Please bear with me, as I am new at this. I've lurked here for a while but have never posted before. I am making the move from home remodeling/general DIY to serious woodworking and recently replaced my Bosch benchtop table saw with a Jet cabinet saw. This is my first serious table saw, so I am still learning the specifics.
I know that many say blade stiffeners are gimicks, but I am a sucker for shiny metal things. I ordered a Forrest woodworker II blade and the 5 inch stiffeners from Lee Valley (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...080,51225&ap=2). The problem with these stiffeners is that they are a pair, so mounting them in the fashion that seems most obvious to me offsets the blade by several mm. When I look at the arbor there is what looks like a washer identical the one that goes between the blade and nut, but it seems to be fixed to the spindle (please correct any incorrect terminology). It seems to me that the lee valley stifeners should replace both this "washer" and the opposite one that sandwiches the blade, thus keeping the blade in (theoretically) the same alignment. I don't like the idea of changing the blade's alignment because if the stiffeners have to be removed for a deeper cut the zero-clearance insert is rendered useless.
My question is: Is the "washer" closest to the belt supposed to be fixed and if so what is the proper prescription for using these stiffeners?
Thanks.