New saw blade - way overdue!

[cusimar9]

So after 9 months and a handful of woodworking projects I thought it's probably about time I treated my table saw and circular saw to new blades.

They were cheapo Ryobi units on the original Ryobi blades, so off they went and on went some new Tungsten Carbide tipped blades, £33 for both. The circular saw was also upgraded to a 40 tooth blade rather than the 20 which came off.

I was expecting an improvement but not such a dramatic one!

My table saw now cuts straight lines. Impressive, I thought. But nothing could prepare me for the difference on the circular saw.

I've been struggling with the circular saw for months, saw guides generally work OK but usually a cut would end up 1-2 mm off the line from the start to the end of the cut. It added hours to projects having to plane edges down by hand. I actually thought it was a problem with my saw guide and have recently 'made' a tracksaw design in an effort to curb this. Little did I know it was a dull blade all along.

The last straw was a couple of weeks ago trying to cut a 40mm oak kitchen worktop. Could I cut a straight line? Not a chance.

So yesterday I had a go with the new blade and OH MY GOD what a difference! Beautiful straight edges, perfectly inline with my saw guide, true the millimetre. It's as though I've just been handed some Festool tracksaw worth £800! The wonder of a new £13 blade.

Never trusting manufacturer blades again...

 

[8squared]

I know exactly how you feel, until recently I had only been doing a bit of woodwork occasionally so my blades were really old.

But now with somewhere proper I'm spending a lot of time enjoying woodwork, because of this I got some new to me wood.... beech, oak and mahogany.

As they were new to me I thought the smoke when cutting was nothing to worry about, but when I still got the smoke cutting pine my first thought was the blade but it felt really sharp...

Thought it wouldn't hurt to change it and like yourself the new blades were like magic in my eyes... only cheap blades from toolstation but I'm sure to be getting more expensive longer lasting blades on my next change.

 

[Myfordman]

Now get the old ones off to the saw doctor pronto and your will have a good as new set ready to swap in when needed.

MM

 

[beaver]

Its my experience that a decent saw blade can transform what would otherwise be a cheap piece of junk, into a perfectly useable table saw. when I brought my first table saw (Ryobi) it wasn't bad, but the blade was utter rubbish, replaced it with a freud blade and for the next couple of years it performed with very few problems.

 

[cusimar9]

Yeah what's the deal with sharpening blades then? Is saw doctor a postal service? Probably best only to re sharpen 'good' blades rather than the originals?

 

[Giff]

If they are TCT they are not expensive to sharpen…more per tooth if you have nicked or lost one. There must be loads of saw doctors in Sheffield..they started it ! The problem with the cheaper blades is that the teeth are not as deep and may only take 1 or 2 sharpenings but should still work ok.

 

[woodchip]

I use a double headed mitre saw and for the pair of 80 tooth blades I pay £30 for sharpening. They take off around 0.5mm each sharpening, so around 10 sharpening before new blades required (I use Freud blades at £90 each). I have three sets, one on, one being sharpened and one sharp set ready to go on in case of damage to the "on" set

 

[bugbear]

Sharper is better - rule to live by.

BugBear

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

well chaps I have some very good news for you. For the first time ever I tried a diamond file on my carbide tipped 60 tooth table saw blade yesterday. It was so blunt it would pretty much catch 1" oak on fire during a rip. I was all ready to send it off to a service when I saw the Trend diamond files being demo'd at the D&M tool show last Friday. I bought one and didn't really think it would perform like they promised but gave it a go anyway. I didn't even take the blade out of the saw, just marked the first tooth then used the flat side of a taper'd diamond file and did 4 strokes on each flat side of carbide. You could instantly see the metal coming off the tooth. About 10 minutes and the whole thing was done and it cuts as good as new again. That file cost £20. Really recommend them, they work very well indeed.

 

[PhilM]

There must be loads of saw doctors in Sheffield..they started it !

Here's two for starters:

http://www.atkinson-walker-saws.co.uk/

http://eastmidsaws.co.uk/

Phil

 

[John15]

Bob,
What's the Trend diamond file number you bought at the tool show?
Cheers
John

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

John

Not sure of the number but it was the 6" length one, taper'd and rounded on one side, flat on the back

 

[gwaithcoed]

Shortly after moving to Wales from the Midlands I needed a 6" circular saw blade sharpening. I had to take it to a shop in the town who then gave it to a man with a van who called every two weeks who then took it to Anglesey to be sharpened. By the time it came back and the sharpener had taken his cut, the van man his cut and the shop owner his cut the bill was £12-50. Needless to say I find it cheaper to buy new blades. Iv'e just checked and find I have 4 x 300 mil blades 2 x 230 mil and a couple of 6". I suppose when I go to visit my Daughter back in the Midlands I should take them to be sharpened but never think about it until I need a new blade


Alan.

 

[John15]

Many thanks Bob

John