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Am I alone?

Started by jamesamd, July 07, 2012, 08:59:23 PM

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jamesamd

Am I the only one that uses a 7 1/4" saw blade on My tablesaw 90% of the time?
I use a 60 tooth freud blade most of the time.I have also made spacers,so I can gang 2 blades to cut tenons in one pass.Am I alone???????????
Jim
All that is gold does not glitter,not all those that wander are lost.....

POSTON WIDEHEAD

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Brad_bb

Yep.  I often need to cut deeper than that would allow.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

Tree Feller

IMNSHO, there are two reasons for running a 7 1/4" blade on a 10" tablesaw. The 7 1/4" blades are cheap (compared to a quality 10" blade) and they will give an underpowered saw more apparent power.

Other than that, I can't see any reason to run them and the limitation of the cutting depth is a show-stopper for me. I routinely cut stock at or near the capacity of my 10" blade. I also have a 3 hp cabinet saw and power is not an issue.

I use a tenoning jig for cutting tenons and it doesn't take much time or effort to cut one side, reverse the stock and cut the other side.

However, if your methods work for you, that's great. It's always interesting to see how others work and the approaches taken to produce a similar result. The answer to your question is no, you are not alone. I've had other woodworkers say that they used 7 1/4" blades on their TS.
Cody

Logmaster LM-1 Sawmill
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Stihl MS-290 Chainsaw
48" Logrite Cant Hook
Well equipped, serious, woodworking shop

metalspinner

I have a friend that made a canoe.  Because of the high number of 1/4" strips he was ripping, he recovered quite a few strips by running the 7 1/4" blade with its narrow kerf.

James,
Do you run lots of hardwood through that blade?
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

jamesamd

Yes Spinner I do,Red oak Hard Maple and Cherry,mostly.
I use them for edeging rough sawn boards,ripping thin ply,mitering thin moulding,picture frames
and anything else I want to cut that is fragile.When all that don't matter,I use a Freud Fusion blade for flawless cuts in any thickness above 1/2".
These 1/4" tall x 3/16" would be splinters if I used any 10" blade I own!

I own two Ridgid 3660's,never had a problem with a 10" blade and thick stock.
Leg is 2 1/8 cherry,saw and blade ate it up.

I suggest,Ya'll give it a try.
Jim
All that is gold does not glitter,not all those that wander are lost.....

metalspinner

Now that you mention it, thin wood likes to chatter using my 10" blades.  I use Woodworker II blade mostly.

Oh, wait, I can't use anything smaller than 10" on the Sawstop saw.  I was gonna give it a try. :)
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

jimparamedic

I use 7 1/4 blades on my old 9" saw cause 9" are hard to find and it does add power at the blade.

tyb525

Quote from: metalspinner on July 09, 2012, 11:22:08 PM
Now that you mention it, thin wood likes to chatter using my 10" blades.  I use Woodworker II blade mostly.

You might do this already, but setting the height of your blade to less than 1/8" above the wood will reduce/eliminate chatter with thin wood. Also make sure the back of the fence is just a hair farther from the blade than the front, say around .005"
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Al_Smith

Quote from: jimparamedic on July 10, 2012, 07:09:14 AM
I use 7 1/4 blades on my old 9" saw cause 9" are hard to find and it does add power at the blade.
Well that does indeed present a problem .About the only thing you can do is order them through Sears .I suppose others sell them too for that matter but you seldom see them in stock .

Why in the world they had the bright idea for a 9 inch blade I'll never know .

red oaks lumber

my main blade on my ts is a 7 1/4  also on all my radial arm saw (3) i use a thin kerf 80 tooth 7 1/4 blade . my reasoning is very non scientific, smaller diam. blade. faster blade speed which gives a cleaner cut.(maybe the speed is only in my mind :)) second reason i can buy 3 blades compared to maybe 1 cmt or freund .
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

Al_Smith

I somehow acquired a set of 8" hollow ground thin kerf satin finish blades .I speculate they might have been from a dado set but I don't have the rest of the set .Never the less they will cut about as smooth as sanding the cut  but because they are high speed steel with no carbide I seldom use them .

Speaking of dados' which really isn't the subject but interesting .I have three sets ,Craftsman ,Frued and Vermont American .Now one should think the Frued would be the best because it costs the most .The cheapest ,the Vermont cuts the smoothest . ???

SwampDonkey

I would try the Forrest Dado-King. They are a USA product. 8" blades. They also have a finger joint set, 1/4"-3/8" cuts.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

tyb525

LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Handy Andy

  I used to run skilsaw blades on my old Craftsman table saw.  The motor was worn out, and had to start it with a stick. Even on 220 it was a little weak.   Thought about buying a new fence for it, and a new motor, but instead I got a new unisaw. Can run 10" blades on it.
My name's Jim, I like wood.

LeeB

Actually, the teeth on  a 10" blade are turning faster than on a 7 1/4" blade turning at the same rpm. The teeth on the 10" are traveling farther in the same amount of time.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

grweldon

I was just about to correct him, but decided to check if anybody already had...
My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

tyb525

The 7 1/4, 8", or 9" blades actually give a slightly worse quality cut at the same feed rate as a 10", because they are spinning slower and each tooth has to take a bigger bite to keep up the same feed rate.

So to get a comparable cut quality you need to cut a little slower, which counteracts the whole purpose of using a smaller blade (to cut faster) or get a blade with more teeth, which actually slows the saw down some also, compared to a saw with fewer teeth.

If you are only concerned about cut speed, then yes a smaller blade might help on an underpowered motor. I would use an 8" or 9" blade instead of a 7 1/4", unless you don't cut anything much thicker than 3/4".
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

red oaks lumber

making over 50,000 cuts per month, thickness varies from 3/4 to 1 7/8 . i found using the 7 1/4 thin kerf(.09) blades work the best all around cut. not to mention the cost isnt even close. sometimes doing things that others deem  foolish will give you suprising results.

 
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

SandburRanch

I'm positive you aren't alone.  7-1/4" thin kerf has worked well on my older Craftsman 8" table saw for several years.  The last group I bought on line were $3.55 each including shipping and they do all I want / need to do.   

jamesamd

Ty,I don't use the smaller blades for production work or speed of feeding the wood through a cut.
I use it to reduce the waste and have clean smooth cuts in thin stock.I work wood for fun ;D
Jim
All that is gold does not glitter,not all those that wander are lost.....

1woodguy

71/4 works fine for me generally don't need bigger blade for what I am doing
If I'm using multiple blades with DVDs (holes bored out)as spacers between blades it's a lot cheaper
Experience is a rough teacher first you get the test later comes the lesson!

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