.030" kerf blade for SawStop?

[John Coloccia]

I've started studying with a local guitar builder. There a step I need to perform that requires high precision and a .030 kerf table saw blade. Naturally, I'd like to so it on my SS as my other saw is setup and dedicated to fret slotting and I don't want to touch it. Does anyone know of a very thin kerf, 10" blade that's available to run on the SawStop? As most of you know, the thing won't run without a 10" blade, even in bypass mode.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

I wonder if a saw sharpening shop could make one for you. Is this for the frets?

[Will Overton]

What about an 8" blade with the dado brake installed?

[Neil Bosdet]

Maybe a stupid question but have you Googled this?

[John Coloccia]

John,

I wonder if a saw sharpening shop could make one for you. Is this for the frets?

No. I have an old delta contractor saw with no fence that I have setup for doing nothing but frets. That's a .23 kerf blade in there, I think. I could conceivably use that saw for this, but I hate to touch it because it's an old piece of junk that takes forever to get dialed in. The saw itself wasn't that bad new, but it's had a long life of abuse from yours truly doing things it was never designed to do :) I'm half considering picking up a little micro saw and dedicating it to small tasks like this. That's all I need...another tool in my shop that gets used once a year!

Sharpening service is a good idea. I hadn't though of that.

[Greg Portland]

Why do you need a 10" blade? Just stick a smaller diameter blade on there (as long as the arbor is the right size). I assume this is for Fret slotting? They typically come in 6" sizes (10" ultra-narrow blade will vibrate... a lot).

You will not have full Sawstop protection during this cut but you should be using a cross cutting sled anyway (fingers are away from the blade).

[John Coloccia]

It's not for fret slotting. It's for something else. I have another saw dedicated for fret slotting that I'm trying not to disturb, has no fence and doesn't even have wings. It's really not ideal for this! The SS won't run with a blade that's smaller than 8" (w/ a dado cartridge), doesn't matter what mode you put it in. I may end up just rewiring the motor to bypass the box for stuff like this. I'm sure I'm not the first. It's like why so many older saws don't have any guards installed. When they get in the way of real work, the guards go, and they're too much of a hassle to put back on. Fortunately in my case, it's pretty simple to put a couple of plugs and simply plug and unplug as needed so it pretty convenient for sure.

[John Coloccia]

I MAY have found someplace. I've just submitted a custom quote to make me a blade. They could conceivably make me an 8" blade. I need to call SS and ask them if a thin kerf blade will allow the saw to run with their dado brake.

[Chris Padilla]

Forrest will grind you anything you want, I'm pretty sure. Ask them for a quote as well.

[John Coloccia]

I didn't know that either. Thanks, Chris.

[Noah Katz]

Forrest will grind you anything you want

Yeah, just start with a regular 10" TK blade and get the teeth ground to what you want.

Hopefully the depth of cut do you need isn't greater than the gullet depth; thinning the blade body might be an extra complication.

[John Coloccia]

What I've done is contact Thurston tool about making an 8" with the specs I needs. I called SawStop and they think there's a chance it will work OK with the dado brake. I haven't gotten a quote back from Thurston. I'll post back when I have it all sorted out it but it looks like it will work, though it will cost some $$$ to get there.

[Barry Richardson]

I've put a 7 1/4 blade in the Sawstop at work (in the bypass mode) and it worked no problem; Like you, I needed a thinner kerf. Is it something the manual says, or have you tried it??

[John Coloccia]

I haven't tried it but I know people who have. If it doesn't detect a blade, apparently the saw won't even start in bypass mode. You were running with the dado cartridge, right? If not, it will have me scratching my head why it worked because there are so many people for whom this doesn't work for.

[Michael Peet]

He may have been able to adjust the brake cartridge close enough to the smaller blade to allow the saw to boot.

Mike

[Richard Gonzalez]

Have you seen the Rockler micro kerf 10" blade? No personal experience but commercially available
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=22633

Richard

[John Coloccia]

I have seen those, but a dime is about .054". I know...you would think that "as thin as a dime" is thin enough, but in my case it's not.

[John Coloccia]

So Thurston got back to me this morning (quick turnaround!) with a quote of about $110 for the 8" blade and a 1 week turnaround. I think that's very reasonable all around for made to order blade!

The lesson I'm learning all around is this: at one time, I was very intimidated going to places like this because my quantities are so small. The more I approach the non-retail establishments, the more I realize just how pleasant they can really be to deal with. When I was an engineer, waving around large sums of cash, I always got great service, but I'm getting great service as a peon too!

[keith jensen]

Waving around large sums of someone else's cash to boot is even better. I'm still an engineer.....

[Kent Chasson]

I had my local saw shop side-grind an old plywood blade down to about .030" for ripping purfling strips. I don't remember the cost but it was well under $100.

[chiesa dan]

Hi,
i'm a guitarmaker and i'm just wondering what you need that blade for... The one i have like that i use to cut purflings and bindings, but i think i'll switch to a BS for that.
OTOH, can't imagine leaving a saw around just to cut frets; if i do it for half a day, i can slot enough fingerboards for more than year.
Might just try to have the SS running with anything, so you could use any thin kerf blade, including the fret slotting one, and get rid of the fret slotting setup you have. The LMI system takes a little more than a blade change to install and works flawlessly...

[John Coloccia]

Hi,
i'm a guitarmaker and i'm just wondering what you need that blade for... The one i have like that i use to cut purflings and bindings, but i think i'll switch to a BS for that.
OTOH, can't imagine leaving a saw around just to cut frets; if i do it for half a day, i can slot enough fingerboards for more than year.
Might just try to have the SS running with anything, so you could use any thin kerf blade, including the fret slotting one, and get rid of the fret slotting setup you have. The LMI system takes a little more than a blade change to install and works flawlessly...

I'll be using it to make kerfed linings. The guy I'm working with uses an .030 blade, and I'm going to copy his linings exactly as they are the most flexible I've ever seen. Far better than anything I've ever bought.

re: the dedicated saw
This is an old, Delta contractor saw. It has no wings and no fence system. All it's really good for, at least to me, is slotting frets. I've don't have any reason to not dedicate a saw to doing this since I have it laying around, and it's not appropriate for making kerfed linings because I don't have any wings. I have a wooden top that I made for it and it usually serves as a sharpening station when not in use.

[chiesa dan]

Oh yeah, those :-) I forgot i use mine also for the kerfed linings... If it was me, i'll just try to make the SS work with any blade, period.
Best,
Daniele.

[John Coloccia]

You know, I just wanted to follow up because someone asked me about this just the other day. The 8" blade worked fine. SawStop warned me that they make no guarantees that the brake will adequately stop the thin blade. I also discovered that using a zero clearance insert is a BAD idea. If the blade flexes even just a little bit (and a .030 blade will), it will rub against the phenolic and heat up...causing it to warp more....and flex more...etc. Ugly situation. It needs some room there.

Other than that, everything worked just dandy. I do wish there were an easy way to run it with a small, 6" blade. I may need to modify the thing someday to bypass the brains when necessary. I wish I could just install a dummy brake to let me bypass the entire thing. This is sort of like the old, junky blade guards of yesteryear....we all left them off because they got in the way. SS, are you listenting? Don't make us start defeating the safety mechanisms for 99% of the cuts because they're in the way for 1%. We all wear big boy pants. Give me options.

Anyhow, that's the followup.

[Stephen Cherry]

Can a saw blade even be .030??? That's about 1/32"?

For precision, I would consider an inca.

[John Coloccia]

Can a saw blade even be .030??? That's about 1/32"?

For precision, I would consider an inca.

My little blade is .023" :)

[David Epperson]

I would think a dedicated set up on a smaller saw would work - something like this
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-mighty-mite-table-saw-93211.html

[Alan Lightstone]

I would think a dedicated set up on a smaller saw would work - something like this
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-mighty-mite-table-saw-93211.html

This general concept is blowing my mind. Don't use the SawStop, use a Harbor Freight instead. My head hurts.

[David Epperson]

This general concept is blowing my mind. Don't use the SawStop, use a Harbor Freight instead. My head hurts.
There is some logic behind that suggestion. The SawStop is designed to prevent serious injury from a tool that can take a finger off very quickly. The cuts in question are not wide, nor deep, enough to result in the injury that the SawStop is designed to prevent. Harbor Freight is the only source I know of that has a small table saw like that. The other option would be to use some form of the multi-tool oscillating saw, but I don't know of a table mounted version. I'm not real sure but what the firing of the SawStop mechanism wouldn't just snap that thin of a blades teeth off and still not stop the blade in time to prevent injury.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Could you close the cartridge gap between the 7-1/4" blade enough so the saw would start? I've been wondering this exact same question. For now i've resorted to buying pre-slotted fret boards. Not that anyone makes a 7-1/4" fret blade.
I've also been looking for a used tabletop Bosch just for this stuff. This is the only time I miss my vintage Delta saw.

[fRED mCnEILL]

My neighbor gets his saw filer to make all kinds of special blades using either existing blades or new blades. And its not very expensive. I have a couple modified for cutting aluminum in my sliding miter saw. Not really a big deal. Tell them what you want and they can do it.