TableSaw Blade advice

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
A

Anonymous

Guest
Does anyone know of any sites where I can find out more info on tablesaw blades? like what the hook angle & other technical stuff means.

Ive found with a standard table saw blade (315mm diameter - 48 teeth) it leaves a v-shape when cutting a groove, its hard to show with text but its like this in the bottom of the groove ^ & if I want to move the rip fence over by say 3mm to cut another groove & keep doing this until I have a nice dado type groove the sides are great but the bottom is like this ^^^^^^

Ive seen some thin kerf blades by CMT in the axminster catalogue, im not after the thin kerf of 1.7mm as such but what does appeal to me is it says they have a tooth layout of 1 square tooth followed by 2 teeth at a 20 degree bevel, it says the square tooth squares up the cut for trenching.

Ideally though I would prefer a proper blade with a 3.2mm kerf from Freud but none of them mention this extra square tooth.

Im after a 60 or 80 toothed blade so I can make really nice & accurate crosscuts but one that will also cut a nice square groove without leaving a ^ at the bottom, is this impossible or am I just totally dumb & lacking knowledge on this type of thing? :?

Nick :)
 
If your arbor is a "standard" 30mm, your local stockist should be able to sell you a 300 or 315 mm 96 tooth blade. Mine cost about £75 and gives a great finish on cross-cuts & even rip cuts. It also leaves a 3.2mm groove which looks pretty square to me. I just explained what I wanted to my local stockist & they suggested the 96-tooth blade. Don't be too afraid to ask advice from your local tool store - if they're any good and they want your repeat business, they'll give reasonable advice.
 
I've noticed norm has that effect with his saw blade when'nibbling' usually when he's making tennons.

I've never had that problem. I currently have a perform blade from axminster.
 
Hi Normfan,

I know just how you feel, it can be very annoying, when you want to leave a flat surface and not full of little grooves.
Have you looked at Trends web site www.trendmachinery.co.uk they have a lot of different baldes available, with a flat top to the teeth. If you can't find what you looking for give them an email and see what they can recommend. Failing that, go to you local tool stockholder and see what they have in stock, you might just find what your looking for. If I find anything more out in the mean time, i will post it up.
 
Hi Norm Fan,

Back again with some more info for you. I rememebered that I had a Trend catalogue, so I had a look through.
The only blades they do that have a flat top to the blade is their ripping blades, not much good for cross cutting, for making tennons etc.
Their other blades suitable for cross cutting etc, have a slope of only 10 degrees, so these should be more suitable for your needs. They will still leave a bit of a groove, but not that much to matter I would not think.
I have a Freud blade and that does have a much steeper angle than the Trend and although it cuts great, the sharp angle leaves quite deep grooves.
I hope that this is some help to you and will help you over the problem.
 
Norm Fan

I have just had a look in the Axminster catalogue, most of the CMT blades have the tooth format listed. The options are:-

1 flat tooth 2 teeth 15° alternate bevel
1 flat tooth 2 teeth 20° alternate bevel
40° alternate bevel
1 flat tooth 4 teeth 20° alternate bevel

Do you have a router? How about a table for it?

I know that his Normness is always cutting dados and rebates (rabbits are small furry creatures that are good in pies) on his table saw, but in my opinion a router in a table is better for the job.

I have had a router for the last 25 years, I now have 3. I have had a router table for 8 years, should have got one sooner. I only got a table saw last year, used a number of hand held saws until then.
I would made a router table now if I did not have one, I may make a new one any way as I would like a bigger working surface than my old Trend one has for some jobs.

Hope this helps,

DaveL
 
Thanks everyone for all the info,

Since I posted this problem I got in contact with a specialist blade company & they said I need a flat toothed 40 teeth blade, they can also do 60 or 80 teeth so I would assume these are not just ripping blades.

The prices were a little high though as I think they were the absolute top quality blades.

At the moment I think I will order the CMT fine crosscut blade from axminster as it has 1 flat tooth which it says is for getting a nice flat bottomed groove (just what I want) its a shame its a thin kerf blade though at only 1.7mm, but I guess it will be fine, at £30ish pounds its not too much to spend either.

If anyone is interested I can post my comments on the blade when I get hold of one.

Okey dokey, thanks again,
Nick :)
Ps, [DaveL] yes I have a cheap router (£40) & the first project I am planning is to make a nice router table, although I would prefer to do the grooving in a table saw as I dont know if anyone else has this feeling? but I feel routers scream at high speeds & seem like they are having a real hard time cutting through wood, it does the job but I cant help thinking I would be going through loads of router bits, maybe my bits are cheap & I dont have a quality router as such but I do feel it would be better mounted on a table as freehand is so crude.
 
I like coming here because I have to think about things that I havent thought about for years. I know that you have probably got sorted out by now but the ^ design is ideal for cutting laminates and aluminium general cross cutting of timber etc the angled tooth design limit the amount of break out. they are usually combined with shear cut teeth (alternate bevel)ggerated but serves the purpose. We used to call them tripple chip design because of the 3 types of tip on the blade. Leuco tooling (Bishops stortford) or NLS tools (North London) C D Moninger (Harlow) are also a good suppliers for cheap tools ideally if you are doing trenching then a negative rake blade with flat tips and as wide as possible. Too wide as in a groover may invite snatching. Next best thing for wider trenching would be negative rake hogging saws if the machine will accomodate the extra thickness of more than one blade. cross cut saws generally have a negative rake angle unless they are triple chip.
The companies I listed may have moved - its been about 12 years since I was a rep and used to visit these companies. I used to work for Titman Tip Tools (router cutters, boring bits and groovers) who used to supply Trend with their professional range which are the red ones. Trend are a good marketing company but they don't manufacture anything, I Used to offend Jim Phillips (MD) on a regular basis by visiting his best customers and I even poached a few :lol:
 
Sorry I haven't posted earlier, I have been busy.

Jesus! Woodsmith, that's just about what I said after reading your reply, very in thorough and concise :)

After reading you final post Norm Fan I was surprised no one commented further. You say you have a cheap router and that you think routers strain to cut rebates and yet there is your answer, a descent 2 HP+ Router won't struggle to cut you rebates and will give you a cleaner cut than the table saw. You will notice that the trench in Norms Abrhams rebates have the same ^^^^^^ that you are trying to avoid.

They money you are spending on Blades for the table would go someway towards securing a descent Router and most of the better Routers have good fences which mean you can cut those rebates out of the table, although a table will be one of you best investments.


A word of Caution! and maybe someone in the group could confirm this. I assume you are using the table saw without the safety guard and knife and with that new finer blade you may be increasing the chance of getting a nasty kick back, maybe woodsmith could confirm. Anyway just be careful using that method :wink:
 
I use a router these days its quicker to set up. I have 2 Elu routers but prefer the smaller 97E to the 177E as you can use it one handed - I only use the larger machine for kitchen worktops. I dont like to invert routers under tables though as I used to do it with my 96E before I sold it because it knackers the bearings quicker as dust falls into the machine. Maybe there would be a market for a trenching machine like an overhead router with sliding table or old style tennoner with a single narow head and it could even be used for tennoning! Trouble is that nobody designs new machinery. There you go! get down the patents office and make a fortune, and dont forget to buy me a drink :)
 
nay blade can be ground to a flat top, or any combination of angles. go to your nearest saw sevice and explain what you require, they should be able to help
 

Latest posts

Back
Top