Create a review for a woodworking tool that you are familiar with (Shopsmith brand or Non-Shopsmith) or just post your opinion on a specific tool. Head to head comparisons welcome too.
pennview wrote:You have a couple of choices from Forrest who make a blade capable of making a near flat kerf where every fifth tooth is a raker set at .010" below the ATB teeth. You need to order a Woodworker II with a #6 grind. They also make one that makes a perfectly flat bottom kerf, the Woodworker II with a #1 grind.
Forrest also sells a Woodworker II blade with the 1 1/4" hole that costs about $20 more than the conventional blade.
Thanks for the info, Art. Any idea what trade-offs there are in going with the #6 or #1 versus the standard (at least I assumed it was standard) grind that has no raker?
Al
Gale's Law: The bigger the woodworking project, the less the mistakes show in any photo taken far enough away to show the entire project!
I've not seen the #6 grind, but I'd expect that it would perform similarly to the standard Woodworker II blade because it is quite similar in design except for the raker teeth. The #1 grind is meant for finger/box joints, for cutting slots for feathers/keys, or skinny dados, so it's meant to only cut partially through the wood and it provided a very clean cut from what I recall seeing years ago from a guy making the woodworking show circuit. He sold a plastic jig that allowed you to make perfect 1/8" finger joints for box corners. I bought one of the jigs, but never bought the Forrest blade.
I have several blades that cut flat bottom kerfs. One is a Freud 10" 60 tooth thin kerf blade with a flat grind that I use for cutting slots for feathers/keys in box corners, but the writing on the blade is worn off so I'm not sure what the model number is. I believe the blade is out of production. I also have a Vermont American 7 1/4" ultra thin flat grind blade that was called a Lightening blade, but that too is out of production.
Slitting/slotting saw blades used on a milling machine for sawing slots in metal will make square-bottomed slots as well, but you'd need a special arbor to mount them. And, since they're usually small in diameter, cutting slots with them on a Shopsmith requires an unconventional set-up.
mrhart wrote:I hope it would be a good all around blade, mine is in Colorado headed this way. The blades I aquired have all had some use. I splurged and had to get at least one new blade, so based on that review and the e-mail, I ordered one.
My new SS Crosscut 60 tooth blade arrived this week and I got to make a couple test cuts with it. Wow, you dont realize what you're used to until you mount up a new one! I need to spend some time with it, lots of things planned the new few weeks. I'll post one more "after" review.
These old ones are just not as exciting as they could be. A couple new blades would make real good Secret Sant gifts (and I do mean SECRET). It would be real hard to justify new blades with all the blades I have hanging around the shop.
But how will I ever know if I don't try out the new Shopsmith blade.
"Making Sawdust Safely" Dusty
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and I got to make a couple test cuts with it. Wow, you dont realize what you're used to until you mount up a new one! I need to spend some time with it, lots of things planned the new few weeks. I'll post one more "after" review.
