Best power saw for cutting scales?

turbodog10

turbodog10

Joined
Aug 9, 2013
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78
I have a birthday coming up and I am in need of a saw more suitable to cutting wood and other handle materials. I have recently gotten quite a bit of wood that I need to rip thinner and cut smaller.

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All I have, at this point, is a table saw and a few hand saws. That has gotten me by but has led to some pretty frustrating situations when I want to cut exact angles- like on this piece:

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If you look really close, the spacing of the materials on that knife are less than perfect.

Is it too much to ask for a saw that makes very thin cuts (yet is still powerful enough for very hard woods), makes perfectly straight cuts, and cuts at exact and consistent angles?

What do you guys use?
 
For straight cuts, it is hard to do better than a table saw. For the scales you're putting together, with the splices, the table saw wins hands down. The trick is in improving your table saw technique. There are some fantastic websites dedicated to table saw tips and tricks. I used to make fine wood boxes and one of the main keys to versatility on the table saw was jigs and sleds.

Bob
 
A decent band saw is what you want for resawing. A table saw can be made to work, but you'll lose a lot of material to the kerf.

Whatever model you get, replace the factory blade with a quality one designed for resawing. You want to use the widest blade that will fit in your saw, with a low tooth count. Its also important that you have the saw properly adjusted to minimize blade wandering.

I use a fairly low end saw, a 10" craftsman, with a 1/2" wide x 3tpi resaw blade from timberwolf. Works beautifully for me, but I don't resaw anything wider than 2".
 
Kosa, I cant find that bandsaw for sale anywhere but in the UK. Would something like that be able to offer perfect angles and straight cuts, anyway?

Ranger, I love the idea of adapting something I already have instead of getting something new! My table saw is the first real power tool I got and it's supposedly really nice. It's an old Rigid TS2424 I got for really cheap at an estate sale. It's a 10" blade and I feel like the cut is just way too thick when I want to cut thin pieces of precious wood. Here it is:

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Do you have any tips or know of any tutorials on how to set this up for my uses? Can I get a smaller, thinner blade for this? I've found a few tutorials on making zero clearance inserts which I do really need. I would like to cut some really thin pieces of Purple Heart as liner material.
 
Table saw with a 10" or 12" blade....... and a Freud Diablo fine cut blade (60-80 teeth "Ultimate").
 
They do make a thin blade, its about 3/32, I have a carbide that cuts smooth, like bladesmith said 60-80 teeth, more the better. You will also need a jig to hold the wood and a zero clearance insert for the blade, its too difficult to push small wood between the fence and the blade.
 
I prefer a bandsaw with a fence and a 1/2" 3 TPI blade for stability to make book matched scales and rip blocks a little thinner. I then clean the both sides up with a 6 x 48" belt sander.

The Grizzly Bandsaws are a cut above HF in quality without getting into really expense pro grade stuff like Laguna bandsaws. a 14" will tackle more than most need for these two tasks and some crosscuts in knife making
 
Skip powermatic at all costs. I purchased one thinking it would be of the same quality as the ones in shop class as a kid; not even close. I've had it fail catastrophically several times and each time required a total dismantling to fix it. I paid 1k for it and have sunk about 500 in parts over 4 years to keep it running! Go with a grizzly if you can't afford a Laguna, at least then you aren't lulled into a false sense of security.
 
For the angle splices like those and even the angle on a bolster I use a disc grinder . Just set the table for whatever angle and they all come out a perfect match .
 
+1 on the Grizzly G0555 14". I bought the riser block but have never needed the extra height.

Highland Woodworking's Wood Slicer resaw blades are Great.
 
HomeBru said:
+1 on the Grizzly G0555 14". I bought the riser block but have never needed the extra height.

Highland Woodworking's Wood Slicer resaw blades are Great.
Click to expand...

I did that too,
Same Bandsaw etc.. I put the riser block which increases the throat by 5-6"? Makes the blade length into a 105"
I was going to be resawing and ripping Ironwood, Maple logs and the like into blocks for resale.

I found It made a ton of mess in an inside enclosed shop with all the saw dust etc and it took up so much time I could ether make knives of cut blocks. LOL
 
Band saw. A TS is more dangerous in general and especially ripping small, narrow stock. A band saw also cuts with less horse power, uses less floor space in the shop, and wastes less wood (about a 1/16 kerf vs about 1/8 for a TS.). They do not rip as accurately or smoothly as a table saw, but that shouldn't be an issue for what you're doing.

The 14" models I've seen suggested here are excellent. A quality blade is key to getting good cuts. Even if the factory blade is good, you'll need replacements eventually.
 
Get good at using your table saw, and save the cash for a tool you need more. If you want "book matched scales" use a table saw blade that the width of the kerf matches the thickness of the tang.(.125" thick steel=.125" Kerf, ect.)

If you need to cut small thin pieces of wood you can always do the following:

1) square up the end of a scrap piece of 2x4 using the table saw.
2) glue the wood you are cutting to the 2x4 with 5min epoxy and a clamp.
3) cut the piece(s) you need using th 2x4 as a guide.
4) last cut is to part off the "good wood" from the 2x4.

With a little planning and practice you can cut almost any shape you need.

Good luck

Jeff
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
I did that too,
Same Bandsaw etc.. I put the riser block which increases the throat by 5-6"? Makes the blade length into a 105"
I was going to be resawing and ripping Ironwood, Maple logs and the like into blocks for resale.

I found It made a ton of mess in an inside enclosed shop with all the saw dust etc and it took up so much time I could ether make knives of cut blocks. LOL
Click to expand...

Hey Rhino,

Get yourself a dust collector, it doesn't even have to be super fancy.

I cut a hole the lower right of the bottom cabinet door and installed a 4" port. Even my pitiful 1HP dust collector catches probably 75% of the dust.

The Harbor Freight DC (link below) is one of the best buys in woodworking. Whenever a WW forum puts together a Harbor Freight "gems" list, it's at the top. I just got their email flyer & it's on sale:

http://m.harborfreight.com/2-hp-ind...s1012_c3314a&utm_referrer=direct/not provided

HF also sells an accessory kit with 4" hoses, couplings, & adaptors. With 2HP to work with, you could spilt the hose with a 4" to a bottom port and a 2.5" above or just below the table. I bet that setup would catch 90+ of your dust.

If I were still doing serious woodworking (sold off all my machines except the bandsaw,) I would have upgraded to this unit by now.
 
Iwannashoot said:
Get good at using your table saw, and save the cash for a tool you need more. If you want "book matched scales" use a table saw blade that the width of the kerf matches the thickness of the tang.(.125" thick steel=.125" Kerf, ect.)

If you need to cut small thin pieces of wood you can always do the following:

1) square up the end of a scrap piece of 2x4 using the table saw.
2) glue the wood you are cutting to the 2x4 with 5min epoxy and a clamp.
3) cut the piece(s) you need using th 2x4 as a guide.
4) last cut is to part off the "good wood" from the 2x4.

With a little planning and practice you can cut almost any shape you need.

Good luck

Jeff
Click to expand...

Red flag warning a using a table saw to rip small pieces! It's dangerous!

If you must, buy or build a jig to hold the workpiece and keep your fingers well away from the blade.

The table saw excels at making long, straight rip cuts, square & mite cross cuts, & some joinery cuts like tenons & dadoes. A Bandsaw can do most if that, especially if supplemented with a router table.

If I had to pick one, I'd keep the bandsaw (which I did.)
 
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[video=youtube_share;VWP36Esx-UI]http://youtu.be/VWP36Esx-UI[/video]

This technique is accurate and safe.

Fred
 
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