7.25" blade use in a 10" saw?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Other than reduced depth of cut, is there any reason not to use a 7.25" blade in a table saw that takes a 10" blade?
I love those ~ $20.00 7.25" Freud Daiblo circ saw blades for their smoothness of cuts vs price paid.

I have quite a bit of 1/2" and under stock that I'll be cutting in the next few months.
I'd like to spare my "better blades" from the chore.

If I limit the size to 1/2", 1/4", 1/8", 5mm, etc. is there any reason not to use the Diablo?

[Larry Edgerton]

Your tooth speed will be considerably slower, and so the cut suffers a bit, but it is something I do myself on occasion. I use 7 1/4's when I know I am going to destroy a blade, and to rough rip tough stock. Its like a 25% gear reduction so the saw will claw its way through stock with less strain on the drive train.

Larry

[Dell Littlefield]

I use one for ripping whenever the smaller kerf is desirable. I have ripped hundreds of strips for canoes with one on my old Sears contractor saw. Mac McCarthy of Feather Boats fame told me he used one exclusively for ripping lumber to build canoes. He favored a blade made by Matsushita.

[Lee Schierer]

If you watch the Rockler site for just a bit more you can get a Freud 10" blade. They put them on sale every once in a while.http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/62799-md.jpg This one is normally about $42. You won't regret it as the quality of cut is exceptional. PM me and I can tell you how to get free shipping.

[Keith Westfall]

Use a thin kerf 7.25" Freud Daiblo all the time on my rigid TS. It cuts to full depth no problems.

Keep it sharp. I don't cut any hard woods in great amounts but cutting for segmented work, and other lathe stuff I have not had any issues with it.

I only put the 10 " back on to cut something the smaller one won't.

I have 2 - one is always sharp for when the other needs to be sent out...

[Kent A Bathurst]

I have a 7-1/4" 60t metal-cutting Lenox that I got to rip pewter sheets into strips for inlay.........worked great on the TS....I cut a new ZCI - mainly because of the narrow width of the strip, and the length of the ZCI kerf was so short.

[Jerome Hanby]

Would be a bit faster than many dado stacks...


Your tooth speed will be considerably slower, and so the cut suffers a bit, but it is something I do myself on occasion. I use 7 1/4's when I know I am going to destroy a blade, and to rough rip tough stock. Its like a 25% gear reduction so the saw will claw its way through stock with less strain on the drive train.

Larry

[Jerome Hanby]

What a great idea! That had to be cheaper than buying a 10" metal cutting blade.


I have a 7-1/4" 60t metal-cutting Lenox that I got to rip pewter sheets into strips for inlay.........worked great on the TS....I cut a new ZCI - mainly because of the narrow width of the strip, and the length of the ZCI kerf was so short.

[Darius Ferlas]

I also have a Ridigd and I usea 40T 7.25 Diablo quite a lot when the depth of cuts it offers is sufficient. Cuts are clean despite the decreased speed (about 20% less). I think the thinner kerf, as compared to a 10" blade, helps alleviate the speed decrease, at least to a degree.

[Kent A Bathurst]

That had to be cheaper than buying a 10" metal cutting blade.

Yeah - that was my thinking - had never done it before, haven't done it since - but expect to again, at some point.

[scott spencer]

The smaller diameter changes the attack angle of the teeth....similar to having a steeper hook angle. If all else is equal, the end results would a more aggressive cut with lower feed pressure required, and slightly more tearout at the exit of the cut.

[Harvey Pascoe]

I use one for ripping whenever the smaller kerf is desirable. I have ripped hundreds of strips for canoes with one on my old Sears contractor saw. Mac McCarthy of Feather Boats fame told me he used one exclusively for ripping lumber to build canoes. He favored a blade made by Matsushita.

I do the same, the Matsushita blade is a good one and only $17. I use those blades every day on hard and fairly thick exotics. Rips like a hot knife thru butter. In contrast, my Woodworker seems to lug. Why waste all that wood when a 1/16" kerf does better than 3/32"? Cuts aren't as smooth, of course but my jointer still works. Caveat : I don't rip anything longer than 4' so I don't know how it'd do on long boards, particularly with warpage.

[Steve Nicholson]

I've used a 6'1/2 blade at times when I making cove moulding on my table saw. I can get a tighter radius on the cove because of the smaller radius of the blade.

[Gary Pennington]

For kayak building I've ripped 19' Western Red Cedar 2X4's into 24- 3/16 x 3/4 strips using a 7 1/4" blade. Works like a charm. Very little waste of pretty expensive wood--paid about $70 for each 2X here in Maine about 4-5 years ago. Didn't have great success ripping 8' long 2" ash, got a lot of burning 2/3 thru the cut. Could have been my technique. Cut it down to 5' and it worked fine.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Thanks all!
Looks like I should be good to go.
I have a fair amount of MDF work in the near future as well as some 3/4" CDX.
Aslo - based on past experience with "blade eating" laminate flooring, I'll try it on that too.

[Peter Quinn]

Thanks all!
Looks like I should be good to go.
I have a fair amount of MDF work in the near future as well as some 3/4" CDX.
Aslo - based on past experience with "blade eating" laminate flooring, I'll try it on that too.

I was using an 8" blade from a hitachi chop box yesterday on a cabinet saw because I needed the thin kerf to make a slot for holding some metal track in place. I've used both a 7 1/4" and an 8" blade on my TS at home for different things with good success. For laminate flooring Freud has a specialized blade that may last longer and perform better if the job supports the cost.

http://www.amazon.com/Freud-D1296L-Melamine-Laminate-Flooring/dp/B0010ZFRSY