I have tried the HF blades and I will buy them in a pinch. I buy the brand name blades when I find them on sale and save myself a lot of aggravation. If you live close to a Hancock's Fabric store, every time there is a 50% off quilting notions sale, stock up on the multi blade packs. I still have many packs of the five blades that I bought for 50% off and the price then was $14.99. I got them for about $8. I think they are about triple in price now. My quilting friends that were with me when I bought several packs at the sale said why do you need that many? Now they are buying them at outrageous prices and I'm not.