Using saw guide with different blades

[woodshopdemos]

John,
Thanks for posting, however the picture quality is poor but I can still see chipping, all those cuts with the exception of the shorter one, would not get past my quality control.
I've had a hard time getting the perfect cuts that I'm after with the plunge saw. I turn to my table saw for seamless melamine cuts, perfect cuts to me are free of chips and are razor sharp.

Mirko

John and Mirko,

I note the "shorter one" appears to not be all the way through the melamine sheet, which means the tooth position relative to the unchipped top surface was different than for the other cuts.  Someone suggested setting the saw to make a very shallow cut and climb cutting to score the melamine, then resetting to full depth to cut through the sheet.  Does that work or merely increase the risk of chipping?  I have very little experience with melamine and other laminates.

Dave R.

Dave,
  The idea of the backward, climb cut very shallow is to replicate having a scoring blade installed. I think that is a real waste of time since I think I am getting perfect cuts now. It may be my old eyes that allow me to see those cutss as chip free. If so, I will gladly accept that.

 

[Michael Kellough]

...I have a 12" table saw....and run the blade at just the right hight. You want to minimize the downward bite, at the same time keeping the blade high enough as to not blow out the top of your cut. You have to find the sweet spot.

Mirko

The larger radius of the 12" blade improves the tooth angle (less positive) so there is less shear pressure on the exit surface.

 

[Mirko]

...I have a 12" table saw....and run the blade at just the right hight. You want to minimize the downward bite, at the same time keeping the blade high enough as to not blow out the top of your cut. You have to find the sweet spot.

Mirko

The larger radius of the 12" blade improves the tooth angle (less positive) so there is less shear pressure on the exit surface.

Michael,
Good call on the improved cut with the 12" blade, I wanted to mention that but figured no one would believe me

Mirko

 

[jo041326]

I nearly don't cut melamine, but if so and I have not sharp blade, I make a shallow cut in backward direction and than full depth cut in normal direction. Always free cut.

 

[Brent b]

When I work with melamine and there is no place to hide the chipping I leave a planable amount on the cut, allow for the chipping and wick it off with the power planer or router.  Kind of a hassle but melamine was designed to be worked with the use of very large and expensive machinery.  If I've got a lot to cut I outsource.
Brent

 

[Michael Kellough]

Moving the rubber is a waste of time for me, example. I just recently set my saw up with more "toe in" I made my first test cut on 3/4 melamine, I cut through both the rubber and wood and the cut was the best i've seen in months. I had used my 18 tooth blade by mistake, I was pleasantly surprised. "Well I should put my 60 tooth in there" I thought, changed blade and cut again... Ahhh @#$% chipped melamine!

...

When I use my guide rail on melamine I cut good face down, and allow for the deteriorated guide rail rubber.
Cutting veneer and plywood is fine, this is where the system really shines, I'm used to the offset of the rubber now.

So, in a way the condition of the rubber becomes redundant, so I don't fret over it.

Mirko

"I cut through both the rubber and wood and the cut was the best i've seen in months."

So, the rubber prevented chip out even with a 18T blade.

"...put my 60 tooth in there...and cut again... Ahhh @#$% chipped melamine!"

With the narrower kerf of the 60T blade the rubber wasn't in position to prevent chipping.

"I'm used to the offset of the rubber now. So, in a way the condition of the rubber becomes redundant, so I don't fret over it."

Sure seems like you'd rather have the rubber was in the right position. It does take a few minutes to move the rubber over but it is worth it to me, but lately I've been building a large 1/12 scale set so any deviation from the correct location of a cut looks 12 times worse. I need the rubber to be exactly where the kerf will be. Also, a 1mm chip will look like a finger sized hole at scale so I need all the splinter reduction available.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

    On the blade/kerf thickness.  I just picked up a universal blade for my TS55.  The package says the kerf is 2.5mm, but the catalog says 2.2mm. Does anyone know which is correct?  This is too bad because the 2.2mm listing in the catalog is the same as the fine blade and would have matched up nicely for guide rail use.

Seth

 

[greg mann]

I would suggest making a cut and measuring the kerf. That way you will know what YOUR blade's kerf is regardless of the catalog or package. While Festool hits their stated numbers pretty well there is always a tolerance involved. This brings up another issue pertinent to this thread. When blades are resharpened the kerf gets narrower. Not a lot, but it does change. Some of us stress over .001 or .002 inch (.025 to .05mm) while others don't worry over .010". My point is that even if Festool made all their blades, 55, 75, or Kapex blades, all the same kerf, once we resharpen we need to adjust for it or we need to just accept the difference.