Carbide Tooth Chips - Blade worth saving?

[steve-norrell]

I was cleaning the blade the other day and noticed that five of the 80 teeth are chipped. The picture shows the tooth with the worse chip - the upper left one, closest to 3:00 o'clock. All of the four others are about the size of the other tooth shown in the picture. The blade is an Avanti TK806, thin kerf, 80T, HiATB.

Admittedly, I have used the blade to cut aluminum (twice) and use it as a general purpose blade. A new blade, of similar quality and type, is in the range of $75 to $100 here in Anchorage.

My question is whether or not it is worth (or safe) to continue using the blade, after sharpening and or carbide tip replacement. Could I safely use it in a CMS, which receives considerably less use than the BT3100?

Comments and advice, as always, very welcome. Regards, Steve.

[cgallery]

Nope, not safe. Better send it to me and I'll discard it for you.

Seriously, I wouldn't hesitate to use it after the teeth are replaced and the blade sharpened. Not at all.

[Knottscott]

I'd have it checked out and repaired, and would re-assign it's usage to more appropriate tasks. An 80T Hi-ATB grind is a highly specialized blade intended for hardwood crosscuts/plywood/veneer/melamine. It's the cleanest cutting grind available and the most vulnerable to damage....basically a poor choice for aluminum and general purpose work, but an excellent choice for it's intended task.

Fix it, and look into a new general purpose blade.

[LCHIEN]

you know, I don't think it's unsafe to use that blade as is (assuming sharpening is not required.) particluarly if the chips are real small.

It got chipped because it hit something hard. Maybe you hit a nail once and did not notice, or maybe when you did the aluminum. Anyway, the rest of the tip is not going to fly off or anything so I don't think it's unsafe to use. The balance is probably not impacted to where its noticable. a 75 tooth blade will not cut much worse than an 80-t blade, if you can't tell any difference in the cut, it might not be bad.

You can have it repaired I seem to recall 4-5 bucks per tooth.
The HiATB blades have steep, sharp bevels on the teeth, making it cut laminated material and plywood well because those sharp, pointed teeth score the edges of the cut before the material is removed from the kerf area. Those sharp, pointy teeth are also very easy to damage because they are so thin and pointy. Laying it down wrong can maybe chip teeth, it's probably the most fragile blade type.

[Uncle Hook]

Ridge Carbide and Forrest Manufacturing will replace broken teeth for about $5.00 each. They are high quality operations located in NJ.

http://www.ridgecarbidetool.com/shar...eb85fe498e45b0.

http://www.forrestblades.com/sharpprice.htm

You can do a google search on "saw blade sharpening" to find other less expensive choices that are closer to Alaska. For Example:

http://www.unitedtoolsharpening.com/prices.htm

I would be inclined to use a sharpening service recommended by other woodworkers. Ridge Carbide and Forrest will do an excellent Job. I am sure there are other good choices as well.

[steve-norrell]

Cgallery: Thanks for the generous offer, but I must decline.

Loring: Your are probably right about the chipped teeth not creating a balance problem. After all, I did not notice a problem until I took the blade out to clean it. "Plan B" will be to get the blade sharpened and use it as is.

Cgallery, Dustmight, Loring, Uncle Hook: Thanks for the input. There is a sharpening service in Anchorage, but I have not yet called to to get prices. If the Anchorage service is too pricey, I will send it off to Ridge or Forrest.

I do have a Freud F410 Fusion that I installed yesterday so there is no down-time to worry about.

Again, thanks for your help.

[Andrew Benedetto]

Buy a TCG for cutting Al, it will last. I have seen in posts that H-ATB are sensitive to damage even cutting wood.
The Fusion blade seems to get great reviews. Freud CS may help you on the damaged teeth. Post at WNF asking for Charles M, who works for Freud.
http://http://www.forums.woodnet.net...at=&Board=UBB2

[SARGE..g-47]

Evening Steve...

I would agree with Andrew about posting or just calling Charlie Mac at Freud. He monitors several forums as Andrew mentioned. I first met im years ago on KNOTS (FWW and Taunton forum) and see him at the large WW shows as IWF in Atlanta. He is very helpful as is all I have met at Freud.

I assume the Freud 1-800 would work from Anchorage. Missing teeth can be replaced and the junk blade is an OK idea if.... if.... there are no other issues as hair-line cracks that can't be seen well with the naked eye.

I would use maganification and have a closer look before you proceed. A chip of carbide missle launched at 4500 rpm can be a bit on the spooky side for those of us that got over our "invincible" act from younger years.

Regards...

[JimD]

When I finally sent my favorite Freud to Ridge (a 50 tooth with 10 sets of 4 ATB with one raker) it had some chips. Most were completely removed by sharpening - and the blade is now a fraction under 10 inches diameter. Works at least as good as new.

Heat buildup due to resin or other crud on the blade chips teeth too. Keeping the blade clean helps both avoid chipping and the quality of the cut. I use CMT's blade cleaner.

Jim