Miter splines--fabricate or purchase?

[tom coleman]

I am at early stages of trying to make quality small boxes with miter splines.

I intend to make 1/8 inch walnut splines using stock purchased from Rockler however my table saw blade thickness is less than 1/8 inch and my dado cutter is exactly 1/8 inch.

Later I would like to purchase or fabricate multicolored 1/8 splines. I have not found any suppliers offering 1/16 inch material to be used in laminated splines.

Suggestions appreciated

[Chris Padilla]

You might be able to find a really cheap thinner kerf blade at the borg. Take your calipers and start measuring! Don't be afraid to look at smaller blades...as long as it takes a 5/8" arbor, it'll fit on your table saw.

[Chip Lindley]

Make your own splines to fit the saw kerf of a blade you already have available. I have used one of the gently tapered sanding discs in a 10" tablesaw to sand bandsawn veneer strips to a constant thickness. Rip splines oversize on tablesaw or bandsaw and sand to final thickness the this way. Trial and error will give you all the spline strips you need. Necessisity is the Mother of ALL Invention! Good Luck!!

[Brad Shipton]

You can find different different kerf blade thicknesses in metric or imperial dimensions. Many times they call them jointing blades. They have square tips for this exact reason. Sure, you can grind off a set if you like, but I thought I would toss this out there.

To make thin splines I would use veneer waste pieces (1/42" thick). I am sure if you ask, some of the nice veneer guys here will send you some scrap pieces. If you like it, then I would buy a couple pieces of veneer from Joe Woodworker or Certainly Wood so you can make them up in bulk. I have seen some really nice ones laminated from different wood species. Easy to make.

Brad

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

You can buy them?