To thin kerf or not

Hi,

A thin kerf “rip” blade will surely help. They remove less material and the saw will seem to have more power too. As you resaw, you may want to make multiple passes on each side of the board, then flip and repeat to get through it (raising the blade a little at a time until the blade reaches full height). At 60 teeth, your blade may be a crosscut blade and not the best for deep rips I would imagine (causing the shuddering). My thin rip blade has 24 teeth (see below).

Resawing on a tablesaw isn’t the ideal solution but it works. If you are not comfortable with a certain way you are cutting the boards then RE-THINK how you are going about it. I’ve often went to make a cut and a check in my gut said “hold on there pal…do this a safer way!”

My Freud thin kerf blade does a great job. [FREUD LU87R010] 10” Diameter x 24T FLAT Industrial Thin Kerf Rip Carbide-Tipped Saw Blade with 5/8” Arbor (.094 Kerf)
Be safe and have fun.

-- God bless! Freddo (Northern - NJ) Our Creator designed us to create - so use WOOD!

I agree with Freddo and make sure you have a sharp blade. I start low and flip over and then raise the blade. I have no trouble doing this I have a 5hp saw and the clean up is one shot through the planner. If it don’t feel right step back and think about why? Enjoy the woodworking

-- Just believe and God will take care of the rest

Thanks for your advice, guys… this morning I went for a walk to get the old bones going, and re-sawed a piece of 3/4 mahogany stepping up the depth of cut. Not only did the piece not shudder as much, but the cut was a lot cleaner and I spent much less time planing it smooth.

Went ahead and ordered a Porter Cable Razor blade (someone rated it really well and the price was right), hoping that the shudders will go aways.

-- There are three kinds of people... those who can count, and those who can't

Resawing can be tough on anything but a cabinet saw. You can mitigate some of the problems by making more shallow cuts and raise the blade gradually and as you have read keep it sharp.

-- Michael A. Brailsford

The thin kerf blade will take a lot of the stress off the blade and motor.
Don’t forget to adjust your scale to compensate for the narrower kerf.

Cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

You’ve discovered the most grievous limitation of small saws; their total lack of vibration dampening. CI [cast iron] has it in spades. A thin kerf blade is all I’d put on the Bosch as it helps with the second most grievous limitation; lack of power. A thin kerf blade doesn’t have to work as hard. Whenever you can and I mean whenever you can afford to, get yourself a cabinet saw. You will never regret it and your confidence in cuts will skyrocket. That and you’ll be able to do the heavy stuff too. I suffered with a crapsman, er uh, Craftsman contractor saw for years until I was able to procure a Powermatic 66. GEEEEEEEEZZ, what a difference 3 REAL horsepower and 600 lbs. of CI make in my work. I never look back now… except to spit.

always,
J.C.

-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein

I have the same saw. I just put a Forrest thin kerf 40T on it and it definitely helps the saw run smoother and cut easier. You have to use a stiffener so it limits the blade height.

As far as doing scary operations, I don’t recommend anyone try anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. Even if it’s a relatively safe operation if your not comfortable doing it…dont do it. A table saw has allot of potential to injure, and its not a place to be full of trepidation and doubt.

-- Women love me.....trees fear me

I have sometimes cut a kerf in each edge of a boardd and
then sawn out the waste with and bandsaw. You could do
the same thing with a hand saw. The wide kerfs keep the
blade on track and the cut goes quickly.

I use a magnetic featherboard when resawing on the table
saw. I have a cabinet saw so power is no concern but
safety still is. My fence is set dead-parallel. It’s a good idea
to attach an auxiliary fence that ends at the back of the blade.
This gives the wood some place to go as tension is released
in the cut.

-- http://amherstcabinets.com - also a marketing consultant with expertise in direct response marketing for woodworking and online businesses - http://COPYMATCH.COM

Infinity makes an awesome thin-kerf saw blade. Their router bits are first rate as well. Hope this helps.

-- Pat, Colorado

In addition to the thin kerf, use feather boards and a taller fence to stabilize the process and give yourself a better level of safety. There is no denying that a band saw and a jointer will let you cut safely with less waste, but untill then, try the taller fence and feather boards.

Tom

-- Anybody can become a woodworker, but only a Craftsman can hide his mistakes.

You guys have so many good comments… thanks.

-- There are three kinds of people... those who can count, and those who can't

Interesting feedback so far. I have been curious about this topic. This forum seems to support thin kerf. Some other forums go the other way and recommend not using thin kerf blades on anything but small benchtop saws. Their logic is that the vibration and flex in the blade are more detrimental than the reduced load of the thinner cut. I am too new at this to give much feedback and at 2hp my saw hasn’t bogged down on anything I put at it.

-- Doug, woodworking in Alabama

I think more often than not, people here will say to go full kerf if the saw can handle it, but he is doing something very specific and he has stated he is budget consious so a new table saw/bandsaw are not options. I think some people would go so far as to say just getting a WWII blade would cut so cleanly that it might even be worth going full kerf, but thats $100 as well. I wish I knew how expensive this hobby was before I got hooked. Instead I’m drawn to posts like this to work around the limitations of my wallet (-: Thanks for all the great responses guys.