old saw blades

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eagspoo
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old saw blades

Post by eagspoo »

The old 500 I'm restoring came with 19 blades of various sizes and types. Most had some rust on them but they seem to have cleaned up pretty nicely (two still have arbors rusted to them I can't get off, will soak in evapo-rust later which worked on a couple others).

I'm pretty new to wood working so I have a few questions I'd love advice on:

* are these blades I should keep? Or are they likely to work just fine if they aren't bent and are sharp?
* why the smaller blades?
* how many blades of different types do people feel they need to have a solid set for different purposes?
* are these blades worth sharpening? A guy around here quoted $25-$35 each but I'm honestly not sure if they even need sharpening.

Thanks!
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jsburger
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Re: old saw blades

Post by jsburger »

First, they all appear to be non carbide tipped blades. As such if they have been used for years they all probably need sharpening. Carbide is the only way to go today. If you just sharpened 4 of the best blades at $35 each you could buy a 40 tooth Forrest Woodworker II. It is a general purpose blade but works fine for 90% of what you need to cut, rip or cross cut. I use that blade almost 100% of the time in my shop.

https://www.forrestblades.com/woodworke ... able-saws/

They stay sharp for a LONG time and Forrest has a sharpening service that is reasonably priced and has a fast turn around time and they return the blade to factory specs.

There are other good blades out there including Shopsmith carbide blades. Just chuck the non carbide and go 100% carbide. JMHO :)
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RFGuy
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Re: old saw blades

Post by RFGuy »

I second the Forrest Woodworker II recommendation and tossing the blades you have. Forrest makes excellent sawblades. They are not cheap (~ $150 or so), but you can cut with one for a long, long time before it needs sharpening. They have a 40 tooth combo blade which should work well for most of what you may want to cut. If you do a lot of ripping of thick stock then they have a 30 tooth blade as well as a 70 tooth blade for plywood/veneers. Key thing is to regularly clean your blades. I use the sawblade cleaning kit from Rockler (link below). A dirty blade can seem like a dull blade, so it is definitely worth your time to clean them.

https://www.rockler.com/router-bit-and- ... eaning-kit
Last edited by RFGuy on Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
📶RF Guy

Mark V 520 (Bought New '98) | 4" jointer | 6" beltsander | 12" planer | bandsaw | router table | speed reducer | univ. tool rest
Porter Cable 12" Compound Miter Saw | Rikon 8" Low Speed Bench Grinder w/CBN wheels | Jessem Clear-Cut TS™ Stock Guides
Festool (Emerald): DF 500 Q | RO 150 FEQ | OF 1400 EQ | TS 55 REQ | CT 26 E
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garys
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Re: old saw blades

Post by garys »

Save the arbors, but I would scrap the blades. It costs more to sharpen an old blade than it costs to buy a new carbide blade. In this day and age, carbide blades are very cheap and they perform better than non-carbide blades. I consider saw blades a consumable product. Replace when needed. Right now I have 4 or 5 new in package carbide blades I picked up for almost nothing, but probably will never wear out the one I'm using daily so might not ever use the new ones I have.
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chapmanruss
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Re: old saw blades

Post by chapmanruss »

I agree with what the others have said. Get a good quality Carbide Blade. Below is the best use I have for a non-carbide blade.

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Saw Blade Clock.jpg
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Russ

Mark V completely upgraded to Mark 7
Mark V 520
All SPT's & 2 Power Stations
Model 10ER S/N R64000 first one I restored on bench w/ metal ends & retractable casters.
Has Speed Changer, 4E Jointer, Jig Saw with lamp, a complete set of original accessories & much more.
Model 10E's S/N's 1076 & 1077 oldest ones I have restored. Mark 2 S/N 85959 restored. Others to be restored.
eagspoo
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Re: old saw blades

Post by eagspoo »

This one? https://www.forrestblades.com/woodworke ... -40-teeth/

Again, rookie question, if I'm going to buy one nice blade initially, does 10" seem like a nice versatile size for this table? The old batch I have includes several 7" also. Are those particularly more or less useful in some situations?

Thanks again!
RFGuy
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Re: old saw blades

Post by RFGuy »

The 7" blades are probably 7-1/4" blades intended for a portable circular saw. You could use them on your Shopsmith but the depth of cut will be shallow, so probably better to stick with 10" blades for it unless you are talking about a dado blade for it. Yeah, that blade is what I have from Forrest, but you have to decide what bore size you want. For those Shopsmith arbors that you have, are they 5/8" or 1-1/4" bore size? Forrest will do custom bore sizes and offers the special 1-1/4" bore size that Shopsmith has used in the past. Honestly, there really isn't much difference between the 5/8" versus 1-1/4" bore size so if you have a Shopsmith arbor that supports the 5/8" bore size then go with it...then your blade can be used on other tablesaws besides the Shopsmith.
📶RF Guy

Mark V 520 (Bought New '98) | 4" jointer | 6" beltsander | 12" planer | bandsaw | router table | speed reducer | univ. tool rest
Porter Cable 12" Compound Miter Saw | Rikon 8" Low Speed Bench Grinder w/CBN wheels | Jessem Clear-Cut TS™ Stock Guides
Festool (Emerald): DF 500 Q | RO 150 FEQ | OF 1400 EQ | TS 55 REQ | CT 26 E
DC3300 | Shopvac w/ClearVue CV06 Mini Cyclone | JDS AirTech 2000 | Sundstrom PAPR | Dylos DC1100 Pro particulate monitor
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chapmanruss
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Re: old saw blades

Post by chapmanruss »

RFGuy has kinda touched on it so here is a little history of saw blades for the Shopsmith tools.

The Shopsmith Model 10E introduced in 1947 used an 8" Saw Blade which by the way had a 1/2" arbor hole that later changed to a 5/8" arbor hole. With the introduction of the Mark 5 in 1954 we saw a 9" saw blade with the 1-1/4" arbor hole. About the time the Mark VII was introduced in the 1960's so was the 10" Saw Blade for Shopsmiths. Something to note is the early optional Mark 5 Saw Blade Guard system was made for a 9" blade. The Mark VII lower blade guard was made for the 10" blade and a similar lower 10" guard was later made for the Mark 5. Also as the saw blade sizes increased so did the HP of standard motors used.

Many of the Shopsmith I have bought to restore have come with different size saw blade ranging from 7-1/4" up through 10". I have even had a couple of the smaller trim saw blades mixed in. The blades just seem to collect together although they are for use on different saws.

In your very first sentence you started with
The old 500 I'm restoring
With that I am assuming you have an 80's or later Mark V which is designed to use a 10" Saw Blade. Find a blade you would like to try that is designed for the type of cutting you expect to do the most.

For my Mark V's I use the Shopsmith blades I have which work well for my type of cutting for projects. I have other brands of blades that have been used over the years with my 10" Craftsman RAS, Table Saw and Miter Saw. On my Model 10ER I mostly use an 8" Diablo blade. My son used one of my Model 10's with the 8" Diablo blade to cut engineered wood flooring to size when installing it throughout his home recently which worked well for him. I used my Mark V and a Shopsmith blade to do the same a few years ago. Both blades stood up to the cutting of the engineered wood flooring and I continue to use them. Just last week I used the same 10" Shopsmith blade to cut cedar for planters. Still nice clean cuts.
Russ

Mark V completely upgraded to Mark 7
Mark V 520
All SPT's & 2 Power Stations
Model 10ER S/N R64000 first one I restored on bench w/ metal ends & retractable casters.
Has Speed Changer, 4E Jointer, Jig Saw with lamp, a complete set of original accessories & much more.
Model 10E's S/N's 1076 & 1077 oldest ones I have restored. Mark 2 S/N 85959 restored. Others to be restored.
StevenAyres
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Re: old saw blades

Post by StevenAyres »

My sharpening service charges 5-10 bucks (depends on tooth count) to do a non-carbide blade. I keep the old 1-1/4"-arbor Magna non-carbide blades on hand for standard work, whether 9" or 10" in diameter, for their smaller kerf and correct fit to the V and VII systems.
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chapmanruss
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Re: old saw blades

Post by chapmanruss »

StevenAyres,

Since in my little saw blade history above I have the 10" saw blades coming out about the same time as the Mark VII was introduced I wanted to clarify the following. In another thread "Shorter Arbors" you commented about the fit of a 10" Blade in the Mark VII Lower Blade Guard not fitting well in the quote below.
The original VII guard won't take a 10" blade, at least not comfortably.
Since I do not have that Lower Guard P/N 505705 or a Mark VII that you do I wanted to ask -

Does a 10" saw blade actually fit in it on the correct SS 1-1/4" arbor and the same for the correct SS 5/8" arbor?

My reference for the 10" saw blades becoming available was the February 1964 accessory catalog. They were not available yet in the November 1962 accessory catalog.
Russ

Mark V completely upgraded to Mark 7
Mark V 520
All SPT's & 2 Power Stations
Model 10ER S/N R64000 first one I restored on bench w/ metal ends & retractable casters.
Has Speed Changer, 4E Jointer, Jig Saw with lamp, a complete set of original accessories & much more.
Model 10E's S/N's 1076 & 1077 oldest ones I have restored. Mark 2 S/N 85959 restored. Others to be restored.
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