I thought I would add my two cents on this topic. Spiral blades are not easy to get used to and do take a lot of practice and many ruined blades before you get the hang of it. I haven't tried the plier thing but I will keep it in mind and give it a try.
Because I feed my blade through the bottom of the wood what I do is take my new blade and lightly clamp the top of the blade to the top blade holder and try to find the flatest part of the spiral. Then I tighten the blade to the bottom holder as snug as I can. Release the top of the blade, feed my wood and start scrolling. I still keep a pair of needle nose pliers handy for small corrections. Do not worry if the bottom of the blade twists out of shape as long as it is straight though the bottom blade holder. Spirals are not reusable like a flat end from my experience so I use them until they're done and discard.
As far as flat end spirals go they are fine depending on what you are using them for. I purchased a # 1 expecting a saw kerf relatively small but it cuts much bigger than I thought it would. I assume they are not wound so tightly as a normal spiral and therfore you end up with a larger kerf.
I hope this helps a little.
Terry
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