Freud Pro for Kity 419

[marcros]

There are some cheap freud pro blades on toolstation at the moment. No stock in my local branch, but online and free delivery, they didnt look bad value for a tenner!

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Power+T ... 137/p74404

 

[knappers]

I would have thought the Freud Pro were too narrow a kerf for the Kity.

Si.

 

[marcros]

I would have thought the Freud Pro were too narrow a kerf for the Kity.

Si.

Hmmmm. may have neglected to look at that when buying one

To look at it another way, with a kerf of 2.4mm, how thick do I need to make a new riving knife?

 

[OPJ]

That depends on how thick the 'plate' of the blade is. After watching Steve Maskery's latest DVDs for a second time this week, I reckon that's likely to be around 1.8mm. Your riving knife would need to be somewhere between 1.8mm and the 2.4mm kerf to prevent binding, etc. I think Steve used tool grade steel (?), which is better than ordinary mild steel as it remains flat. You could probably cut it with a jigsaw (and the correct blade, of course).

Some very good prices, there. I've always found Freud blades to be excellent. Thanks for the heads up! ;-)

 

[marcros]

the standard riving knife on my saw is not particularly good anyway, so making a new one was a project for sooner or later anyway.

I will attempt to get an offcut of tool steel. Failing that, would ali be any good? I assume that any form of plastic would risk snapping, or would this be an option?

 

[OPJ]

I'm not sure that aluminium is suitable. Could well be too soft and weak. Might bend and distort too easily, meaning you'd never be able to get it flat again. Acrylic is very brittle and can shatter. Wouldn't have thought that any plastic would be suitable, to be honest.

You could probably find a small quantity of that mild tool steel on eBay - I'm probably using the wrong terminology! Perhaps Steve himself will be along soon to clarify...

 

[jasonB]

You could probably find a small quantity of that mild tool steel on eBay - I'm probably using the wrong terminology!

Two types of steel in one. Mild steel is a low carbon steel, tool steel is a medium carbon that can be hardened if needed.

I've not seen the video but if Steve is refering to tool steel you want to be looking for "gauge plate" also known as "precision ground flat stock"

I also see that most of those freud blades are 190mm so make adjustments to he riving knife dimensions so the inner arc is closer to the blade. And are they the ideal grind for a table saw as 190mm blades are a hand held circular saw size??

 

[Eric The Viking]

I can confirm that Freud is too narrow for the standard 419 riving knife :-(

But... if the left side of the riving knife aligns with the plate of the blade, then thinner riving knife = success!

I inherited a Freud blade with the saw. I rushed off to get it sharpened (really well, thanks Lads of Leitz!), and did half a test cut into MDF before realising!

Spot the twit!

E.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Yes, gauge plate, tool steel, ground flat stock - all the same thing. It can be cut easily with a hacksaw or jigsaw BUT make sure that youo don't allow it to get hot, because it gets hard and you won't be able to do anything with it (short of annealing it again). So you have to drill it with a slow speed but hard feed, for example.
2mm aluminium is very unsuitable, there is not a chance of you keeping it flat for very long, and don't even think of plastic.
The inside curve should be about 5mm bigger than the radius of the blade and feathered nicely.
S

 

[woodbloke]

I've just fitted an industrial quality blade (German made) from Wealden on my new saw. Slightly more expensive than the Freud's but no delivery charge - Rob

 

[RogerP]

I needed to make a new riving knife and unearthed some small Dural (probably alloy type AA2024) sheets I had stashed away for a long while. They happened to be just the right thickness and have made a nice flat, strong blade.

 

[marcros]

Roger- did you make a like for like (except thickness) or modify the design?

I begged some gauge plate at work today, but they only had 1/8" or 1/16". They agreed to surface grind the knife when done though to bring it to about 3/32" (or whatever I need).

Need a jigsaw blade now, and a bit of time!

 

[RogerP]

Roger- did you make a like for like (except thickness) or modify the design?

I did modify it to make a better fit than the original (by the way this was not on a Kity). Must say that Dural is not very easily worked - quite hard stuff!