New Forrest WWII saw blade question

[sthompson82]

I went to the Atlanta WW show Saturday and after watching the Forrest demonstration several times, I broke down and bought a WWII blade. The guy convinced me that I needed the dampener and since he was using it on his saw, I figured I might as well.

So heres my problem, i brought it home, mounted it with the dampener, and when I raised it to make the slot in a new ZCTP, the dampener made contact with the ZCTP and started burning the MDF. If I raise the blade, the dampener is above the table. I cant imagine that is how it is supposed to be. So can anyone explain what im doing wrong, or what the problem might be?

[sweensdv]

You're doing nothing wrong. Those dampers decrease the cutting depth capacity of the TS.

[sthompson82]

quote:Originally posted by sweensdv

You're doing nothing wrong. Those dampers decrease the cutting depth capacity of the TS.

Well, I'll be... I dont know if I would have bought the dampener if I had known that. I have a feeling the dampener will end up hanging on the wall next to my table saw accessories

[scorrpio]

Do you make so many cuts deeper than 2"?
With dampener, you still have over 2" of cut depth. I don't think I ever needed more than that. I suppose if you routinely cut dim. 4x4s, the dampener won't be used much. But the purpose of dampener is to reduce vibration and produce cleaner, furniture grade cuts. Not a lot of furniture stock is over 2" thick - except maybe the legs.

[sthompson82]

No, i guess i dont really make that many cuts bigger than 2". Just kind of caught me off guard i guess.

[sacherjj]

I just plan on removing the damper whenever I need the depth. But that doesn't come up very often.

[LCHIEN]

Let me ask this. Does it help any?
If not, hang it on the wall as a remonder not to buy everything the saleman recommends.

Let us know if it gets worse with the damper off. So far its been unanimous here - WWII very good. Damper, no improvement on very good.

[Knottscott]

I've never noticed an improvement with the dampener vs without it, even with a TK. Based on what I've read, the same is true of other people. It's rare to find someone who even uses it, and even more rare to find someone who claims an improvement. Blades of this caliber aren't the ones that need the dampener. The better Freuds, better DeWalts, better Oldhams, Ridge Carbide, Amana, CMT, etc. all have stiff bodies and do well on their own. It's the cheap junk that benefits the most.

[monte]

Give it a try with and without the dampener. I doubt you sill find a difference.

[scorrpio]

On a saw with a somewhat wobbly arbor, the dampener's weight helps stabilize the blade.

On a saw that keeps the blade dead steady(i.e. BT3100 ), with no runout, dampener is probably only going to offer benefits on heavy duty cutting. Of course, the caveat is that while dampener might have a noticable effect when cutting 3"+ stock, you cannot do cuts that deep with a dampener on! A lesser blade might have problems at smaller cut depth with tougher hardwoods, and a dampener will help pull it through - but WW2 is a superb blade that already reportedly has zero problems with any wood at any depth.