I have older by today standards a 5 year old ,craftman 16 inch  scrollsaw, pinned of course, i'm fairly new, at this too,  i've cut 234 plain jane x-mas ortmants last year, just practice of course, but as you go thru the steps, you learn more and as you do , you upgrade to better saw , of which you be going to pinless  blades for finer cuts and more detail cut's, now i can buy a adpter for my saw, but i'll be upgradingmaby this year to pinless blades, it's all about trial and  erro , idea is to enjoy and realax and have fun,

I use only pinless . Just a different size blades, depending on what I am cutting .Use mostly sprial blades for protrait  and some flat blades . It all is down too personal preference .

 

David

Monradon, I have been scrolling for several years now & it depends on how much you want to do the woodworking & how much you want to invest in your hobby. The pinned blades restrict you to only cut-outs & very little  inside cutting. If  you want to cut inside, then you will have to go to the finer blades of the pinless type. The finer, pinless blades are versital enough to cut 1 inch oak if you are talking about tough stuff. The Flying Dutchman, pinless blades, are my choice of blades & are very well made. This is the right place to ask for help. Enjoy           Larry

I have a craftsman 16 inch that accepts both pinned and pinless blades. I have had it about 2 years now.

No adapters to use or change, just put in .

With pinned it has grooves for pins top and bottom, put in and adjust tension.

With pinless it has pads and set screws to tighten, put in and adjust tension.

I love it, it is qiuck and easy, no tools needed to change blades either, like many others.  Go to sears and check one out.

Pinned blades are for when you have no choice... and they are usable for primarily cutting outlines of shapes for carving or painting.  To a degree, that means you could do 'segmentation' or 'intarsia' type projects, too, but the curves can't be too sharp because pinned blades don't come very small.  Even if you love those projects, the main problem you'll encounter is a much smaller range of choices for blade sizes and styles compared to those available as 'plain' aka 'pinless' blades.

 

Spence

Monradon, you will cut only out- lines with the pinned blades. The pin will not insert through a small drill hole for detail inside cuttings. If you are serious about portraits, etc. then you will need to upgrade to a saw that will handle pinless blades. Maybe yours will accept them? If not, it's like all other hobbies, costly, HA. You can cut some inside cuts with the pinned, but, the drill hole will have to be big enough for the pin to fit through. Your choice of blade size is very limited too. Hope you get the info that you need.    Larry

I use nothing but pin less. If you convert to pinless you will find your finish cuts will have a much smoother surface. Gary

just a little trick I learned some years ago, If you need a smaller hole, and all you have are pinned blades, You can take a pair of plyers, and pull the top pin out of the blade, then insert the blade through the smaller hole, and insert a small safety pin into the whole the pin came out of. You can now hook the safety pin into the saw where the pin would go. Hope you can understand this lol.

 

Dave