Help ease my mind with TS issue

[Jared Cuneo]

Today I made a new aux fence for my miter gauge and faced it with some sticky 220 sandpaper. I assembled, then ran it through the saw to precut the kerfs and knock the ends off at 45 degree angles.

I thought about it and realized that I cut through the sand paper 4 times.....do you think that I dulled the blade appreciably? I couldn't see this being any worse than cutting through osage or some other silicate? hopefully....

Should I avoid doing this every 6 months or so? I would use another blade for this, but then the kerf might not be exact?

Thanks!

JC

[Andy Pratt]

None of this is scientific, but I cut sandpaper from 60-600 grit frequently with a razor knife. The edge is brittle, razor thin and probably made out of the cheapest steel available. Still, I can cut through about 100 stacked 9" sheets before it gets too dull to make a nice cut. Given that your TS blade is probably a decent grade of carbide and that you were only cutting sections of a couple inches 4x, I definitely wouldn't worry about it. I see your issue though, it just "feel" like something that's good for it. Maybe someone who knows some actual facts will chime in.

Andy

[Wade Lippman]

You could cut through sandpaper all day without it mattering. Maybe I lack imagination, but I wouldn't even have thought of it as a potential problem.

[Jared Cuneo]

Hehe, had I not paid $100 for that blade (WWII), I probably would not have either :)

JC

[Brian Kerley]

Well, you are about right when you say it's like cutting through a wood that contains silica (like teak). Silica == sand, so yeah, you're doing some damage to your blade. Four passes, I wouldn't worry about it, and you also aren't cutting through more than just a single sheet, not inches of the stuff like when you are cutting through wood. IMHO, I'd be using a cheaper blade for stuff like that, but I'm just really picky about what I send through my WWII and I've got cheaper blades for doing tasks such as these.

[Joe Chritz]

To late now. Don't worry about stuff you can't fix anyway. I wouldn't make a habit of cutting sandpaper but I doubt it can touch carbide to wear it down.

Joe

[Rick Gooden]

4 passes through sandpaper with that blade will reduce it to rubble. You might as well take it off and send it to me and I will dispose of it properly.

[Mike Cutler]

Jared

You're fine. The natural silica content of many species of wood will have more of a detriment on your blade than that sandpaper did.