Thread: Advice on bench saw blade

Originally Posted by peterlonz

3 teeth,

???

If your saw blade has 3 teeth it has some serious issues...

My first thought is that you need a new blade, but if the saw is only a few years old I'd check the following:

- Is your fence alignment ok? if you run strip of ply/mdf whatever you got on hand is the front/back of cut the same width?
- Are you using a splitter/riving knife? if you are, is the blade the stock blade? if not might be worth checking if your splitter/riving knife is the correct thickness
- is the timber you're cutting green? this can cause binding which makes it difficult to push
- Is your saw bogging down when you're cutting? if it is might bean issue with motor
- What have you previously cut with the saw? if you've been running reclaimed timber, cutting through nails, breaking off teeth etc its time to get a new blade.

On the other hand I am quite concerned that it can only handle 12mm sheet material if this is genuinely the case it might time to get a new saw...

Originally Posted by peterlonz

I have always held the view that he blade is too thin & the tip set insufficient.

Anyway I seem unable to increase the blade set, blade material seems too hard & elastic.

Carbide tipped blades do not have set and you should NEVER attempt to put any on them. The teeth are ground to overhang the saw plate by 0.5mm on each side.

The Irwin blades from Bunnings are decent for the price, if you want something really good you'll be paying more for the blade than you did for the saw. If you're ripping, get a blade with fewer teeth (around 24), for crosscutting you'll want to go up to 40-60 teeth. If you're working with thick hardwood (over 25mm) you will struggle and there's nothing much you can do because power will be the limiting factor, just let the saw work and don't try to force it.

Originally Posted by peterlonz

shame on Skill for not using a non corroding spring & now being unable to suggest a suitable replacement

Yes, how dare they not consider products that are probably 20+ years past their assumed lifespan. Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much.

The underlying problem, and you probably won't like this, is that a $100 saw is basically a toy for people who want to potter around and make the odd small thing here and there. If you want to work with bigger material on a regular basis, you'll need to seriously consider buying the proper equipment.

Thanks for the well considered responses.
I have learnt something here, i did not know how small the carbide tip blade overhang was intended to be.
Apologies also, although I always preview my messages I did not spot the "3 teeth issue"; meant to be 23 teeth.
I fully understand the real limitations of such a low cost saw but I felt that if my Skillsaw could do it with about 1500 watts, the GMC with 2000 should at least be somewhere near even if it needed nursing in hardwood.
BTW the blade has not been abused, the saw is used rarely & has never encountered any nails.
Regarding the riving knife & parallelism of blade & fence: checked carefully & all is as good as one can reasonably expect.
Rethinking the 12 mm limitation on sheet material - I can cut 16mm & maybe 18mm with a bit of care, the table size does present some practical limitations & with smaller size pieces I guess I could cut 20, even 22 mm.
Ripping reclaimed hardwood is the major issue, power loss is apparent after only maybe 100 mm, complicated by the fact that such material is rarely dead straight. Tidying up a ripped face cut by the Skillsaw is equally nigh impossible.

Now that damned Skillsaw spring - to hell with the concept that it's past it' use by date; I use the thing only about twice a year & it's probably done less than 50 hours work through it's life. Functions beautifully in every respect except that concerning safety! I only want a spring, they are too damned smug & won't even attempt a suggestion. I could probably modify a similar spring if one was available.
BTW I saw an add last night - 7 year guarantee on a new car (Kia I think). And I can still buy from Mitsubishi most parts for my 1991 GTO.
So someone somewhere thinks parts are an essential service long beyond 20 years.

Originally Posted by peterlonz

I fully understand the real limitations of such a low cost saw but I felt that if my Skillsaw could do it with about 1500 watts, the GMC with 2000 should at least be somewhere near even if it needed nursing in hardwood.

Don't forget that the Skilsaw is geared, not direct drive, so it has a massive torque advantage.

Big props for the GTO I've always wondered if they were unreliable because there's just sooo much gadgetry or if they go forever because they're Japanese

The GMC might be 2000 W INPUT, while the Skilsaw is 2 hp OUTPUT.

for some motors that's a very significant difference.

It sounds like you would be a lot better off with a second hand Triton Workcentre. Stick your 40 year old Skilsaw in it and you'd have a better bit of kit without spending much.
Plus, in the future, you can always upgrade that further with a new circular saw or new blades, outfeed rollers, etc.
There are always one or two being sold on gumtree. I might have to sell mine this year, if I run out of space for it.

My guess is that you'd be far better with that than spending any more on your several years old $100 GMC bench saw. Which, let's be honest, just isn't worth spending money on.