Can you nest saw blade bushes?

[John G]

I've got a circular saw (Triton) with a 16mm arbor.

I recently bought a 20T thin kerf ripping blade, which (I did not realise) has a 35mm bore. The bush that came with the blade is a 35-25mm bush.

Since I don't have a one piece 35-16mm bush, can I nest a 25-16mm bush inside the other bush? Or is this a really unsafe idea?

[Jim Carroll]

The flanges will dictate if this can be done.

Still not the best idea as it may offset the blade slightly.

Most flanges have a step recess on the back to allow for any inaccuracies between the balde and flange

Place the flanges on the blade to make sure there is full contact on the blade. If there is not then the answer is no as you need the solidness of the blade for the flange to locate on.

[John G]

The flanges will dictate if this can be done.
...
Most flanges have a step recess on the back to allow for any inaccuracies between the blade and flange

The kerf of the bush is thinner than the kerf of the blade, so the bush won't interfere with the flanges contacting the blade.
The issue is whether it is safe to centre the blade on the arbor using one bush inside another bush.

The recess inside the flanges do cause an issue because they don't hold the inner bush firmly in the centre of the arbor. In the attached non-scale picture, the grey blade is held by the purple bush, which itself is held on the yellow arbor by the smaller blue bush.

124362
If the bushes are only there to centre the blade whilst you tighten the flanges on the blade, then it should be ok. But if they are needed to keep the blade centred, then nesting doesn't seem such a good idea.

[chrisb691]

Last time I was in the Bunnings toolshop, I noticed the had a pack of about 8 assorted sawblade bushes. Might be worth a look, just on the chance they have a suitable 35 - 16 bush in the kit.

[Jim Carroll]

You also have to remember that most saws are afflicted with brute force and ignorance.

So you have this blade spinning at a great rate of knots into a sometimes fixed bit of timber and the jerking and jarring makes the blade mometarily slip and you then have a blade that is not centred properly and trying to jump out of your hand.:o

John good graphics shows how the bushes can slip out of alignment.

[Simon2512]

I have just found I have the same problem so I'll be interested to see what others have to say. Might be worth posting this in the Triton area too....

[blackhole]

Last time I was in the Bunnings toolshop, I noticed the had a pack of about 8 assorted sawblade bushes. Might be worth a look, just on the chance they have a suitable 35 - 16 bush in the kit.


They don't

[glenn k]

When I have this sort of problem I just turn one up on the lathe. John by your picture perhaps some washers either side of the bushes may hold them in place. As long as they don't interfer with the flanges it should be fine.