Cleaning up coves cut on the table saw...

[Michael Donahue]

Well, I cut my first cove on my table saw and it came out pretty well except it was pretty rough. I was using a thin kerf Woodworker II, figuring that a blade that works as well as it does for general cutting should do OK for the cove.

I talked to a guy at work and he blamed the roughness on my using a thin kerf blade, but then he has a thing against them I think :D I've only got a 1.5 HP Ridgid saw so that's why I've been using thin kerf blades. Do I need a higher tooth count to cut coves cleanly? Do you think the thin kerf really has enough flex to rough up the cove cuts?

I'm open to recommendations!

[John Lucas]

I do not think t hat the thin ferk made the difference. In my mind, the speed of the pass, the fixturing (holddowns) and other things have a play in the smoothness, BUT, fact is, you are going to get roughness and the question really is how to get rid of it. I athink a cuved scraper is the place to start, then sandpapera. If you have a Festool Rotex 150, that is ideal or their in-line sander with a convex sanding plate. So much depends on how much you have to clean up.

[Joe Jensen]

I haven't done the table saw coves for years. They were never smooth for me. I use a curved cabinet scraper and they clean up within a few minutes. Then I use sandpaper wrapped around a curved rubber sanding pad...joe

[Dewey Torres]

CMT makes a cove cutter for the table saw. It will significantly reduce but not eliminate these marks. If you are going to do lots of cove cutting this is a great buy for $130.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000P4JP66?smid=A3YAOEYEPE77U&tag=nextag-tools-tier5-20&linkCode=asn

[Rick Potter]

I did some for an oak kitchen I built. One thin kerf blade must have some flex when you feed it from the side like that. I used the two outside blades of my Dado set, which gave me twice the teeth, and twice the weight for the blade. It was still a bit rough, but sanded out pretty quickly.

If I may suggest..you can change the type of cove by using different size blades, like two or three skill saw blades stacked, a cove cutting set, etc. You can also make the cove more of an elipse by tilting the blade. Be sure to take off just a little at a time, and make the last pass a cleanup.

I made a simple adjustable fence for my saw, which I clamp down, with the blade always pushing the work toward the fence. Try a 43 degree angled fence with a 30 degree blade tilt. It makes a nice elipse.

Rick Potter

Rick Potter

[Lee Schierer]

I use a full kerf Freud LU97M Triple Chip Grind http://www.freudtools.com/images/detailproduct1/triple.jpg style blade. You get better reults if the blade has raker style teeth. The flat topped tooth will clean out the wood more evenly and give a smoother cut. You still will have sanding to do, but less of it. Pointed teeth will leave lots of "score" lines which will be harder to sand out.

[Steve Bagi]

An ATB blade will leave a rough finish. I use a rip blade with raker teeth and and make a very light final pass. Clean up the blade marks with a curved scraper.

[Mike Wilkins]

The blade does not matter. A cove cut will produce a rough cut, period.
Use a curved scraper, hand-held sandpaper, or sandpaper backed up with a piece of round foam (the type used to insulate pipes) to smooth the cove.
Even the guys in Finewoodworking Magazine use this method.

[Steve Bagi]

I guess we can agree to disagree. I've cut coves with a Forrest WWII (ATB) and a Freud Heavy Duty Rip and the Rip blade was MUCH smoother requiring a lot less scraping and sanding.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I use an old Craftsman molding head with the round nose cutters in it. Much smoother than with a blade. CMT cutter works on same principal.