Keep the thick kerf blade?

I ordered a thin kerf (3/32) WWII blade from Amazon for my fairly old (but excellent condition) contractor's saw. However, I received the thick kerf blade (1/8"). Should I bother to return it?

1/8 vs 3/32 seems like a minor difference (3%), but blade manufacturers do go to the trouble of having both types, so someone thinks the difference is significant.

Thanks

Mitch

Reply to
MB
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The difference is 25% or 33 1/3% depending on how you look at it. The thinner blade has to remove less wood and will run more smoothly through thicker and harder woods.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Just to clarify for OP, that would be either (4/32)/(3/32) --> 4/3 =

1.33 --> 33% (or, of course, if reference the thicker, it reduces to 3/4

--> -25%.

But, my real reason for posting is if you don't know why in particular you ordered it, you probably won't know the difference... :)

Assuming it's not a thin rim but full thickness, if you're planning on some thicker harder stock as Rico says, it might be worth the trouble, particularly if your saw is underpowered. OTOH, the thinner blade tends to flex a little more so there's a slight cost, perhaps, as well...

Judge on what you're expecting to do most with it and go from there...

--

Reply to
dpb

I ordered the thin kerf because the Forrest site recommended it for contractors saws. My last blade was also a think kerf blade (freud). So, I think I'll send it back to Amazon. (Thanks for the math correction)

Mitch

Reply to
MB

Depends on several factors. The most important are how powerful a motor you have in your saw, and what type of cutting you typically do. The 1/8" kerf blade requires a more powerful motor. If you do a lot of rip cuts in thick and/or hard woods, you'll probably want the thin kerf blade (I'm assuming that your contractor's saw has about a 1HP motor, no?).

If the motor is powerful enough that this isn't really a consideration, then look at what other blades you use frequently on the saw. When I upgraded from a contractor's saw to a 3HP cabinet saw, I also went from a thin kerf WWII to a standard kerf WWII -- because I also often use a melamine-cutting blade that takes a 1/8" kerf, and now I can swap blades without affecting the reading on the rip fence scale.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Since you didn't say what your main use for the saw is, it is difficult to recommend either way. Since you are getting a Forrest blade I am assuming that you are NOT going to be working with much construction grade materials and the like, and will be working with good quality woods for "finer" projects. If that is the case, then I would think that the thick blade *could* actually be a better choice.

I have a Craftsman 1 1/2 HP contractor saw and have a couple of thin kerf and several "standard" blades. My absolute favorite blade is a Forrest Customized WWII that they called a Special #1 created for cutting box/finger joints. It is a standard 1/8" kerf and has a grind that is similar to a ATB-R but not quite the same. Still, it cuts a perfectly flat bottomed 1/8" kerf. I use it for all kinds of cuts including some short rips. It does take more pressure to push the wood through when ripping, but I don't think it is dangerously so. I don't have a "standard" WWII blade to compare against so I don't know if this blade takes more pressure than a standard WWII. A sharp thick blade will cut easier than a dull thin blade too. As long as you use the same caution and safety equipment as thin blades you will be fine. What I really like about it is that all of the cuts I make with it come out baby butt smooth.

If I am wrong and you DO a lot of ripping of thick pieces, then you are in for a long day anyway. One day my son got a hair up his butt and decided to build something. We had to rip a bunch of 10 foot construction grade 2x10's (he already had them) into 2x2's. That overtaxed the saw even with a thin kerf ripping blade. We could get about a cut and a half and then the breaker would pop. We'd turn the saw off, reset the breaker, go get a drink or two (he's a health nut so it was water), and start again. It REALLY didn't help that the lighting ( and there is quite a bit of lighting for a garage) was on the same circuit as the saw either. I really need to do something about that. :-)

Wayne

Reply to
NoOne N Particular

Sat, Jun 16, 2007, 11:20am (EDT-3) snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (MB) doth query: I ordered a thin kerf (3/32) WWII blade from Amazon for my fairly old (but excellent condition) contractor's saw. However, I received the thick kerf blade (1/8"). Should I bother to return it?

1/8 vs 3/32 seems like a minor difference (3%), but blade manufacturers do go to the trouble of having both types, so someone thinks the difference is significant.

Manufacturers will make anything that will sell; look at the ricer cars for proof of that. Me, I like a 1/8" kerf, it makes measuring easier, faster, for me; but iIt's your money, your saw, your choice.

JOAT If a man does his best, what else is there?

- General George S. Patton

Reply to
J T

I would say keep the thicker kerf blade. Long ago I used thin kerf blades on a 1 hp saw. I switch to a better but not as good as Forrest regular 1/8" kerf blade and the cuts were even better. Thin kerf will not deliver as flat of cut as often as a thinker kerf blade will.

Reply to
Leon

I don't know the motor HP, but the nameplate is stamped 15 A, 115 V. Is that 1 HP?

I'm an amateur that does mostly furniture and cabinets. My last project involved about 20ftx1.5ftx3/4inch counter top of bubinga glued up from 10 inch wide boards. (came out quite nice BTW). For my current project I have some 2 inch thick walnut I'll be cutting up for some table legs. I can't imagine the walnut being harder than bubinga, but it is twice as thick. Anyway, since it handled the bubinga with a well worn thin kerf blade, I assume the saw isn't totally anemic. Changes to the fence calibration is another good point. Perhaps I'll try few test cuts and then decide.

Mitch

Reply to
MB

15a is typically a bit under 1.5hp. I use only thin kerf. They simply cut easier.

People claim that thin kerf blades are not as stable as thick and therefore don't give as smooth a cut. They must be more discerning than I am.

Frankly though, if I was going to cut 20' of bubinga I would take the time to put a rip blade on; in fact, I leave a rip blade on most of the time.

Reply to
Toller

.... In article , MB wrote: ==-----------

FWIW I have the regular 1/8" kerf WW2 on my Delta Contractor II, 1.5hp, and I'd never go back to using a thin kerf blade for general use. It is somewhat slower when ripping thick stock, but not a problem.

Reply to
Larry W

I have no experience with a thin kerf blades, but I did read somewhere that some builders of fine furniture using higher end expensive stock use thin kerf blades to minimize stock removal when cutting. At approximately 1/32" savings at a time, I'm not sure if what I read has any merit. I guess when cutting hundreds and perhaps thousands of board feet daily, the savings should eventually add up.

Reply to
Upscale

"MB" wrote

Will you existing splitter be thicker than the thin blade you ordered?

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Gorman

I've never bought the argument that a thin kerf blade would save any significant amount of stock, but it occurrs to me that in a production setting, a 25% reduction in sawdust might be significant!

Reply to
Larry W

snipped-for-privacy@sdf.lNoOnSePsAtMar.org (Larry W) wrote in news:f54uf1$hm1$ snipped-for-privacy@chessie.cirr.com:

*snip*

Taking a few minutes to do a little math: If a thin kerf blade saves you 1/32" in cutting boards, you'd have to make 32 cuts in a board to save 1". 10 cuts in a 10' board is a lot of cuts for me, but in doing so I'd save 10/32" or 5/16".

Myth busted. (This makes for good TV, doesn't it? Just run through the math... and display results. ;-) AM I MISSING AN EYEBROW?)

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

More like 30% !

Why did you buy a thin kerf blade? If that's still a good reason, then swap it. Otherwise thick is fine.

A while ago, I bought an old cast-iron cabinet saw. It had been converted from 3 phase to single phase, but unfortunately with far too small a motor. Until I had time to swap a decent motor onto it, I ran this underpowered saw on a thin kerf blade. The difference, especially for deep rips, was significant. When I got round to fitting a 3HP motor, I could use thick kerf blades instead. As they're thicker, they're nominally a bit more stable and give a better surface.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

I bought my Woodworker II blade at the St. Louis show. The Rep told me to only use a thin kerf blade on a direct drive low power saw.

Reply to
Dave

Considering that a think kerf can flex as much as 1/32 in thicker cuts I would say that any savings is a myth on a thin kerf blade.

Reply to
Leon

It was a toss up, but the web site suggested it for contractor saws and there was no price difference. Sounds like that there is no consensus in this NG (and there is a lot of data points in this NG), so my original reason was not that strong, and it's not been strengthen after this discussion. Thanks to everyone for their comments.

Mitch

Reply to
MB

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