I have heard good things about these super-thin kerf table saw blades. I we had one, I would certainly use it, and the wood shop budget is not in arrears by any means. Question, can we use 12" blades on out table saws? Resawing pricey exotic woods on our bandsaws is risky. The spectacular piece of Macassar ebony I want to resaw flinched when it saw our bandsaw. This wood speaks to me, and it says please get a thin table saw blade!
http://www.totalsawsolutions.com/
I believe our Saw Stop is designed for 10" blades. I also believe the Delta is as well. I don’t think either can accomodate a 12" blade.
BTW, resawing ANY pricey wood is risky. Though the band saw, when properly adjusted and with a proper fence and technique are considered the best tools for the job.
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The bandsaw is the best tool we have for resawing. When a new blade is installed you can resaw with no issue. Any of the bandsaws will work with the proper blade installed. I bought my own blades so I know I have a sharp one when needing to resaw.
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If you’d look at the link, their 10" blade cuts to 3.25" depth, only o.25" less than their 12" blade anyway. So we could use one of their 10" blades on our table saws and it would make essentially no difference. As to the right tool for the job, I am certainly aware that resawing pricey wood is risky, and that’s why I stated it. Several master woodworkers agree with me, including the former head of the woodshop committee at DMS, that using a bandsaw to reduce kerf loss is a waste of time, as the blade wander causes the slices to require planing afterward. This is as much or even more wood loss than a standard table saw blade. And I would love to see one of my critics put one of my 1/8" bandsaw-cut veneers through the planer. Figured Macassar ebony varies randomly from very soft to extremely hard, and so the figure acts like its own fence, creating more wander than usual. I have had experience with ebony on the bandsaw and the results tell me that I may as well throw the wood away now and save time. My board did well with test cuts on one end with the table saw. I just need less kerf to reduce loss. The whole idea of DMS is to share costs with equipment everyone can use. Ask for one $200 blade for the table saw, and this is what you get. Ruin the Haas, and you get many thousands so that we can get back into production for the two corporations that use it as a production facility. I am disgusted. I am an experienced woodworker, and I cannot pay woodshops with the best equipment into resawing this wood because they know what will happen. They recommended this new blade. I guess I should use some nice gummy pine for my project instead - when it turns out cheap and ugly, I’ll tell friends I made it in high school.
I am not sure there is an issue here, is there? Just buy one, try it out, and see how it works for you…right?
Please don’t experiment with it on the Saw Stop, though; it expects a pretty specific distance between it and the emergency brake. And be aware the riving knives we have are not likely not the correct width to perform their function when using a thin kerf blade. Just some additional considerations…
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Ok, I’ll bring my own table saw too, dust collector, lights, broom, dustpan. Maybe a wide rule pad and a Big Chief pencil. Why share costs when you can just reduce them by not joining DMS.
This isn’t sharing costs, it’s buying an exotic tool for an extremely specific task.
Thin kerf blades, in my experience, don’t cut as well as full kerf blades. This wouldn’t be an issue on your personal saw, but it becomes an issue when a novice Woodshop user uses the blade incorrectly and gets a low quality cut (or worse). Thin kerf blades were originally for underpowered saws, but this may be an urban legend.
You can resaw very well on a bandsaw. Learn how.
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I am very familiar with resawing expensive woods to include Macassar ebony. The bandsaw will do it. There is no doubt my Laguna probably would do a better job with less waste. It was only my suggestion based on experience. No commercial wood suppliers use a table saw to cut thin veneers from a board. They always use a large bandsaw, usually with a power feeder. We have a drum sander that would take them to thickness after sawing. The Woodshop often does not buy niche tools unless they see a large use for them for many members. I like to do off center turning but I would not ask the space to buy an off center chuck. Instead I spent the grand on the chuck and can use it on the powermatic lathe the space provides, I look at this blade the same way. The space provides the saws and the basic tooling required. If I want a specialty blade with the teeth ground for dovetails I buy it and keep it in good condition so it ready for use every time I need it.
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John, as I re-read this thread to see how the tone got to where it did, my take is every “non-your” response was attempting to be reasonable and helpful in some way. Then there were your responses…which came off as petulant at best, at least to me. Example: what the machine shop committee does or doesn’t do with the funds the raise or are allocated isn’t anyone else’s business. Anyway, pointing to other’s bad (in your opinion) behavior shouldn’t be used to justify similar behavior elsewhere.
And given context of your responses here, you calling anyone preachy or insulting is priceless. Thanks for the big smile it gave me 
There are basically two (count 'em…1, 2) ways that the wood shop will end up with a thin kerf saw blade: 1) if someone buys one and brings it in and donates it (think “you!”, since you are, to date, the only one to publicly express a want or need); and 2) if someone makes a case to the committee chairperson, maybe at a committee member meeting, to get one (once again, think “you!)”.
Anyway, whether you take your ball and go home or don’t, this thread is a good example of how NOT to go about getting what want.
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Your telling me to buy one myself was so civil, it really set the tone, right? I will now have to forego my rent to pay for this blade purchase that, while seemingly exorbitant relative to 1200+ members’ budget restraints, is in your estimation extremely cheap for one of them. Despite the irony, you are correct, a $200 blade is cheap for me because I’m successful. But it is wasteful in light of my not owning my own rolling Festool shop-in-a-box. I could own every known tool, or I could join a cooperative where opening a dialogue about a tool is welcomed. Sorry I asked. You have all gotten personal, condescending, and insulting and only MK discussed the merits of the tool…after joining the pile on. I will now constantly inquire about this blade until it is purchased. You want to decide for DMS whether it will be purchased, let’s continue the dialogue indefinitely.
Honestly, reading your posts, I’m pleasantly surprised with how civil the responses have stayed, considering all the ambiguity and opportunities to misread intentions that come in text only forums.
I will ask, if you were a third party reading this thread, would you be impressed with the posts from this person with a forum name that appears to present themselves as a professional? Most professionals I know stick to the high road, present their case, use criticism as opportunities to ask more questions and refine their pitch. They also strive to catch the ear of the decision maker and not alienate those who may support or hinder their pitch.
I wish you luck finding a positive path to move this forward.
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A positive path is to discuss the tool in question, not ad hominem discussion about me, my approach to attacks, or talking about our feelings in a sharing, nurturing community. I don’t need everyone to like me, or to think I’m professional. I need to use tools. Back on topic please.
John, I did not mean to be condescending but see how my post did. I apologize for that. My view of the space and what it provides me as a member is different than many. I am use to having my own shop with my own tools that are not abused. As a result I look to the space to provide me the main tools I can’t have Here in Dallas. I am personally happy with bringing my own tooling so that they are always sharp and ready to go. I sell my work which affords me the opportunity to do this. I realize not everyone has the desire or opportunity to do the same.
I have found the Woodshop committee meetings to be the place for new requests like this. In the few I have been to the dialogue was always open and civil. The attending members help make the decisions on what to buy. This would be a great place to start to request the blade.
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Just to interject another point of view, at the moment, we’re broke man. Please bear in mind, we just bought a new planer that we had to kick $1200+ in to buy, we’re re-building the ducting system which has turned out to be way way more expensive than anticipated, and our class schedule, which produces most of the revenue to buy new tools, has trainwrecked while we wait for the new calendaring system to be implemented so we can schedule classes and deal with the additional burdens it imposes on us. But right now, no new money coming in.
If it were me, I’d first check to see what the maximum width blade the big delta saw can handle (currently has a 3/4" blade in it), and buy the widest re-sawing blade the saw can handle - about $35. Then I’d make a re-sawing fixture for your stock out of scrap wood. Then I would ask one of the woodshop guys to help me change out the blade and adjust it (and change it back when done). This gives you a super sharp blade, purpose designed for your task, and in the end, this will produce results better than a thin kerf blade. Wide sharp blades don’t wander much at all, and you won’t have to flip the stock and risk misalignment.
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That’s right. It was both civil and a good suggestion that I and many have chosen to follow. When I started turning pens and such,I bought/brought my own mandrel so I knew I had a good, straight tool that would always be available. @mkart has recently been teaching more lathe classes and he uses chucks instead of face plates, so, since we only have the one and I wanted a known good, working one that would always be available to me, I bought one and I bring it in with me. Matt mentioned band saw blades; he buys/brings his own so he can be sure to get the cut he wants. I know a person that comes in during the days sometimes to saw acrylic sheets to size; he brings his own high quality table saw blade specifically for plastics. Ditto for the guy who uses the Dewalt miter saw; he brings his own Forrest Chopmaster 80T because he realizes it meets his own wants/needs, not necessarily anyone else’s, and doesn’t want to have to use a blade that potentially has been misused by the general membership. @wandrson brings in a very nice hand tool kit when he want to to high quality work, which includes several nice Lie-Nielsen (or is it Lee Valley?) planes and accessories. There are many other examples of this type of behavior; some have even donated the tools, etc. after they were done with them.
So, again, yes, my suggestion that you buy your own blade for your own short term purposes was both civil and sincere – your interpretation notwithstanding – and is one I and many others have followed.
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Mk, thanks. Thoughtful. Tapper, reasonable. Others? I didn’t need to post about buying my own tools, I already know that I can buy my own tools. The original post was a link to the blade to elicit information, not to elicit knee-jerk budget denials and lesson-teaching.
Discussion of woodshop purchases during meetings is rarely successful unless discussed before meetings. Any member not within the clique will get nowhere with that. My interpretation of some of these posts is this: how dare you even ask, stupid non-woodworker. Disagree? Then re-read the following… “learn to use it”(stupid!)