Shopsmith Forums

dusty wrote:I have never felt a need for a stiffener but maybe that is ignorance on my part. What adverse effects are eliminated by using a stiffener?

I used 5" blade stablizers/stiffeners on the $10 Harbor Freight 10" Carbite tip saw blades when salvaging used lumber. These HF blades would warp somewhat when they got hot but seems to cut without any wobble with the 5" blade washers.

texomawood wrote:Has anybody shifted to 5/8" arbor table saw blades? Do you use stiffeners / balancers? Any issues? I need to cut some cabinet grade plywood and the 3 blades avail from Shopsmith don't seem to cut without a lot of chip/ tear-out.

The 5/8" arbor and thin kerf blades are all I use. I've tried Forrest blades but I've been happiest with Freud. Never tried one of those stabilizers, or saw the need to. I use a ZCI nearly all the time.

If your have pw chipout issues the ZCI helps and I've scored some cuts with a utility knife before going to the SS and I've use painters tape on cut lines to minimize chip out.