Greetings All,
I just added a Biesemeyer snap-in spreader to my Unisaw. I am now having problems with wood binding as it goes past the spreader. I am using thin kerf blades. Is this a problem? Do I need to use a regular kerf blade with this spreader? I have looked at the documentation and it doesn't say one way or another.
Thanks
Don
Well, you could measure the thickness of the spreader, and compare that to your blade's thickness. Tom Someday, it'll all be over....
I just installed one of these the other day. Yes, you need a full kerf blade. The splitter is too thick (as you've discovered) to work with a thin kerf blade.
I have this spreader as well and you do, indeed, need a full-kerf blade (1/8"). The good thing is that you have a Unisaw, so there is absolutely no good reason to use a thin-kerf blade with that much horsepower anyway.
Mike
If you read the instructions, you would have noted that the splitter "will not work" with thin kerf blades.
This is a direct copy from the Biesemeyer site:
" The Biesemeyer® T-Square® Anti-kickback Splitter Is designed to be used inconjuction with a basket style blade guard. The splitters are not intended to be used with a thin kerf blade. Minimum saw blade thickness is 1/8".
D Smith wrote:
Actually, I still had to file a little off so wood would feed properly but that is no big deal EXCEPT that I paid $125 amd ex[ected a liitle more for my money.
If the splitter is installed properly(no small task), you would not be required to "file" anything. The splitter is a safety device and should be installed "very carefully".
Delta offers a "similar" device but it's not the Biesemeyer. (Strangely enough,,,Delta owns Biesemeyer)
Lawrence A. Ramsey wrote:
Yep, the Bessy spreader is ONLY for regular kerf blades
John
Actually Mike, you are wrong. I understand that is "should" not require filing but it did. Ever hear of the word "micrometer" ? It reads in very small dimensions-like ten-thousandths of an inch. So I will state it again, I HAD to file a little off.
Mike is right, you shouldn't have to file the Biese spreader if you are using a full kerf blade.
In reply to your snotty comment, yes, most of us have heard of the word micrometer and we do know what ten-thousandths measurements are.
But in this case, you aren't close to having to deal with ten-thousandths of an inch between the width of the Biese spreader and a full kerf blade, because the difference in width is more like a hundredth. I've got my blade and Biese spreader in front of me right now. The Biese spreader measures .116, plus or minus half a thou. The blade (full kerf CMT general) measures .127 across the teeth, plus or minus a couple of thou. So the blade is a between 9 thousandths and 13 thousandths wider than the splitter. That's a minimum clearance around the splitter of nearly half a hundredth per side if the splitter is correctly aligned with the center of the kerf.
It's tight, but nowhere near as tight as you are saying. If your kerf isn't as wide as that .116 splitter, then you don't really have anywhere near a full kerf blade.
And let me repeat what Mike said - it's no small task getting that thing aligned properly. I spent an afternoon with a good alignment tool working at it until I got it right. It's just very difficult to get that thing bolted up so that it is perfectly aligned, because it moves easily when you're trying to bolt it in. Half a hundredth per side is not all that much, particularly when the blade is cranked up to full extension so that any tiny alignment error is greatly amplified.
And you don't need mikes for this setup; dial indicators on a good base that rides snug in the miter slot are fine. For Pete's sakes, you can bend the spreader blade back and forth 2 or 3 thousandths with your hand, you just don't need mikes for this problem.
Anyway, the point is, as Mike said, filing on the spreader is NOT the right thing to do.
Sorry, it looks like Pat Barber is the person who really said that, not Mike. Anyway, Pat is right.
Thank God... I thought I had lost my name again...
Tim Carver wrote:
Tim, what earns you a snotty remark is your ignorance. I never said that it should "NOT" require filing; it should not indeed. However, mine DID require filing and since you know so much, how is it you came into my shop when I was installing it, looked at the problem and did not notify me at that time? If you will notice in my past remarks to other questions about spreaders, I have always advocated the Bies snap-in spreader. I think it is a most wonderful invention since I USE it. The stock splitter-spreader was a joke. Doesn't change that fact that that particular one I bought was slightly oversize but arguing with you is an exercise in futility so I will quit. Please allow other people (besides myself) to have problems. You will notice that as you grow older, not everything is always as It should be.
The snotty remark I referred to was made by you in your reply to another poster. I didn't even join the thread until after you attacked his intelligence for simply telling you the truth.
Hey, I would have come over and helped you, but you forgot to call!
What nonsense. The advice you were giving was bad, and you got called on it by more than one person.
Come on Tim, you've never known more than one person to be mistaken? It's entirely possible that the spreader was slightly off size. Manufacturing tolerances sometimes get by quality control. I don't know about filing one of these, but if I found it was an irregular size, I would certainly consider altering it if it didn't appear too difficult. After all, I consider woodworking as the process of searching for perfection but never really finding it. Why in your opinion does his solution *have* to be wrong?
I have never claimed OR advised ANYONE to file a spreader. I just stated that I had to file mine. And someone who wasn't here, never saw it, never used , said that I was wrong. ?????
It would be nice if you had posted the line I was responding to:
I was responding directly to an attack. I had just posted a detailed post discussing the issue, and then I got called ignorant for my trouble.
The answer to your question about why his solution is wrong is in my first post on this thread. It was quite long and very specific, I'm not going to repeat it. If you have a question about anything I said in there, I'll be glad to answer it.
Look, the OP was having problems with his Biese spreader binding. He was looking for advice about what to do. I stand by what I said. Even if the spreader was too wide, the right thing to do wouldn't be to file the darn thing down, it would be to send it back to Biesemeyer.
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