A word about thin kerf blades

1658 Views 41 Replies 17 Participants Last post by woodnthings, 2 mo ago

DrRobert

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

So I’m looking at getting a thin kerf rip blade for my SawStop PCS. BTW $17 for the part $21.50 for FedX. And it appears SS is the only way to get it. But that’s another subject! 😳

The SS thin kerf riving knife is 2.3mm

Freud TK blades - 2.3mm. If the riving knife is actually 2.3 that seems like a tight fit. Maybe the actual knife thickness is less.

CMT TK blades - .098” which = 2.49mm ?

So apparently I can’t use CMT TK blades, unless I make my own riving knife?

I thought all TK blades were the same kerf, but obviously not. Has anyone encountered this? I’m guessing it’s an issue in other saws.

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woodnthings

· #2 · 2 mo ago

DrRobert said:
Freud TK blades - 2.3mm. If the riving knife is actually 2.3 that seems like a tight fit. Maybe the actual knife thickness is less.

CMT TK blades - .098” which = 2.49mm ?

I don't see the issue with a CMT blade since the kerf is wider than the riiving knife.
I don't think you want them exactly the same, like a Freud blade would be.

Half Fast Eddie

· #3 · 2 mo ago

2.49 mm round up to 2.5 less 2.3 mm river = 0.1 mm gap each side. Is that really a practical issue?

Reactions: 1

RIchardS

· #4 · 2 mo ago

My Forrest thin kerf is .100” and my SS splitter and riving knife are .090”. My cuts are always clean. I actually find that when using a full kerf blade there is a perception of too much clearance. Nothing major—occasionally I notice a rougher cut. Could also be blade dependent.

Jar944_2

· #5 · 2 mo ago

I prefer full kerf blades, and specifically those with the thickest plates. Thin kerf is a solution looking for a problem.

Reactions: 2

woodnthings

· #6 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

Jar944_2 said:
I prefer full kerf blades, and specifically those with the thickest plates. Thin kerf is a solution looking for a problem.

The miter saw would be where I'd want a full kerf blade to reduce the deflection when trimming off small amounts less than a kerf wide.
For ripping on the table saw. I've used a 24 T for ripping, a 40 T and currently have a 50 T general purpose as my go to blade, all thin kerfs!
My 60 T thin kerf is in the RAS where I do some but not all of my cross cuts. I use Diablo thin kerf blades, but I have other brands in full kerf.

The reason there are thin kerfs in the first place is to reduce the power required for ripping on circular and table saws.
If power is no issue like on 3 HP cabinet saws, then full kerfs may be preferred.

Rebelwork

· #7 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

I don’t waste money on thin kerf except on the 12” miter saw....

My gauges are set up for full kerf blades. Not going to add aggravation to a system that works..

DrRobert

Discussion Starter · #8 · 2 mo ago

Jar944_2 said:
Thin kerf is a solution looking for a problem.

Why? If you use stabiliers. They are handy certain times like when you’re ripping a lot of strips. Saves material.

Reactions: 3

Jim Frye

· #9 · 2 mo ago

Been using Freud thin kerf blades for over twenty years now with no issues and it appears the designers of my table saw were thinking about thin kerf blades. The splitter/riving knife is .08" thick and my Freud 80T and 24T blades measure .09" by my digital calipers. And the splitter/riving knife mount came with shims to accurately position the splitter/riving knife in relation to the saw blade.

Reactions: 1

deltap

· #10 · 2 mo ago

I tried the thin kerf blades in my corded skill saw. It is great for ripping, but a little dangerous for cross cutting. It tends to pinch and kick back much easier. There is very little wiggle room for steering the saw if the cut starts to wander.

woodnthings

· #11 · 2 mo ago

deltap said:
I tried the thin kerf blades in my corded skill saw. It is great for ripping, but a little dangerous for cross cutting. It tends to pinch and kick back much easier. There is very little wiggle room for steering the saw if the cut starts to wander.

Yes, a circular saw will be hard to "steer" so most folks use a straight edge guide to keep the saw going straight.
This thread is about a Saw Stop table saw, so no "steering" is required, it uses the fence.
The newer "thin kerf" circ saw blades are really thin! They are thinner than the TK table saw blades for less power requirements.

DrRobert

Discussion Starter · #12 · 2 mo ago

woodnthings said:
Yes, a circular saw will be hard to "steer" so most folks use a straight edge guide to keep the saw going straight.
This thread is about a Saw Stop table saw, so no "steering" is required, it uses the fence.
The newer "thin kerf" circ saw blades are really thin! They are thinner than the TK table saw blades for less power requirements.

The thinner blades do well in a circ saw, but yes, you definitely need a straight edge guide for rips and cross cuts or they wander.

Since we’ve gone off point, I’m not advocating TK blades other than specific uses as mentioned, or lower powered table saws like a compact. I noted Rob Cosman says he only uses TK blades in his table saw, which looks like a 5HP SawStop. ??

I elected to use a TK blade in my radial arm, with stabilizers it works well, much less feeding force.

Where you definitely don’t want one is a sliding miter saw, at least 10-12” models.

BigCountry79

· #13 · 2 mo ago

I used to use a high tooth count circular saw blade on my old table saw occasionally for small parts, but the 7.25" circular saw blades don't work with the sawstop. I wonder is anyone makes a really thin kerf 8" saw blade....

Tom-G

· #14 · 2 mo ago

BigCountry79 said:
I used to use a high tooth count circular saw blade on my old table saw occasionally for small parts, but the 7.25" circular saw blades don't work with the sawstop. I wonder is anyone makes a really thin kerf 8" saw blade....

Industrial Carbide does. Look for the ultra thin section around page 14 - 15.

http://www.icstc.com/pdf/popular.pdf

Reactions: 1

Rebelwork

· #15 · 2 mo ago

“Steering“is allowed, I use to free hand cut a lot on a table saw in commercial. Not all shops have sliding table saws..Ive cut a lot of angles free hand. One reason I won’t have a thin kerf on my table saw..

RIchardS

· #16 · 2 mo ago

So what would you say the optimum tooth count should be for ripping with a thin kerf 8” blade? I see Industrial Carbide has mostly high tooth counts; Freud has a 8” dia , 22 ATB that’s 3/32”.
Smaller the diameter the higher the rpm so fewer teeth provide better chip removal and thus a cooler and cleaner cut. Right? Anyone have experience with this?

DrRobert

Discussion Starter · #17 · 2 mo ago

BigCountry79 said:
I used to use a high tooth count circular saw blade on my old table saw occasionally for small parts, but the 7.25" circular saw blades don't work with the sawstop. I wonder is anyone makes a really thin kerf 8" saw blade....

I was looking too when I was doing Kumiko. IIRC the blades @Tom-G cited are expensive.

woodnthings

· #18 · 2 mo ago

Years ago the 8" blades were used on small table saws, but as the woodworking hobby grew, larger diameter blades were used in larger saws, finally landing on the 10" diameter as the industry for home shop and job site table saws.
The arbor started out as 1/2" and became standardized at 5/8"

www.yorksaw.com

What Is The Arbor of a Saw Blade? - York Saw and Knife

Click here to learn about the arbor of a saw blade. Learn what it is, common arbor sizes, types of saws that have arbors, and more!

www.yorksaw.com

Hand held circular saw blades also increased in diameter from 6" then 7 1/4" and 8 1/4" up to 10", the 7 1/4" diameter being the standard size.
My smallest circ saw is 4 1/2" ad the largest I have is 8 1/4" a Skil from the 1960's.
The smaller blades were handy for trim carpentry and battery powered saws and the 7 1/4" will cross cut even at a 45 degree angle.

Now you can get a worm drive circ saw with a 10" blade
ttps://www.amazon.com/SKILSAW-SPT99T-01-Portable-Drive-Table/dp/B087WGVRHT

OR a 36 V battery power circ saw with a 10 1/4" blade!

Not only do you need to match the diameter the arbor must match as well.

See less See more

allpurpose

· #19 · 2 mo ago

I thought about tk's, but I generate a lot of scrap cutoffs.. If all those cutoffs were super important to me it might be a different story, but they aren't so it isn't. As it stands now I am pretty good at looking at what is 1/8" and what isn't. I don't want to have to recalibrate the fence every time I switch blades..

Reactions: 1

Jim Frye

· #20 · 2 mo ago

I got started with carbide TKs when I saw some Freuds on sale at a woodworking show. They were teflon coated and had the anti-vibration slots. They worked very well and I stuck with them. I have a couple of standard kerf Freud blades, but use them for construction lumber.

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