Thread: 10 inch blade in a 9 1/4 inch power saw?

I have a Triton circ saw perm mounted in the slide so I will give serious consideration to a 10" blade when I have to renew it.

At the last generic site induction for QLD coal workers I saw a picture of a dead bloke on his back with a 1/3 of a cutoff wheel lodged in his chest, cut through ribs into the old ticker. I don't trust them too much and yes it was a bad comparison of a fibre disc to a steel disc with welded cutters. Sorry...

I'm not up there with blade manufactures but when I need to I will seek advice from the group.. Reinventing the wheel all the time takes heaps of energy

Cheers Geoff

Originally Posted by toddles

You'll find it oft said in the Triton threads that the downside to the height winder kit is losing depth of cut, if there is a simple safe way of maximising depth of cut why wouldn't I want to try it?

You only lose about 3mm of cutting depth when fitting the Height Winder Kit, have you lowered the blade to max in the saw when it is turned up the right way?

Do you know how to do this?

Using the micro adjuster on the saw itself, wind it to its maximum depth. By dong this you will get the maximum depth of cut using the Saw/Height Winder Kit.

Hi Toddles,
I may be overly cautious but this sounds like a big risk for a few mm. A potential problem might be the reduced clearence. The saw blade may fit in the housing but the clearence allows for chunks of timber (not saw dust) that eventually will make their way into the housing. If the fit is too neat and the timber piece is able to deflect the blade enough to bite into the housing it may just shave some extra clearence inside the housing or it might bite in fully and at the very least strip some carbide teeth into the saw dust or at worst self destruct with damaged housings and a bent shaft.
Hint: If you do decide to proceed get some one you really dont like very much to make the first test cuts.
Regards
labrat.

Originally Posted by labrat

Hi Toddles,
I may be overly cautious but this sounds like a big risk for a few mm. A potential problem might be the reduced clearence. The saw blade may fit in the housing but the clearence allows for chunks of timber (not saw dust) that eventually will make their way into the housing. If the fit is too neat and the timber piece is able to deflect the blade enough to bite into the housing it may just shave some extra clearence inside the housing or it might bite in fully and at the very least strip some carbide teeth into the saw dust or at worst self destruct with damaged housings and a bent shaft.
Hint: If you do decide to proceed get some one you really dont like very much to make the first test cuts.
Regards
labrat.

This is something I hadn't thought of before, and is a valid comment...

Originally Posted by labrat

Hi Toddles,
I may be overly cautious but this sounds like a big risk for a few mm. A potential problem might be the reduced clearence. The saw blade may fit in the housing but the clearence allows for chunks of timber (not saw dust) that eventually will make their way into the housing. If the fit is too neat and the timber piece is able to deflect the blade enough to bite into the housing it may just shave some extra clearence inside the housing or it might bite in fully and at the very least strip some carbide teeth into the saw dust or at worst self destruct with damaged housings and a bent shaft.
Hint: If you do decide to proceed get some one you really dont like very much to make the first test cuts.
Regards
labrat.

A good thought Labrat - one I've had too. It seemed illogical however that a Carbide tip on a blade that can punch through solid jarrah safely at high speeds would have any problems with a woodchip. Currently the retractable guard occupies that space so there is little or even less clearance than a larger blade with the guard removed. Have a close look at a CS and you'll see how little clearance there is with the guard retracted. But thankyou - it's exactly these sort of questions that need to be asked.

Originally Posted by Stuka

I know that this late, just read this thread and I didn't see where the max RPM of the 10" blade and the max RPM of the saw were identified.. If the Max RPM of the blade is exceeded then it could throw teeth.

I have noticed that the larger the dia the slower the RPM so that the outer edge does not go supersonic and break all the neighbours windows.

Would you put a 15" cutoff wheel in a 9" angle grinder ????????

My 2c (rounded down) = 0 worth..

Cheers Geoff

Geoff,
A standard 10" blade I've looked at has a max 5700 RPM, and the no load speed on my saw is 4500 RPM - the actually speed of the blade when cutting is much less.

I have sliced 10+ silky oak logs and some River red Gum with the 10in blade. No probs.

Carry Pine

Originally Posted by Carry Pine

I have sliced 10+ silky oak logs and some River red Gum with the 10in blade. No probs.

Carry Pine

What blade did you chose and how many teeth does it have?
(and where are those pics?)

I use the Blue (max?) from the makita range which has less teeth than the standard triton.
Cut up heaps of logs (blocks) today for boxes. All with 70mm width.

Carry Pine

I use an old vacuum cleaner modified to collect the dust as I cut ..as for using a larger blade, yes it does work , and quite well, just remember safety first when working without the guards in place .....keep ya fingers out of the way ...or better still ....make your own guard up out of mdf or ply......

This is an interesting concept. I can't wait for the test report.

I have lost three teeth from my 235mm TCT, it scares me to think of where they went. I did'nt notice them pinging the saw guard, maybe they all went into the dust bag under.

I think it is a good rule to keep out of the alignment of the spinning blade when using the saw.

Graham's post is an interesting one for me (he who has fitted the 10in blade) as I've noticed the blade off centre on occasions. It turns out that the 2 clips that hold the Triton table top in place have been released - not intentionally. Consequently the blade is off centre and could cut into the 'throat plate' (aluminium strips that line the hole that the blade comes out of).
I guess it's one more thing to check each time. I have the guard (that's the retractable one) removed permanently.

Carry Pine

This is a great thread, and IMHO, should be put into the Best of the Best, once all done with.

Well done to Toddles for bringing it up, and all who posted questions and answers. I will be tackling this tomorrow, after stopping on the way home to buy a 10" blade.

Cheers

Update: Have completed the mod, with very little drama. Took about 40 minutes from go to blow, which included a good clean up.

I now have spot on 70mm depth of cut, which is an increase of about 12-13mm, even with the height adjuster fitted. This was also due to setting the saws micro adjustment to full depth (thanks Just George).

All round, I am very happy. I can now cut 140mm wide panels, for just a $60 investment.

Again, thanks heaps Toddles for bringing the subject up.