# Cutting Purpleheart



## arvanlaar (Dec 29, 2014)

Okay so I am beyond frustrated...

I have a 2" thick piece of purpleheart that I am trying to cut shallow curves on. My FILs bandsaw only has a metal blade on it right now and to buy another one will be $50ish (he has an industrial sized one) and I don't have the money for that right now. He did have a scroll saw that I attempted to use for this and its really not going anywhere. You can cut straight lines with it but once you get on a curve and make the slightest mistake you are screwed. 

My friend has a small bandsaw that I may be able to use if I pick her up a blade. Question is, what blade do I get for this job? Mainly in terms of blade width and teeth per inch. I don't know how long the blade is for her unit but can anyone give me a hand knowing what other specs I need to know when I buy this blade?


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## Masterjer (Nov 6, 2012)

That is a really thick piece of wood for a scroll saw. A bandsaw is probably the best tool for the job, although you could do it with a jig saw. Are you cutting tight radius curves or large radius curves? That will help determine which bandsaw blade is best.


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## del schisler (Nov 5, 2009)

arvanlaar said:


> Okay so I am beyond frustrated...
> 
> I have a 2" thick piece of purpleheart that I am trying to cut shallow curves on. My FILs bandsaw only has a metal blade on it right now and to buy another one will be $50ish (he has an industrial sized one) and I don't have the money for that right now. He did have a scroll saw that I attempted to use for this and its really not going anywhere. You can cut straight lines with it but once you get on a curve and make the slightest mistake you are screwed.
> 
> My friend has a small bandsaw that I may be able to use if I pick her up a blade. Question is, what blade do I get for this job? Mainly in terms of blade width and teeth per inch. I don't know how long the blade is for her unit but can anyone give me a hand knowing what other specs I need to know when I buy this blade?


scroll saw is out, it will not do this, a band saw with 1/ 4" by say 14 teeth would be a start don't know the length it should say , find out look up the model and do a google search ?? , a band saw is the only one to use for this job


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

As far as the band saw blade goes, it depends on how tight the curves are. A 1/4 inch wide 6 tpi blade is a pretty good general purpose blade. 

Better question, what kind of band saw does your friend have? If its a little 9 inch one she picked up at the local home center, forget about it. It won't have the power to go through 2 inches of purpleheart


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## arvanlaar (Dec 29, 2014)

I think she has a small benchtop model. I mean the scroll saw has enough power to cut through the PH perfectly fine on a straight line. Even on curves it cuts easily. It's just not cutting with the precision I need. I may see if the jig saw will work for this. That could be a possibility.


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## del schisler (Nov 5, 2009)

arvanlaar said:


> I think she has a small benchtop model. I mean the scroll saw has enough power to cut through the PH perfectly fine on a straight line. Even on curves it cuts easily. It's just not cutting with the precision I need. I may see if the jig saw will work for this. That could be a possibility.


a jig saw will not cut good for you the blade will flex to much, take this and do on some junk wood and you will see what i mean , use the band saw and set it up right and it will cut what you want, set the bed to the blade 90 degree on the side and also the back of the blade, now it will cut also the guides and thrust beiring, that is the beiring that the blade rides on when you push wood into the blade


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## arvanlaar (Dec 29, 2014)

So I had to continue to use the scroll saw. After 8 blades and about 5 hours of cutting and warming up (it was cold in the shop!) I finally hacked out the shape. It was pretty haggard to be honest. My mother in law laughed at me haha. But, after a couples hours at the drum sander it doesn't look half bad. Its not nearly what I wanted. There is no symetry to speak of because of the inaccuracy of the scroll saw cuts, but I think it will do. 

I learned a valuable lesson today... Do not use purple heart, 2" thick slabs of it, for any type of curved work. I think the first two projects I did, the oak catch all and then this, we a bit ambitious for my skills. I should stick to pine and other softwoods and learn the tools of the trade and then start moving to harder, trickier woods. The last thing I want is to be so discouraged that I lose interest!


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

Any photos of your work with the Purpleheart?


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## arvanlaar (Dec 29, 2014)

I will most likely have some by this weekend. Just want to put the finish on it first.


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## phoenixbound (Nov 24, 2014)

Seems folks warned you about using the scrollsaw for the purpleheart, yet you went ahead with it. If any lesson should be learned, it would be to listen to those more knowledgeable.  there is a wide range of expertise on this board, or a lack thereof, so your best bet is to try to gauge if the person responding to you has years of woodworking experience and if they and others (with years of experience) echo each others sentiments when you ask a question, presume that they are giving you the straight scoop.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Purple Heart is super tough to work with. Hard as a rock and resinous too. Not at all surprised you couldn't cut it with a scroll saw. 

I use a 1/4" 14 tpi blade on my bandsaw for cutting small curves in hardwood. Just don't feed it too fast.


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## arvanlaar (Dec 29, 2014)

Thanks Phoenix I do listen and take people's advise on this forum however I ended up not having access to any bandsaws in the end so I had to use the only thing I had. 

BZ Yes I heard that the hard way. I should have realized that when I bought the piece, rapped it with my knuckles and it make the same noise a cinder block does haha: P


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## phoenixbound (Nov 24, 2014)

I think we all learn best from our mistakes. I know I do. I seldom repeat my worst mistakes as they tend to make quite an impression on me!


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## arvanlaar (Dec 29, 2014)

I couldn't agree more Phoenix  This one sure did make an impression on me. When you guys see the finished product you will see why I would have thought "Oh this shouldn't be that hard" lol


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## arvanlaar (Dec 29, 2014)

Well folks as promised here are a few pics of my finished project. I was INCREDIBLY disappointed with how it looked after putting it through the scroll saw that I didn't even bother taking pictures all the way through. However, after 3 hours sanding it did turn out alright although not nearly as symetrical as is was drawn out to be. The scroll saw blade kept catching the grain and wreaking havoc on me. Lesson learned though... if I only have the scroll saw to work on, work on thinner wood and not incredibly dense purpleheart haha. 

Let me know what you think. I always love feedback be it positive or negative


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## Maylar (Sep 3, 2013)

Dense... and pretty. I have a chunk of Purpleheart begging to become a bowl, but I can't bring myself to turning it into shavings.

Nice job.


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