Shopsmith Forums

I need to cut cabinet grade plywood. My Shopsmith combo blade chips / tears out the wood. I was going to buy a high end plywood blade but was concerned since it is a 5/8" arbor. Do I need to get a blade stiffener or balancing disk to min. the blade wobble?

texomawood wrote:I need to cut cabinet grade plywood. My Shopsmith combo blade chips / tears out the wood. I was going to buy a high end plywood blade but was concerned since it is a 5/8" arbor. Do I need to get a blade stiffener or balancing disk to min. the blade wobble?

I cut a lot of plywood. A "sharp" plywood blade and quality plywood make a significant difference.

In my opinion, using plywood from the big box stores is a crap shot. Not all cabinet grade plywood is the same.

texomawood wrote:I need to cut cabinet grade plywood. My Shopsmith combo blade chips / tears out the wood. I was going to buy a high end plywood blade but was concerned since it is a 5/8" arbor. Do I need to get a blade stiffener or balancing disk to min. the blade wobble?

I use the Freud Thin Glue Line Rip Blade w-5/8 arbor and no stiffener. Runs true as can be. I don't use any 1 1/4" arbor blades anymore.


Jack

dusty wrote:I cut a lot of plywood. A "sharp" plywood blade and quality plywood make a significant difference.

In my opinion, using plywood from the big box stores is a crap shot. Not all cabinet grade plywood is the same.

Agree!
I buy MDF from either the orange or blue box store if it's for jigs or shop projects but any plywood I ALWAYS go to a building supplier. It's only a buck a sheet more, but it seems better quality.

If I happen to be at the building supplier and need MDF, then I'll buy it there, too. Plus at the supplier they load everything and do it well, which is really nice for an old fart!

Re: the plywood blade, I bought an Infinity 80 tooth a friend recommend and will buy another after this is resharpened a couple more times. Using the 5/8 arbor. It is a thin kerf but I have no thought of a wobble. Since the SS 5/8 arbor is the same collar size as the standard, I could not see how there could be any more (or less) wobble. But then I'm not a machinist nor engineer.

Another thought - when I bought some pricey cherry verneer plywood I put a stip of painter's tape on the good face and also kept good face up. That was also recommended by the shop. Not a hint to tear out. He also mentioned that some people score a line with a shop knife (never heard that before) and the really ambitious do a double cut - thin cut on the good surface and then flip and do a through cut. Seems like a whole lot of work to me, but maybe worth it to some.

Good luck.

Ben

claimdude wrote:I use the Freud Thin Glue Line Rip Blade w-5/8 arbor and no stiffener. Runs true as can be. I don't use any 1 1/4" arbor blades anymore.
Jack

+1 like/vote for the Freud Thin Glue Line rip. But, I have had better results with the Freud LU84 50-tooth combo....especially with cross grain cuts. "Sharp and clean (no pitch build-up)" is the key.
Use a feed rate/blade speed that lets the blade do its job. If you are getting rough edges, you are probably feeding too fast. Burned edges....too slow.
Check blade to table alignment and fence alignment.
+1 like/vote for buying quality ply.
Show/good face up.
Use a ZCI (Zero Clearance Insert).
Painter's/masking tape along the cut line and burnish the tape to make sure it's stuck well. I'll tape both sides of the ply if tear-out on the back side is an issue. (when pulling the tape off, angle the pull so you're pulling toward the cut edge to avoid lifting the end fibers).
Set the blade height well above the thickness of the ply so that the teeth spend less time in the kerf. ALWAYS use the blade guard!!!!!

I use the same procedures for solid wood as well. I've built several things from white ash and have wound up with all kinds of little nicks on my hands because the corners of the wood are sharp as a knife.

texomawood wrote:I need to cut cabinet grade plywood. My Shopsmith combo blade chips / tears out the wood. I was going to buy a high end plywood blade but was concerned since it is a 5/8" arbor. Do I need to get a blade stiffener or balancing disk to min. the blade wobble?

Simple and free solution - - set your combo blade so it just scores the plywood - after setting your rip fence, score the good side - raise the blade without moving your fence and flip the plywood - now make your cut.

P.S. Remember - you don't need more expensive tools to do a better job!

charlese wrote:Simple and free solution - - set your combo blade so it just scores the plywood - after setting your rip fence, score the good side - raise the blade without moving your fence and flip the plywood - now make your cut.

P.S. Remember - you don't need more expensive tools to do a better job!

Egad!!!! Then there's no hope for me!