Modifying table saw blade

[Rich Sprouse]

I understand that the Sawstop TS can not accommodate a 6" blade. I need a blade (8" i guess) that cuts .023 kerf see this link
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Saws_and_slots/Fret_Slotting_Table_Saw_Blade.html

Can an 8# blade be modified to do this. If so who can?

As always
thanks
Richard

[george wilson]

I make my own fret blades by grinding a blade held against the faceplate of a metal lathe with a toolpost grinder. I am not sure if such a blade would function on your Saw stop saw,using the dado brake,or the regular brake,due to its low metal mass near the brake.

I have warned people that the Saw stop won't accept these special blades.

Back in 1963,when I had no metal working tools,I made a blade out of a 6" fine tooth plywood blade by holding a hand grinder against a rotating blade in the saw. It took a while,and has to be hollow ground CAREFULLY,without going all the way through the blade. Also,keep your eyes,shield and all,away from the path the blade's edge would take if it blows up.

I do not recommend this hand grinding to anyone. That's just how I did it. I made a better blade years later when I had the proper equipment to do so,though that first blade made many fingerboards.

Another problem is that you don't want to get metal dust in the brake mechanism,or you will get accidental firing of the brake. I have a friend who had several firings from people cutting mirror plexiglass,leaving tiny bits of metal in the saw's mechanism.

Can you just buy a cheap contractor's saw to use your 6" blades on? I think this is the best solution for you.

[John Coloccia]

I understand that the Sawstop TS can not accommodate a 6" blade. I need a blade (8" i guess) that cuts .023 kerf see this link
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Saws_and_slots/Fret_Slotting_Table_Saw_Blade.html

Can an 8# blade be modified to do this. If so who can?

As always
thanks
Richard

I use mine in my old delta saw. I took off the wings, and all it ever does is spin the fret blade. I suggest you buy a very cheap, used, contractor saw off craigslist, and use that.

[Rich Sprouse]

I had thought about that. I have a cheap table top table saw that I might dedicate just for fret slotting. Currently I just buy pre slotted fretboards but eventually I would like to slot my own

Thanks
Richard


I use mine in my old delta saw. I took off the wings, and all it ever does is spin the fret blade. I suggest you buy a very cheap, used, contractor saw off craigslist, and use that.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

WOW.
I never thought to do it any way other than by hand. But then, I never made instruments for a living.
Is there a set up for a TS that is accurate enough to give you repeatable spot on results?
Do you use a set of progressively smaller blocks against a fixed stop with the miter fence canted off the angle of half the neck taper?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

WOW.
I never thought to do it any way other than by hand. But then, I never made instruments for a living.
Is there a set up for a TS that is accurate enough to give you repeatable spot on results?
Do you use a set of progressively smaller blocks against a fixed stop with the miter fence ( or sled) canted off the angle of half the neck taper?

[John Coloccia]

WOW.
I never thought to do it any way other than by hand. But then, I never made instruments for a living.
Is there a set up for a TS that is accurate enough to give you repeatable spot on results?
Do you use a set of progressively smaller blocks against a fixed stop with the miter fence ( or sled) canted off the angle of half the neck taper?

You can buy a slotting gauge from StewMac. It has little indents in it that fit tightly onto a pin. If you follow their instructions, you'll use double sided tape to hold the fingerboard to the guide, and then slide the whole thing along, indexing it into the pin.

I think that's stupid and I made a little fixture so I don't have to use double sided tape anymore.

Another alternative is to buy an UNTAPERED and UNRADIUSED fingerboard, and then use that as a guide. Instead of a pin, you can use a small little piece of metal and make a tab. Heck, you could even use the tang off a fret but once you flatten the little barbs, it might be a little slopier than you'd like.

And yes, it's quite repeatable. The placement of the guide to the fretboard to the pin is not critical so long as things are setup such that you don't run out of fretboard before you run out of guide :) The only things that are critical are the fretboard must be parallel to the guide, and the guide must be square to the blade.

If you saw how they did it for high volume manufacture, you'd scratch your head in wonder of how anything ever comes out in tune. Many use a gang saw, where there are 19 (or however many) little slotting saws that spin on a shaft, correctly spaced, and the whole things slides over the neck and cuts them all at once. I'd have thought things would drift and you'd never get nice repeatable results, but apparently they do! :D

re: the neck taper

It's much easier than you think. We don't taper or radius necks until after the fret slots are cut, and the neck is properly trimmed at the nut end and bridge end (or the nut slot is cut if you prefer such abominations....LOL).

Benedetto's archtop building DVD has a marvelous section that clearly shows the slotting jig he made. I've shamefully copied it and it works great. Anyone into guitar building should watch this DVD just on principle. Everything he touches becomes beautiful. He's a true master of his craft.

All that said, buying preslotted and radiused fretboard is pretty cost effective these days.