Are there any thin kerf scoring blades?

[Joe Cascio]

I have a sliding table saw that uses a scoring blade. These blades have a conical tooth cut so that you can change the kerf by raising or lowering the scoring blade. Although the range is more than adequate for full-kerf main blades, it is too thick for thin kerf blades, which is really unfortunate since most of the blades I have for plywood, plastic and veneer are all think kerf and those are the exact applications where a scoring blade would be great.

I have looked everywhere and no one has heard of a thin kerf scoring blade. I am currently getting quotes from custom blade manufacturers, but wanted to ask here in case anyone had any knowledge as to why these blades don't seem to be generally available.

Thanks,
Joe

[David Kumm]

It is very rare to see thin kerf blades on a sliding saw. The machines are usually large and powerful and full kerf blades leave a better cut, especially when just trimming the ply edges to assure they are straight and square. I would think it cheaper to buy a full kerf main blade than have a thin kerf scoring blade made. Dave

[Mark Bolton]

Im with David. We run only full kerf on the main arbor. Anytime we have run thin kerf its a crap shoot. May be great new, may be fine for a re-sharp or two, may go south out of the first re-sharp. The mass and weight of a full kerf on the main is the main advantage of the saw for us in the first place. We do a lot of straight lining of solids on our slider and I crowd the saw hard (feed as fast as possible) and the thin kerf blades on the main arbor just cant take it. Same for ply. Sheetgoods go through about as fast as I can push them.

If you really need scoring blades for a thin kerf main (I'd be looking for a better blade for your main that maybe wouldnt need scoring) I think you'd just have to have some standard scoring blades re-ground.

Seems in the past several years scoring in general has become a thing of the past. Our scoring unit has sat below the table for years and never been used unless someone hits the wrong button.

[Jim Becker]

I have to concur that unless you get one made, it's going to be something hard to find, if at all. One of the reasons I stick with a particular blade manufacturer is that I know the blades exactly match my scoring blade's width.(I use a fixed width scoring blade rather than an adjustable, although I happen to own an adjustable that I've been trying to sell. I believe it will go a little thinner, but not to the extent that a "thin kerf" blade will be.

[James Biddle]

You can buy scoring blades in the conical type (adjusted by raising or lowering the blade), dial type (turn the dial to expand/contract the width), or a split type (using shims).