Saw Blades 5/8" vs 1-1/4" arbor?

shydragon · Post by **shydragon** » Sat May 24, 2008 11:33 pm

When I was going through a box of shopsmith stuff, I found (4) blades with 1-1/4" arbor. (2) with carbide teeth and one of those being a Forest II thin kerf. And (2) with non-carbide. Apparently, I bought extra arbors for these, because I found (3) of those.

Then I found (5-6) 5/8" arbor 10" blades, two of them being brand new. Must have used them on the radial arm saw I had.

I see that you can buy a 5/8" saw blade arbor from SS. Are any of you, using 5/8" arbor blades of your SS?

Since, one of the blades is a Forest II with 1-1/4" arbor, I did a search for blades with the 1-1/4" arbor and found nothing, except for 12" blades. Where the heck does SS get theirs?

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:12 am

I assume Shopsmith gets them from the blade manufacture in volume with the hole size they want. Several quality blade makers will provide their blades with 1 1/4" hole on special request, Forrest charges $9 extra for a 1 1/4" hole.

I have all 1 1/4" holes on my blades except the dado (almost) all directly from Shopsmith.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun May 25, 2008 6:06 am

Shopsmith sells a 5/8" arbor. With a new Forrest blade in hand, the arbor would be a good purchase.

Or you can ship the blade to me. I already have an arbor.

I use both 5/8" and 1 1/4" and really don't see a difference in performance.

http://www.forrestblades.com

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Sun May 25, 2008 8:11 am

Forrest will bore the 1 1/4" arbor hole for a fee when you order a blade.

kd6vpe · Post by **kd6vpe** » Sun May 25, 2008 8:58 am

I have and use both types of arbors. I too see no difference in the way they work. I have the 1 1/4" arbor on my rip blade the the 5/8" on my plywood and crosscut blades. No real reason other that those were the blades I had and their sizes. I'm not sure yet what sizes I will buy next as I'm still trying to figure out what blades I need. Nick's sawdust session really help me understand more about blades.

shydragon · Post by **shydragon** » Sun May 25, 2008 10:08 am

The Forest blade, I have is 1-1/4" arbor. I just had 5 or 6 blades with 5/8" arbor, two of those being new. I was just wondering if there was any problem using them on the SS. From two of the replies, it seems that won't be a problem, so I'll order a 5/8" arbor from SS.

Thanks for everyones help.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun May 25, 2008 11:15 am

I would suggest that an arbor for each blade you intend to use is wise.

hardway · Post by **hardway** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:32 pm

In yesterdays Sawdust Session, I am fairly sure that Nick said that SS saw blades were made by Frued. I am not sure when in the presentation but it could have been when he talked about kerf width in making the splitter on the outfeed table.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun May 25, 2008 1:50 pm

I thought the manufacturer of Shopsmith blades changed to Amana. They used to be Freud.

solicitr · Post by **solicitr** » Fri May 30, 2008 12:21 pm

I use a 5/8" because all my existing blades are (and the 1-1/4's that came with my used SS were steel, not carbide). No problems at all. The Infinity Combo-max, in particular, cuts like buttah.