Table saw blade stabilizers

[Willemjm]

I saw a thread about this a few weeks back. As I am changing blades this minute, thought I would post up what I do for as long as I can remember.

Standard arbor and plate, then the blade, then a machined disc with o-ring in groove, then a compression flange and finally the arbor nut.

 

[junquecol]

First, buy a better blade, or clean that one. With quality blades, stabilizers aren't necessary. Also if using stabilizer, you don't need flange washer. It's good to see that an Oldham blade stabilizer makes a Forrest blade better. Can you tell I'm not a fan of Forrest blades. They are over, over rated and over priced. FYI, I will have a freshly sharpened WWII for sale at picnic, along with some other blades

 

[Willemjm]

First, buy a better blade, or clean that one. With quality blades, stabilizers aren't necessary. Also if using stabilizer, you don't need flange washer. It's good to see that an Oldham blade stabilizer makes a Forrest blade better. Can you tell I'm not a fan of Forrest blades. They are over, over rated and over priced. FYI, I will have a freshly sharpened WWII for sale at picnic, along with some other blades

My old Oldham was pretty good, lasted forever, did everything as good as it gets, until I dropped it and broke a tooth. They don’t make those any longer, I will have it fixed some day. As you know the company was sold, products now from China re-branded.

For the rest, besides agreeing that the blade will be cleaned before it goes in storage, to each his own.

I must be doing something right, have a lot of blades but only use two, have processed 1000 nds of bf and they seem to stay sharp forever.

Sometimes it is not the tool, but rather who uses it.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

I've read and heard pros and cons on using a blade stabilizer. Don't know which way is best. Some say use it only w/ thin kerf blades; others say you don't need a stabilizer; others say use it w/ all blades. I'm in the latter camp and use a 5" stabilizer on each side w/ all my blades (except dados). I don't use the compression flange.

 

[drw]

Years ago, I bought a set of stabilizers (don't remember why, I think I read somewhere that it was a good practice). I used them for a brief period, but I didn't like how the saw motor sounded, it seemed too labored. For those that do use stabilizers, what are the benefits?

 

[Willemjm]

Years ago, I bought a set of stabilizers (don't remember why, I think I read somewhere that it was a good practice). I used them for a brief period, but I didn't like how the saw motor sounded, it seemed too labored. For those that do use stabilizers, what are the benefits?

Those came with an Oldham combination blade which I purchased years ago. It was an excellent blade made in the US before the company was sold. They must have had a reason for the design and supply. I have used them ever since on all blades except dado.

For me it just makes good engineering best practice sense. If a blade is supported over a wider circular area, it will flex less good with stressed kiln dried wood. Adding mass to the center of the blade will help with vibration due to the centripetal force generated at high rpm. Adding the compression flange helps with a tiny amount of strain allowing better securing of the nut.

I kind of concur with a previous poster that there is nothing magic about Forest blades considering their price. But there is nothing wrong with them either, they do the job.

 

[Pop Golden]

I have said this before & I'm convinced. At a workshop on saw blades given by the Freud rep. He gave me a couple pieces of information that in the years I feel or true.

1: Freud feels that all table saws with under 3 hp. are under powered. That the thin kerf blade is made for use with these saws. Also thin kerf blades perform better with a stabilizer.

2: A sliding miter & radial arm saw need a minus 5 degree blade for safety. The regular hook angle leads to the blade walking forward in sort of a clime cut.

Pop

 

[McRabbet]

I have used a Forrest stabilizer with my Forrest WWII blade on my 3HP Grizzly cabinet saw for years. Blade has no vibration and cuts true. I have used the stabilizer with other blades as well with the same positive result. I like the WWII blade for most work, but switch to a ripping blade, finer tooth blade or dado blade for specific cuts.

 

[Mike Davis]

I just make stuff and don't worry about it too much.

 

[JimD]

I agree with Pop and Mikes comments the most but I don't disagree with the others. I will add my 2 cents on the difference in the stock washers. My old Ryobi BT3100 has small but nicely machined blade washers. I never used a stabilizer on it regardless of blade width and it never seemed like it needed one. My SawStop 1.75 hp PCS has MUCH beefier washers - larger in diameter and thicker - and also cuts well with no added device. I casual observation is that the SawStop seems if anything less powerful than the old Ryobi. It may just be the difference between a synchronus motor and a universal motor. But I have tripped the breaker several times with the PCS on cuts I think the Ryobi would have made without complaint. Maybe not. It also got pretty hot during one fairly long ripping session. I use full kerf blades on the PCS, I bought Infinity 50 tooth / 24 tooth combination for it and have only used that plus the stock blade so far. I may switch to thin kerf but given the size of the stock washers I am not thinking of a stabilizer.

I have not tried a Forest blade but I have been very satisfied with Freud blades over the years. I think Oldham are surprisingly good given the price, however. I am a little surprised at the Infinity/PCS performance and I need to try a different blade to see what difference that makes. I also have at least one DeWalt blade which works well - 50 tooth ATB+raker. What surprises me about the PCS + Infinity blade setup is that I think it is less capable than the old Ryobi but I know the electrical effiency is greater for a synchronus motor. So the PCS should be the more powerful one. Could just be a bad perception on my part, or it could be infinity blades require more power, or it could be the motors on 1.75 hp PCSs are not great. Still it's a nice saw and at worst usable blades.

 

[junquecol]

Not only were Oldham blades made in the US, but they were made in West Jefferson NC. Thank you Black and Decker for ruining another great line of tools! Send your blade to Dynamic Saw and have them retooth it, along with sharpening. I soured on Forrest blades, when I hit a SKU staple that was hidden in end of a piece of wood. I had already removed SKU tag and staple. Second staple was burried under first. Lost several teeth on an almost new WWII. Sent it back to Forrest for repairs, which they did, along with charging for TWO SHARPENINGS. For less than ten bucks more I could have bought a new WWII. Friend had a 100 tooth melamine blade that hit a piece of metal inside a sheet of melamine, thus loosing several teeth. Sent it to Dynamic, they replaced teeth and sharpened it for only the cost of a standard sharpening, plus cost of teeth replacement. Right now I have an Oldham blade on the saw, instead of my usual Delta 3657.

 

[Willemjm]

Not only were Oldham blades made in the US, but they were made in West Jefferson NC. Thank you Black and Decker for ruining another great line of tools! Send your blade to Dynamic Saw and have them retooth it, along with sharpening. I soured on Forrest blades, when I hit a SKU staple that was hidden in end of a piece of wood. I had already removed SKU tag and staple. Second staple was burried under first. Lost several teeth on an almost new WWII. Sent it back to Forrest for repairs, which they did, along with charging for TWO SHARPENINGS. For less than ten bucks more I could have bought a new WWII. Friend had a 100 tooth melamine blade that hit a piece of metal inside a sheet of melamine, thus loosing several teeth. Sent it to Dynamic, they replaced teeth and sharpened it for only the cost of a standard sharpening, plus cost of teeth replacement. Right now I have an Oldham blade on the saw, instead of my usual Delta 3657.

Similar experience here with a Forest cross cut. Brand new, first time I used it one tooth was actually brazed on the side of the blade. I noticed it while trying to figure out why the kerf was so wide. I phoned to return it and they said they have to look at it first before they can give an answer. Somehow I just never got to returning that blade due to the hassle.

 

[Pop Golden]

That Freud rep. did have another piece of information at that workshop. He said that Forest blades could only be sharpened by Forest. This was due to hand tensioning of the blade in the Forest shop. I really don't if this is correct. Billy Garis at Farris Belt & Saw tells me this is so much BS. That he can sharpen any blade Including Forest. That he already done so with the usual good results.

Pop

 

[Oka]

Sales Rep = more mis-information than accurate information ...... sorry, my world very few reps really understand what they are selling or repping.

I had blade stabilizers on my Dad's old Rockwell table saw but, to be honest compared to mine, I never really saw any real difference. An earlier post stated what I think is the issue, the person cutting. Most of the time, I see people trying to feed material too fast or too inconsistently or not steady against the fence. They start to heat the material and blade Bam, the cut is a mess. My 2-Cents