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rjwolfe3

rjwolfe3

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I have a Craftsman 10" Benchtop Tablesaw. I know its not the best but it was a birthday gift so I'm trying to make it work. My first question is: What blade do I get for segment work? I would like it to be thin kerf but not sure if I should use a full 10" or get one of the circular saw blades. I was told they might flex on me. Also not sure how many teeth is recommended. I'm thinking of buying a Freud or Forrest.

The other question I have is: I want to make a sled for the saw but the saw uses t-track slides. I cut runners small enough to fit down the lip but because of the design of the T-track they wobble and I'm worried that it will mess up the segments. It's hard to describe so I am hoping you all know what I am talking about. I looked at Sears to see if I could buy premade t-tracks and they don't have any. What can I use to make sure I have a stable sled?
TIA
 
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I'd need a photo to give an opinion on the runners but the saw blade is easy. Freud Diablo circular saw plywood blade. Thin kerf .063, 40 tooth.
That's what I use and I don't have any problems with flexing. Now you might if you try and cut a 2X4 but 3/4" blanks are not a problem.
One important thing to consider however is the tooth STYLE. My blade is ATB ( alternate top bevel) which means every other tooth is angled the same direction. This makes for a "W" shaped bottom of the cut. This isn't a problem most of the time but if you want to just cut part way through and it will show then get a FTG (flat top grind) blade. Hope this helps.:wink:
 
Rick

Thanks for the reply. Is a big box store the cheapest place to get that blade or do I need to get it online? I will see if I can get a pic of the runners on the saw.
Thanks
 
Lowes and HD will both have good selection of blades. I agree with the Freud Diablo. Reasonable price and very good cut. Get a carbide tipped Plywood blade with 60 teeth or more. You want a very smooth cut for segmenting. And building a sled is a must but still watch the fingers and flying chips. Small segments sometimes get thrown out and they can come at you in a hurry. Wear face protection...always!!!!
 
On the t-track, you can do a couple things.

1) make your own out of UHMD or something similar. Just cut the strip to the full width of the t-track them make two small rabbets to fit the narrowed portion. You can also make them out of a dense hardwood, but you might run into a little movement in the wood. Use your miter gauge runner as a template if you can.

2) make the track just fit inside the narrow portion, then add washers on the bottom that are ground to the width of the larger section. You'll need several washers along the length and they will need to be fairly accurately centered.

3) if it's like the old bench top saw I had, the t portion was only about an inch long with one at the front of the track and another at the end of the track. enough to be annoying but not really effective. If that's the case, you can grind them down so that the miter tracks are full width the entire length.
 
Thanks for the replies - when i get paid tomm gonna run out to HD and see what they have. Mike number 3 hit it right on the head and I think I am going to do what you said. Hopefully it wont hurt the saw by grinding those off.
 
Since this is a 10" saw should I get a 10" thin kerf blade or should I use a smaller blade?
Edit - how bout this one: Diablo Ultra Finishing Saw Blade Model D1080X?
 
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For some reason with the sled I built there is play where the 1inch tabs dug into the sides of the wood runners. I'm not as worried with the sled coming up as I am with the side to side motion throwing off my cuts. Randy, I do like that sled and may do something that with the next version I build.
 
rjwolfe3 said:
Since this is a 10" saw should I get a 10" thin kerf blade or should I use a smaller blade?
Edit - how bout this one: Diablo Ultra Finishing Saw Blade Model D1080X?
Click to expand...

You can mount a circular saw blade (7 1/4") on the saw as long as the center hole of the blade matches your saws arbor. I use a Freud Diablo circular saw on mine for some of my segmenting work. The advantages are that it is cheap, approx $15, readily available at Lowes or HD, and has a thin kerf (1/16"). The only real disadvantage is you will not be able to cut through stock as thick as you could with a 10" blade, first because the blade will not come up as high and secondly because of the thin kerf. As mentioned above this is not an issue with 3/4" pen blank stock.

I don't think you can get a 10" blade with a 1/16" kerf. Normally thin kerf on a 10" blade is 3/32" and a regular kerf is 1/8"
 
Randy, it's not the sled that's the problem. the table top has small flanges at the front and back of the slots that make it requite a t-track, but they aren't very tight and slop makes whatever you run through them wobble. The one I had (Master Mechanic Tablesaw) was so bad that the miter gauge would jam everytime I would get to the second set of tabs. Grind them off and you can use regular runners on your sled, and it got rid of the slop. It was a cheap way for the manufacture to pretend to use t-slots, but a very poor way.

That is an awesome sled though. The Tablesaw I replaced the MM with is a BT3100 and is much better even though there isn't a miter slot on it at all.
 
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