Excellent! Appreciate your info!it just slides across the tablesaw. It uses a bar to ride in the miter slot to keep it square
Excellent! Appreciate your info!it just slides across the tablesaw. It uses a bar to ride in the miter slot to keep it square
But for clarity, 'kerf' is the slot created by a blade - usually referred to as at least the width of the blade or the widest part of a cut. Dependent on tooth offset of the blade. There is no blade that doesn't create a kerf. Slitting blades can have a kerf as small as .045". And may leave little or no tooth marks on the wood. High tooth count, typically used in miter saws or plywood blades also leave a smoother kerf. And there are also hollow ground blades used for smoother cuts. I have not seen a bandsaw blade with no tooth offset. And bandsaws have different gullet depths for swarf clearance. My Forrest Woodworker II combination blade leaves an exceptionally fine finish on cuts in soft and hardwoods.This comment is just from my experience and what I have learned. One key consideration for cutting planks with any machine…table saw or band saw…is the type blade being used. Most blades have a kerf on the cutting teeth…that is the teeth are pitched left and right so when the blade is cutting stock, saw dust is easily expelled from the cut. For me, the best performance for cutting thin planking strips from 1/4 inch stock (for example) is to use what is called a slitting blade. This blade has no kerf therefore slits or slices off very thin strips without losing a lot of wood to the kerf or creating kerf marks in the plank edges that need to be sanded out later. I do not know if such a blade is available for a band saw. I used a 1/8 inch narrow width band blade when I used my band saw to rip planking stick. In my experience using both machines, I find a mini table saw with a slitting blade and a rip fence produces the best planking strips for me. I have a MicroMark mini table top saw and it works great. Can you use a band saw? Yes, I would think so with the right band saw blade. Dave Stevens (Lumberyard) would have way more experience with using a band saw than I.
And slitting blades are usually small diameter blades. ie 3" - not a usual blade for a tablesaw. Thinking Proxxon saws may accompany though....Philski…way better explanation of blades, kerf and offset than mine! All I was told was to use a slitting blade with very small kerf...as I look that would be .045 or smaller. So got kerf and offset mixed up! Now I understand better as well! Thanks! Awesome!
Use push sticks or jigs for safetyRule number 1 Take a real close look at the blade every time you go to use saw. Remember how deadly it looks. Imprint that in your brain.
Number 2 Count your fingers before and after using the saw.
The current MicroMark catalog description of the blade I am using in my MicroLux mini saw is:And slitting blades are usually small diameter blades. ie 3" - not a usual blade for a tablesaw. Thinking Proxxon saws may accompany though....
I bought a Proxxon for small work as well. A full-sized tablesaw isn't always necessary.....The current MicroMark catalog description of the blade I am using in my MicroLux mini saw is:
230 Tooth Hollow Ground Saw Blade (.025 Inch Kerf, 3 Inch Dia.)
A few years ago it was also called a slitting blade with same description. Cuts my planking strips like butter…quick, smooth, easy…