Safe to use a blade half the size on the table saw? 6mm 150mm dia grooving blade

[Rorton]

Ive been looking for a flat grooving blade for a while now to do finger joints and grooves in one pass on the table saw.

Current blade is a 254mm with 30mm hole, and I was looking at getting one of these CMT orange tool 150mm x 6mm x 30mm grooving blades.

Plan was to use direct on the bed of the table for grooves, and then on a sled to plough out material for wider grooves, lap joints etc, and also to use with a jig to make wider finger joints.

Am I Ok to use this blade for this purpose - I saw RagnBone brown on YouTube using one and there are quite cheep (£40) on amazon at the moment:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00JBJH...olid=14PF4X7YKD4M6&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Thanks

 

[pe2dave]

Risky. My issue was keeping the blade tight between cuts? I had to check it each time, after I found it moving!
I was using a dado set.

 

[Myfordman]

Check how far above the table surface your blade will protrude especially if you are going to be using a sled which will cost you even more depth of cut.
You might be better off with a say 200mm FTG blade from somewhere like Cutting Solutions via Doug who is a member here.

 

[JobandKnock]

The normal advice is that blade diameter should be no less than 60% of the size of the largest installable blade (mandatory in professional workshops in the UK). If nothing else the peripheral speed of such a small blade may be too low to give a clean cut

 

[Spectric]

For me the Woodrat is great for finger joints amongst others but I would look at other routing options rather than the TS.

 

[RichElfin]

I notice they do a slightly bigger one,that extra 30 mm could make all the difference

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CMT-Orange.../B00JBJHRP2/ref=psdc_1939162031_t3_B00JBJHMU2

 

[RichardG]

I use that blade on my TS which normally takes a 250mm blade with no issues. Make a zero clearance plate. The peripheral speed is lower but just take slow steady cuts. With a sled I have a 25mm cutting depth which is fine for my usage, your saw may be different. I’d buy the 180mm blade if buying again but there was no stock when I was buying mine.

Also consider buying from Scott and Sargeant, normally close in price and nice to support a U.K. company.

As an aside can someone explain the 60% guidance, I can’t think of any safety reasons for using a smaller blade so what am I missing?

 

[JobandKnock]

Low peripheral speed for one and saws with adjustable riving knives (I.e pretty much anything manufactured in Europe for the last 40 odd years) are only designed to accommodate this (in terms of giving knife adjustment)?

 

[Orraloon]

It is a grooving blade so I dont see the riving knife being needed as long as it is not a through cut. That said it does seem a bit small so low peripheral speed may be an issue. Normally those and dado blades are 8''.
Regards
John

 

[Rorton]

thanks all - never saw the 180mm and the extra size would help - no through cuts, just using for grooves and such like.

 

[dzj]

A 6" groover is often rated at ~6000 rpms max. A TS usually runs a bit slower, but for finger joints it should be OK.
I've used them in this way and had no problems. With a backing board, you should have nice clean cuts.
If you plan to make grooves, a cutter with some kind of scribes works better.