Straightening a Table Saw Blade

My blade is a 10" Amana 80-tooth, thin kerf, trim blade.

For reasons I won't embarrassingly reveal, the blade now has about 25 thou runout about 1" inside the OD.

My questions:

1) Have you ever had a blade straightened?

2) Can this blade be straightened to acceptable specs?

3) If so, is it worth it? A new replacement Amana blade is around $125.

I know there are cheaper, alternative blade choices, but I'd like to stick with the setup I now have.

Thanks, Joel

Reply to
joeljcarver
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Send it to Ridge Carbide or Forrest for sharpening. I think they straighten them too.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Yes, a time or two over the past 17 years.

I'm sure that would depend on the Servives performing the repair. FWIW Forrest Manufacturing does this and probably something they do routinely. Part of their sales pitch is that their places are manufactured to within certain tolerances. I'm pretty sure that a number of their blades need some flattening during that process. Anyway now is a good time mention the benefits of a regular kerf place. I have witnessed thin kerf blades that wobble enough that you can see it but some what corrects itself when running at normal speed but not cutting. Thin kerf blades simply are more likely to not remain flat and or deflect more than regular kerf blades.

Hard to say. It is a thin kerf blade and by nature more likely to need to be flattened in the future. Forrest charges by the time involved in the flattening process. You can request that they give you an estimate and or call you before performing the repair if the cost will be over X dollars. Every time I send my Forrest blades to be resharpened I request that the blades be brought back to factory specs and to call me if the repair will be over a certain amount.

You may also consider a regular kerf blade such as a Forrest. If you are talking 10" blade you can get a new one for about the price you mentioned for the Amana.

Reply to
Leon

You must remove the zero clearance insert BEFORE you tilt the blade ... DAMHIKT.

Reply to
Swingman

so that is how they get bent

interesting

i was trying to think how a blade could be bent and it seems like it would be hard to do that from cutting unless maybe something was pushed in too fast and with too much force

Reply to
Electric Comet

Ed Pawlowski wrote in news:1mce4b9ourpqo8m0ail6c2e8m4eltglihm@

4ax.com:

1" inside the OD.

DON'T send it to Forrest! I had a similar issue with one of their blades. They had absolutely no clue how to fix the runout -- after sending it back *twice* it was still no better.

I eventually sent the same blade to Ridge Carbide and they fixed it on the first shot. I'm done with Forrest.

Reply to
Doug Miller

If by 'straightened' you mean 'whacked with a hammer to flatten it', yes. I've also used a dial gage to adjust individual teeth that got out-of-whack.

It'd be tricky on a good blade (I've only done this to cheap disposable items, which had storage-induced issues).

Reply to
whit3rd

I sent my forrest wwii to Forrest for sharpening. They straightened the plate too.

I think I paid about 45 for straightening and sharpening. Again I think. They will do all brands of blades.

Reply to
woodchucker

Kick back can damage a blade, or in my case, the antifriction pads were knocked off and the fence was no longer parallel to the blade. My son was working on it, and I think he didn't release the lock all the way or for whatever reason. But the blade got bound in the piece.

Forrest did an excellent job.. Sorry Doug M that your experience was less than that.

Reply to
woodchucker

Ditto. Not the same since the old man died.

Reply to
Swingman

This is Neal Davis on Hammering Saw Plate.

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10" blades usually don't need hammering. Big saw blades are hammered and tensioned to be floppy. This way they run straight and true at speed.

Some 10" blades can be hammered. If the blade has a lot of scroll work on it, it will add to the cost. If the blade is coated the coating will need to removed so the Hammerman (Hammersmith, Sawfiler) can accurately read the blade.

Reply to
tomwalz

Thanks ... Since, years ago, I unwisely bought my Unisaw with only a 1 ? ? HP motor. I opted to use thin kerf blades whenever possible. I use a vi bration damper and a dedicated rip blade and a dedicated trim blade.

This has worked well, and, in certain cases, I'll use a ?" kerf bla de when I need to.

I'll check that out

I do have a Forrest blade, but I decided to use rip blade for ripping and I get better results.

Also. it takes me less than a minute to change blades.

Reply to
joeljcarver

I did something much stupider than that: I neglected to tighten the nut onto the arbor. The blade spun freely and galled the inside of the hole. This caused the blade to stick to the mandrel, and I had to pry it off with much force.

Reply to
joeljcarver

FFWIW I used thin kerf on a Craftsman with just 1 hp. Then my re sharpening guy talked me into a good quality regular kerf. I never looked back. The quality regular kerf did fine but a little slower with 1 hp. But if you are happy, keep on keeping on. :-)

Reply to
Leon

I have not had a problem yet. Where are you sending your blades now?

Reply to
Leon

Woah. It will probably be less expensive to replace. That blade may never be the same again.

Reply to
Leon

Leon wrote in news:853061326.469546785.682903.lcb11211- snipped-for-privacy@news.giganews.com:

Ridge Carbide, as noted above.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Understood, but is that the one Swingman is using too?

Reply to
Leon

Leon wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Sorry, missed that, thought you were replying to me and not Swing. Never mind.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Reply to
Leon

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