scroll saw switch OFF with a
padlock. This will prevent the machine from starting up
again when the power comes back on. Failure to heed this
warning can result in serious personal injury.