Thin kerf blade on Sawstop JSS

[tomdog4]

I didn’t follow the specs listed by Sawstop, and bought the thin kerf Freud combo blade anyway (the Rockler salesperson said it would work no problem). Lo and behold, a blade 0.002 under resulted in the riving knife binding on some birch ply. Pretty disappointed because I wanted a thin kerf to lighten the load on the motor, and I don’t want to start a habit of running the saw without the knife.

Anyone have recommendations for a thin(ner) kerf blade that is over 0.093”?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ChuckM]

Could you contact SawStop to see if they have any suggestion. Their online chat agents are very knowledgeable (I think they have a technical manual next to their computers -- last time, I got an answer on a quite technical question in seconds, not in tens of minutes).

I would ask them if it's safe to grind the front part of the riving knife thinner to accept the work. (Not sure about the JSS, my PCS allows me to adjust the riving knife sideways. I set it so the knife is flush with the right side of the blade's teeth, not with the left side as given in the user manual.)

Please don't "disable" the riving knife as it's another line of defense against accidents.

Whoever told you that a thin kerf blade would work ok needs some refresher training on the product.

Edit: To lighten the load, I had two options with my PCS 1.75HP: upgrade the switch to 3HP and run a 220V circuit to the shop (for a total cost of $700 - $800 Cdn), or use a WWII rip blade (30t). I picked the latter, and have since encountered no more breaker trips.

 

[flair woodworks]

I believe that SawStop does not recommend thin-kerf blades also because the less sturdy blade won’t stop as fast (it will tend to crumple) if the brake is activated.

 

[ChuckM]

Good point. Blades should be 3/32" or 2.38mm or more in thickness. If the Freud blade is 0.093", it might still be ok subject to figuring out how to resolve the riving knife issue.

 

[mkasdin]

Call the SS tech people up on the phone or send them an email. You might want to check a different blade that is still thinnkerf, but still is wider than the RK. Look at the Freud Premier Fusion. I think I had a discussion with them about thinning down the riving knife? I believe they said it was okay. In theory you would be taking off .001+ on each side which is basically removing the paint. The mil. thickness of the paint is probably 3-5 thousands per side. I’m not sure if it’s powder coated. As far as the blade crumbling, Freud blades are good and if you activate the brake the blade is trashed. Best to call sawstop and get professional advice then to listen to me. lol

 

[JonathanJung]

That's odd, I have that same blade and it works on my Sawstop PCS with stock knife.

Look into FS Tool. Fantastic blades and I've tried them all.

 

[ChuckM]

That's odd, I have that same blade and it works on my Sawstop PCS with stock knife.

Look into FS Tool. Fantastic blades and I've tried them all.

The riving knife on the PCS and that on the JSS could be different.

 

[JimD]

SawStop offers a 2mm riving knife, I believe.  I use a thin kerf Freud blade (the 40 tooth Fusion) with the stock riving knife, I think it is 2.3mm.  The riving knife needs to be centered well on the blade for this to work.  I am pretty sure the blade my 1.75hp PCS came with was a thin kerf.  3/32 is 2.38mm so the stock riving knife is only a little thinner than the normal thin kerf blade thickness. 

 

[grbmds]

SawStop offers a 2mm riving knife, I believe.  I use a thin kerf Freud blade (the 40 tooth Fusion) with the stock riving knife, I think it is 2.3mm.  The riving knife needs to be centered well on the blade for this to work.  I am pretty sure the blade my 1.75hp PCS came with was a thin kerf.  3/32 is 2.38mm so the stock riving knife is only a little thinner than the normal thin kerf blade thickness.

I believe the 2.0 mm riving knife is not compatible with the JSS; only with another model. I have tried a thin kerf blades from Freud. They don work on the JSS. It is also correct that Sawstop doesn't recommend thin kerfs blades for any of their saws. I have used the Sawstop blade the came with the saw (and replaced that blade with another Sawstop blade when I tripped the brake). I have found that the Sawstop blades are economical and actually give excellent results. My crosscuts are smooth and require little sanding. I never use any ripped boards straight off the saw anyway; always joint them.

 

[4nthony]

I recently purchase a thin kerf blade for my PCS175 and noticed the body of the blade was .062, which is .009 thinner than the recommended range stamped on the riving knife.

My blade has a kerf of .093, which is an acceptable kerf width for SawStop so I ended up using shims to make up the difference lost with the thinner body. This moves the blade over to the right, lining it up more accurately with the riving knife.

I used shims that came with my dado stack, but any shims will work. MicroJig sells a Bladematch Arbor Shim set for setting up your blades and they also have a video for calibrating the required number of shims for each of your blades. If you're changing blades a lot, your fence scale will be slightly off with each blade change -- assuming different body widths for each blade -- but the shims will keep your cuts true with the scale.

As long as your kerf width is within the range stamped on the riving knife, you shouldn't need to get a thinner knife.


Anyway, this is an older post but I wanted to share in case anyone comes across the thread and is curious about thin kerfs and riving knives.

[cool]

 

[ChuckM]

I believe that SawStop does not recommend thin-kerf blades also because the less sturdy blade won’t stop as fast (it will tend to crumple) if the brake is activated.

As a result of Chris's reminder (and after checking with SawStop Canada again), I gave up the idea of looking for a thin-kerf blade for use with my SawStop PCS table saw. I'll try to get a WWII 20 T blade if I have lots of 2-1/2" stock or thicker to handle (I already have the WWII 30 T).

 

[4nthony]

I believe that SawStop does not recommend thin-kerf blades also because the less sturdy blade won’t stop as fast (it will tend to crumple) if the brake is activated.

As a result of Chris's reminder (and after checking with SawStop Canada again), I gave up the idea of looking for a thin-kerf blade for use with my SawStop PCS table saw. I'll try to get a WWII 20 T blade if I have lots of 2-1/2" stock or thicker to handle (I already have the WWII 30 T).

Thin kerf is fine as long as it is not thinner than 3/32" or 0.093. [member=57948]ChuckS[/member] I saw the blade in your recent post and if I remember correctly, I believe the issue was with the design of the shoulders, not that it was thin kerf. I wouldn't give up on finding a thin kerf blade. This blade may be more expensive, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. It's within the SawStop spec ranges and doesn't have shoulders like other blade. If your material is binding when using a thin kerf blade, the shim will fix that problem without having to resort to a thinner riving knife (or adjusting the position of the riving knife as Trent Davis discusses.

Anyway, I reached out to SawStop USA a few days ago and this is the response I received on 3/9/22:

And the relevant section of the document he included:

Blade specs are stamped on all riving knives:

I guess it's possible that my .062 blade body could potentially have warping issues upon brake activation but most thin kerfs are not this thin.

I don't think thin kerfs should be avoided for the 1.75HP saws. Users just need to do some calibration when switching between thin and standard kerf blades.

If I'm way out of line in these suggestions, let me know why. Thanks!

[cool]

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.

If I'm way out of line in these suggestions, let me know why. Thanks!

[cool]

I don't think you're out of line, but I work with three blades (WWII 30T, 40T & SawStop Titanium), and switch blades often (for cleaning), and so prefer a quick "straight out & straight in" process without shimming or remembering to shim or change the riving knife. I've quite often come across on YouTube people using anti-kick back design blades and other thin-kerf blades on their SawStop.

 

[4nthony]

...but I work with three blades (WWII 30T, 40T & SawStop Titanium), and switch blades often (for cleaning), and so prefer a quick "straight out & straight in" process without shimming or remembering to shim or change the riving knife.

Ah, got it.

I thought you weren't using thin kerf blades for functional reasons but it makes sense from a workflow perspective to keep things simple.

 

[grbmds]

My Freud thin kerf blades say the kerf is .091" which seems to be .001" over the minimum for the riving knife specs. However, I rarely use them because they do bind occasionally. I am completely satisfied with the Sawstop blade on my Sawstop even though there are occasions when I can't get the widths from a piece of wood because of the extra thickness of the full-kerf blade.