Cheese
Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
- Messages
- 12,520
I'll echo what [member=761]Steve Rowe[/member] said about the manufacturer suggestions.
I purchased my 12" dewalt and used the standard blade that came with it for many years. It could be scary at times but I just figured it was the nature of the beast. After some 10 years or so, I contacted the Dewalt rep and asked what new blades he would recommend. He came back with a Delta blade having a +10 degree rake with a kerf of .142".
I installed the blade but it seemed worse than the original one I had been using. Figuring the Dewalt rep knew his stuff and it was operator error on my part, I decided to snug down the carriage bearings to prevent ease of movement. That worked for some materials, while on other materials it exacerbated the issue because you needed to pull so hard on the arm that once the blade and wood met each other you had a very hard time stopping the arm from continuous feeding.
I used the saw every now and then but eventually it became just a flat space for storage. Around 10 years ago, I decided to either fix the saw or sell the saw. I decided to call Forrest instead and they recommended a Chopmaster with a -5 degree rake and only a .115 kerf. I installed the blade, readjusted the carriage bearings and rechecked all of the other adjustments that are necessary on a RAS.
Very nice...I decided to keep the saw. Lesson learned...contact the blade manufacturer rather than the equipment manufacturer as they probably have a lot larger data base on what works and what doesn't.
I purchased my 12" dewalt and used the standard blade that came with it for many years. It could be scary at times but I just figured it was the nature of the beast. After some 10 years or so, I contacted the Dewalt rep and asked what new blades he would recommend. He came back with a Delta blade having a +10 degree rake with a kerf of .142".
I installed the blade but it seemed worse than the original one I had been using. Figuring the Dewalt rep knew his stuff and it was operator error on my part, I decided to snug down the carriage bearings to prevent ease of movement. That worked for some materials, while on other materials it exacerbated the issue because you needed to pull so hard on the arm that once the blade and wood met each other you had a very hard time stopping the arm from continuous feeding.
I used the saw every now and then but eventually it became just a flat space for storage. Around 10 years ago, I decided to either fix the saw or sell the saw. I decided to call Forrest instead and they recommended a Chopmaster with a -5 degree rake and only a .115 kerf. I installed the blade, readjusted the carriage bearings and rechecked all of the other adjustments that are necessary on a RAS.
Very nice...I decided to keep the saw. Lesson learned...contact the blade manufacturer rather than the equipment manufacturer as they probably have a lot larger data base on what works and what doesn't.
