SawStop blades

[cecil dean]

Do you have to use SawStop blades or can you use other brands?

[Roger Feeley]

You can use any blades. I even use Freud blades that have been painted.

One thing you will learn is that blades vary in diameter. 10" is sort of a nominal size. It even varies within a manufacturer.

Adjusting the brake is very simple with a hex wrench. They suggest that you use a nickel between blade and brake. After losing $0.20 dropping nickels into the saw, I made a plastic spacer that I attached to a small magnet with a string. I use that as a gauge for adjusting the brake.

The earlier brakes had a problem with false fires from conductive bits like when you cut through a nail or something. I think recent brakes have plastic coating to prevent that. I talked to SawStop support and they told me to put some clear packing tape over my brakes.

[Tim Janssen]

Just make sure you use standard kerf (0.125") blades. Wood cut with thin kerf blades will likely bind on the riving knife.
Regards,

Tim

[william watts]

I have a s/s and discovered when you have your blades sharpened the diameter becomes small enough that they cannot be adjusted to the proper brake clearance. I recall 2 sharpenings is about all I can have done. The saw will still cut wood, but I have no idea if the major feature will still operate.

[Larry Frank]

My Sawstop PCS is a couple years old and I have no problems using the riving knife with either thin or full kerf blades. The riving knife is 0.083" thick.

[Prashun Patel]

You can use any full kerf blade. If u use a thin kerf then u can grind the rk

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I agree with everyone else that any blade can be used. I've used Freud blades, forrester blades as well as the stock blade from sawstop. The blades do vary in size and the clearance must be adjusted. However, my saw does come with a big yellow plastic tap in which the allen wrench is stored and it is also used to set the clearance. The tip of it is shaped like a nickel and it also has a magnet on the back side of it to attach to the side of your saw when not in use.

I also have ran full kerf and thin kerf blades with no issues or binding of the RK. I have a thin kerf 40T forrester blade for thinner stock and cross cuts and a full kerf 24T forrester ripping blade that I switch back and forth with no issues.

[cecil dean]

Thanks for the information. Picking up a used SS Pro on Wednesday. It has a couple of older SS blades with it so thought before I buy a new blade I would check. What is the quality of the SS blades as compared to Freud and Forrester?

[Shawn Pixley]

I use TK and full size blades and have found no need to grind or modify the Riving Knife.

[Wade Lippman]

I thought sure it required full kerf, but looked it up. They say not to use a kerf smaller than 2.35mm. A standard thin kerf is 2.38mm, so I was wrong!

Just checked with SS.
Teeth must not be coated, plate doesn't matter.
It usually will not trip on staples or nails unless they happen to be grounded to the table. Packing tape can be used to make it less sensitive if you expect to hit metal. Presumably it also makes it somewhat less safe.

[mreza Salav]

Some blades are 10"=254mm (or so) some are 250mm. I have used various blades (full and thin kerf)of different diameters, some are sharpened twice or more. Always have been
able to adjust the distance between the brake and the blade; sometimes I leave it a tiny bit larger than recommended.

[glenn bradley]

Saw Stop blades not required. I use a variety of full kerf blades, just confirm the gaps with the provided gauge when changing blades. On my PCS the riving knife is thinner than my TK blade so I can use my TK rip without grinding the RK. I assume this is not so on the ICS or not so for all TK blades because I read about this issue.

Just a side note regarding a comment made above; full kerf blades are not automatically .125", many are wider.

[Tim Janssen]

Just make sure you use standard kerf (0.125") blades. Wood cut with thin kerf blades will likely bind on the riving knife.
Regards,

Tim

My apologies, obviously I'm mistaken. I was sure that I read in the manual that came with my PCS not to use thin kerf blades. That was six years ago. So sure I just checked the manual. No mention of having to use standard kerf blades of course. Just that you may have to use shims to make sure that the riving knife ends up in the kerf of a thin kerf blade.

Tim

[Mike Henderson]

I bought a really thin blade - don't remember how thin but thinner than a standard thin kerf blade. I made a riving knife to fit it. However, I also talked to SawStop about it and they recommended against it because it would likely not stand up to a brake event.

I told them I understood but needed to use the blade. I only used it maybe twice, when I had to get the max resaw out of a rare wood.

Mike

[Alan Lightstone]

Mine is a couple of years old, and comes with two rising knives - one for full kerf and one for narrow kerf.

[scott spencer]

...What is the quality of the SS blades as compared to Freud and Forrester?

It depends on the particular blades, as they offer several models. Their stock blades don't look like anything special. Their best line is the "Titanium" seires and is supposedly fairly decent, but am not sure if they're on par with Freud's Premier line, Forrest, Ridge Carbide, Infinity, FS Tool, etc.

[Ben Rivel]

Thanks for the information. Picking up a used SS Pro on Wednesday. It has a couple of older SS blades with it so thought before I buy a new blade I would check. What is the quality of the SS blades as compared to Freud and Forrester?
A lot lower from what I have read. I went with all Forrest Blades for my PCS 3HP. Good service and tried and true quality. Get a Woodworker II and Dado King give them a try.