6" dia blade on a SawStop?

[Scott DelPorte]

I want to get an ultra thin kerf (0.023") blade for slotting fretboards on my table saw. The only blades I have seen are 6" in diameter, and I think 8" is the minimum diameter they make a brake for on the SawStop. Does anyone know a way to run a smaller blade on this machine?
Thanks
Scott

[Charles P. Wright]

I want to get an ultra thin kerf (0.023") blade for slotting fretboards on my table saw. The only blades I have seen are 6" in diameter, and I think 8" is the minimum diameter they make a brake for on the SawStop. Does anyone know a way to run a smaller blade on this machine?
Thanks
Scott
When I asked about running a 7 1/4" blade, I was told:


Our saw accommodates 8" and 10" blades, nothing smaller. Even to bypass the safety feature, you must have the proper cartridge in place, so the smallest is 8"

[J.R. Rutter]

If you are willing to disable the brake, you can fool it into thinking that the brake is aligned to the blade. Basically, screw a piece of aluminum bar to the brake cartridge that extends up near the blade. Obviously, you are doing this at your own risk. I only have one table saw and need to run a Magic Moulder head from time to time. This is the only way I could come up with to make it work short of digging into the electronics.

[Scott DelPorte]

Thanks JR. That is really helpful, and I'm aware that I'm assuming added risk here.

Since the slots are only 1/8" deep and .023" wide, and I would be using a crosscut sled, it seems acceptable to me.

[johnny means]

J.R.'s tip can be accomplished using a flexible piece of wire. Simply wrap it around the brake, then adjust it to come within proper distance to your blade.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I am afraid, very very afraid, especially when I start thinking about a piece of wire just kind of hanging out there. A chip comes flying down, hits the wire, it bumps the blade..... shudder!

[J.R. Rutter]

I used a 12 ga solid wire originally, but started to get worried about it wrapping up in the cutter.

[Frank Pratt]

If you've got mad electrical skills, you could wire in a bypass switch that temporarily lobotomizes the saw. That is, completely disconnects the electronics & just uses the contactor to control the motor. I've thought about doing this to mine because I sometimes have need of using a very thin kerf blade that is less than 8". Haven't needed it since I got the SS though.

[Ben Rivel]

If you've got mad electrical skills, you could wire in a bypass switch that temporarily lobotomizes the saw.
LOL good choice of words!

[Rick Potter]

This is just one reason I kept my Unisaw when I got the SS. I am fortunate to have room for both, and use it for dado's mostly. Amazing how often I use a dado now that I can leave it on the saw.

Haven't done it yet, but I plan to get a Freud skillsaw blade for making narrow kerf cuts to make inlay ribbon. I need to make a very narrow splitter first for safety.

[Chris Padilla]

Forrest will grind a blade of any size for you and may even have 10"/8" blade with such a thin kerf already in stock. Check out their site. It won't be quite as cheap as a piece of wire but you won't be bypassing the safety features of the saw either. :)

[Peter Rodman]

If you are willing to disable the brake, you can fool it into thinking that the brake is aligned to the blade. Basically, screw a piece of aluminum bar to the brake cartridge that extends up near the blade. Obviously, you are doing this at your own risk. I only have one table saw and need to run a Magic Moulder head from time to time. This is the only way I could come up with to make it work short of digging into the electronics.

Hello JR. I am stuck with a 6" .023" kerf blade and only a SawStop in my shop now to cut fret slots. Are you still running a SawStop with an aluminum bar screwed to it to fool the system? Could you explain in more detail how you screwed the aluminum bar to the brake? A photo would be excellent!
Thanks...
Peter

[Peter Rodman]

I asked Forrest about grinding a thin kerf blade for fret slotting on a SawStop. They do not do this, and I was referred to Super Thin Saws in Vermont.www.superthinsaws.com
Looks like an expensive proposition for a single blade, but I will hear more on Monday.

[Steve Lindsey]

Buy a cheap job site saw and do it with that.

[Jim Becker]

The blade at such a large diameter compared to the required .023" kerf for fretwork means the custom blade has to be made of thicker stock so it doesn't wobbl/deflect like a drunk goose with only the area out at the kerf slimmed down for the intended work. Depth of cut isn't usually more than about 2mm. Off the shelf circular blades for this work are often used with small "radial arm" type saws so the platter can be small.

I'm very glad to have the CNC to do this work!

[David Buchhauser]

Buy a cheap job site saw and do it with that.


Great suggestion! I was sort of thinking along those lines as well.
David

[Rod Sheridan]

This is just one reason I kept my Unisaw when I got the SS. I am fortunate to have room for both, and use it for dado's mostly. Amazing how often I use a dado now that I can leave it on the saw.

Haven't done it yet, but I plan to get a Freud skillsaw blade for making narrow kerf cuts to make inlay ribbon. I need to make a very narrow splitter first for safety.

I have a very thin kerf 6” blade I ordered for use in my shaper, if I remember correctly it’s 0.060”

It is very handy…..Rod

[Peter Rodman]

Thanks for writing back, Steve. Yes, I understand the need for thick stock. Steve England of Super Thin Saws called and said they could make such an 8" saw and estimated the cost to be $400 with an 18 week lead time. I have a CNC machine and a .023" bit intended for cutting fret slots, but I have not yet tried to set the machine up for this purpose. It probably isn't as difficult as it seems from my inexperienced view, but getting started is still daunting. Could you please give me advice on what feed rate and depth of cut per pass would be suitable to start with for such a small diameter cutter?
Thanks and best wishes,
Peter

[George Yetka]

Why not hand cut them.

For 8" blade I know they dont like going thin because they need to be able to be harmonically balanced or whatever. but for this purpose you only need the outer 1/4" to be thin. Your not trying to make a 2" deep cut

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/need-023-fret-slot-blade-not-stewmac.1379335/ found this post maybe it will help. The RAS/miter saw is used according to them.

[Rick Potter]

Off the wall probably, but couldn't you do it with a bandsaw jig? Or Scrollsaw?

[Robert Engel]

Hold on a sec.

1/32 = .03125"

What saw blade is thinner than that? 1/16 is the thinnest I've ever seen.

What's the problem buying a fret saw from StewMac?

Just how many guitars are you making?

[Warren Lake]

small blades are available in many thicknesses. KBC is one supplier in Canada. They are not going to be six inches they are small maybe three inches so if you are doing enough of this then be worth building something that does not have the limitations you get with a table saw. . Ive used them on shapers but different cut and wont work for you. Guitar builder doing volume will have a machine with blades to cut them all in one shot.


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[glenn bradley]

Buy a cheap job site saw and do it with that.


Yes, this. Make a sled for the cheap-o saw, mount your blade and go for it.

[Ron Citerone]

Buy a cheap job site saw and do it with that.

Agree completely. Maybe a specialized sled for the fret cutting too.

[Rich Engelhardt]

What about a .023 router bit?

They make one with a 1/8th inch shank.
https://bitsbits.com/product/fret-slot-cutting-cnc-bit/
I'm pretty sure that there's one for my Makita compact cordless router.
A sled would make it easy to cut frets

[Jim Becker]

I have a CNC machine and a .023" bit intended for cutting fret slots, but I have not yet tried to set the machine up for this purpose. It probably isn't as difficult as it seems from my inexperienced view, but getting started is still daunting. Could you please give me advice on what feed rate and depth of cut per pass would be suitable to start with for such a small diameter cutter?
Thanks and best wishes,
Peter

On my Camaster Stinger II, I use the Precise Bits (Tinker and Tinker) .023" 3 flute bit for fret slots. Ron from the company and I had a phone conversation and he did the math, arriving at 24 ipm at 18K RPM, 5 passes to accommodate 2mm depth of cut for each fret slot. This has worked well for me. I cut the slots after radiusing and use Vectric's feature that has the 2D slot cut toolpath follow the contour of the previous 2.5/3D radiusing toolpaths so the slots are the full 2mm deep all the way across.

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Rich, I don't believe you would be very happy trying to cut with .023" tooling in a hand-held router with a sled. You need multiple passes that would be very hard to adjust for, depth wise, and any even minor variation in motion will snap the cutter from stress. These tiny things are best left to CNC for that reason because of the level of control available.

[J.R. Rutter]

I found screws in my odds and ends fastener drawer that threaded right into a hole on the aluminum block on the brake cartridge. Then tweaked a short piece of 1/8 x 1" aluminum bar stock to terminate at the end of the arbor. If I can find it, I'll share a pic. I have a v-groove panel project later this week that needs the magic molder and will need to dig it out.

edit, found this post that shows the concept. I just replaced the wire with aluminum bar stock so that there was no way it would contact anything.

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?211485-Don-t-do-this-if-you-don-t-need-to-run-a-moulder-head-on-your-SawStop&highlight=saw+stop

[Warren Lake]

We used to use the blades Jim mentions to cut aluminum.

Here is a guy that took one of the the slitting blades I mentioned which are also for cutting aluminum though I was using them on red oak.

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[Robert London]

Good timing on a revived old thread. I have a 1 3/4 Saw Stop cabinet and had a similar question to what's available.

I emailed Total Saw Solutions and Don emailed me back just a few weeks ago. They have 8" Carbide .023 kerf in stock. Expensive at $399, but a custom blade is not going to be cheap. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but eventually will get one.