Shopsmith Forums

When I purchased my 1955 SS last year, included were a number of sharp but old steel circular saw blades. I've been told by an experienced woodworker that those are dangerous and I should get rid of them and buy carbide. Was wondering what others thought?

It takes a good bit of skill and experience to get a steel blade really sharp, and a good carbide comes out of the package really sharp and stays sharp much, much longer than the steel blade will. Not sure why the steel would be less safe...I used them for years before switching to carbide...in fact I have heard that once in a while a carbide blade might throw one of the carbide teeth off while in use, which is potentially a very unsafe situation. If anyone has info on why a steel blade is less safe I would be really interested to hear it.

I grew up on steel blades. Nothing unsafe about them so long as they are sharp and in good condition. They are a bit of a pain to keep up, you need to sharpen and condition them often, a lot of work to do when you really want to just be cutting wood for your project. I'd love to have all those hours back that I spent on maintenance of steel blades....

When I grew up we didn't have money for new, or money to have someone else do the work so what we did have was the knowledge of how to do it yourself and we did.

After drooling over the new blades back in the early 1970's I finally got a carbide blade maybe about 1978 or 79 and I have never ever wanted a steel blade again. I actually have a couple of shopsmith blades that are brand new but steel and they will likely never be used by me. Perhaps they will become collectors items in another 50 years or so and worth some money to the grand kids if someone doesn't toss them out first.

Any blade can be unsafe if it damaged or dull or has some other issues but it is not limited to steel blades.

Ed

brianvw wrote:When I purchased my 1955 SS last year, included were a number of sharp but old steel circular saw blades. I've been told by an experienced woodworker that those are dangerous and I should get rid of them and buy carbide. Was wondering what others thought?

I am not sure why one would use the word dangerous. A dull blade is dangerous. Carbide stays sharp for a long time, steel does not. If you use steel blades you must sharpen them more often. Simple as that.

I agree with what everyone else said. A sharp blade is what you need, no matter if it is carbide or not. A dull blade will not perform well, carbide or not.
Use what you have on hand. If it isn't sharp, sharpen it or replace it.

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like I'll invest in some good carbide blades and turn the old ones into clocks or throwing stars or something.

I have an alternative suggestion for those steel blades that are sharp. Set them aside to be used only with work pieces that are notoriously hard on blades (plywood and MDF).

Also hard on blades is reclaimed wood. If you have ever heard the sound of hitting an embedded nail or screw with your new carbide combo, you know what I mean.

dusty wrote:I have an alternative suggestion for those steel blades that are sharp. Set them aside to be used only with work pieces that are notoriously hard on blades (plywood and MDF).

Also hard on blades is reclaimed wood. If you have ever heard the sound of hitting an embedded nail or screw with your new carbide combo, you know what I mean.

Worse than that sound is dropping your dado stack on the concrete floor. Did that the other day after disassembling it. Got lucky.

I still have several steel blades that are sharp and do occasionally use them. Are they even still sold? It used to be that carbide tipped blades were priced out of my reach. Seem pretty cheap now (except for the very high end blades).

ChrisNeilan wrote:

dusty wrote:
Worse than that sound is dropping your dado stack on the concrete floor. Did that the other day after disassembling it. Got lucky.

That hurts to just think about and I didn't even hear it drop.

After drooling over the new blades back in the early 1970's I finally got a carbide blade maybe about 1978 or 79 and I have never ever wanted a steel blade again.canamsteelbuilding