Would an 8" blade make sense?

[cgallery]

I use a number of different blades, from a low-end Diablo to the Freud blade that came on the BT3K to a WWII.

They are all 10" thin-kerf blades. I've never cut more than about 1.5" thick stock, and an 8" blade should give me about 2.5" maximum cutting depth.

It would seem to me that I'd get more torque w/ an 8" blade, and less flex. I think I do get some flex with 10" TK blades under certain circumbstances.

Any thoughts?

[Slik Geek]

For several years I used an 7-1/4 inch, Freud Diablo (DO724A) blade on my BT3000. I liked it for several reasons:

1) The blades were considerably cheaper
2) The thinner kerf seemed to generate less saw dust
3) It made the saw seem more powerful
4) I rarely had to revert to a 10" blade for deeper cutting
5) Lacking a band saw, I was able to use it for resawing narrow stock. The 1/16" kerf wasted less wood. On wider stock, I cut a kerf on both sides of the stock and used a home made frame saw with a 1" wide band saw blade to finish the resawing. The narrow kerf resulted in a smoother end result, requiring less cleanup. (The table saw kerf width was closer to the frame saw kerf width).

You are probably wondering why I don't still use the 7-1/4" blades normally...
I purchased a Shark Guard and the dust collection that it provides was most excellent. The riving knife on the Shark Guard is wider than the kerf of the 7-1/4" blade so it wasn't compatible. Maybe someday I'll come up with a thinner, hardened version of the riving knife for the Shark Guard so I can continue to use 7-1/4" blades.

[linear]

Great feedback, SG. I may try this out myself, I like out-of-the-box thinking...

[cgallery]

Oh, I didn't think about the riving knife. I have an older aluminum knive that I purchased from a user here or at the Ryobi site probably five or six years ago. I don't know if it was an early Shark knife or what.

I suppose an 8" knife could be made, though. I still think an 8" blade would provide a little more "umph."

[Pappy]

The thinner kerf give you some advantage but youare actually losing speed at the cut. The farther from center, the faster the teeth are moving.

that said, I have a 7 1/4" Frued TK-303 that stays on the BT most of the time.

[Stytooner]

You could make a RK for an 8" blade fairly easy. Just shorten the height and match the curve of the blade by adding about an inch to the front. For the hardened steel as material, pick up a cheapo 7 1/4" blade from somewhere like HF and cut it up. It should be big enough. The center arbor hole shouldn't present any problems.

[Slik Geek]

The thinner kerf gives you some advantage but you are actually losing speed at the cut. The farther from center, the faster the teeth are moving.

Pappy: You make an interesting point, one that I hadn't considered. But isn't it the DEPTH of the cut that is most significant, rather than the SPEED of the cut? Given two blades of similar construction and an identical number of teeth, differing only in diameter, both blades would remove the same thickness shaving, if my noggin is working correctly. (Assuming identical feedrates, etc.)

Thinner shaving = smoother cut, right? (theoretically, anyway). That's why folks choose a higher tooth count blade for smoother cuts.

A faster cut may not necessarily result in a higher quality result, as router use demonstrates, right? Slower blade speed may result in lower noise levels too.

I'm thinking that a smaller diameter blade may suffer from less "wobble" due to vibration because the teeth are closer to the arbor. I know that I was pleased with my 7-1/4" blade's cutting results.

[Slik Geek]

You could make a RK for an 8" blade fairly easy. Just shorten the height and match the curve of the blade by adding about an inch to the front. For the hardened steel as material, pick up a cheapo 7 1/4" blade from somewhere like HF and cut it up. It should be big enough. The center arbor hole shouldn't present any problems.

Interesting idea for raw material. But what would you suggest one use to cut the hardened steel?

[Stytooner]

This is what I make the pawls for sharks out of. I cut these with a slow bimetal bandsaw specifically for metal. I have cut them with a jigsaw and metal cutting blade. Just keep the speed low. It'll work.