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I think a 7-1/4" blade will cut about 1-1/2", maybe a smidge less. Just measure that height by cranking up all the way, while the Craftsman insert is still in.

Dennis
{edit} come to think of it, I think the blade will do more like 2-1/8", but that's easy to check

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Hesh:

Just to clarify some of the lingo, your saw does not have a riving knife. It has a splitter. Setting up with the splitter is advisable. When you rip a piece of wood, sometimes the internal stresses in the wood will try to pinch the blade. The splitter keeps this from happening, as well as helps to keep the piece that is against the rip fence against the rip fence. If it twists towards the blade at the back of the blade, up and back it comes, at major league fastball speeds. Using the blade guard is advisable but is no substitute for respect and common sense. However it may also have anti-kickback pawls which will help to keep it from coming back at you.

When sawing, I generally have about 5 teeth above the piece I am cutting (with a 40 tooth blade)... basically about a half an inch above the work piece.

The zero clearance insert will help with tear out. Remember the saw is cutting down towards the table on the front, so having the support at the blade helps to keep the wood from splintering as the blade is leaving it.

Use a shoe type push block, http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=20408 (you can make these out of scrap very easily) or for wider pieces I like a grout float with the rubbery bottom.

Helpful devices for the table saw if you're so inclined:

Board buddies http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11262
A good miter gauge http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page ... ra%20miter

Cross cut sled
Tapering jig for you necks/fingerboards

I could probably keep going, so suffice it to say, there is sooo much you can do with the table saw that you'll continue to find uses for it. There are things it excels at and things you'll find other tools are more appropriate/comfortable for the task. Listen to the voice in your head and the hairs on your neck.

Darrin

Here is what I did to mine. But I have to remove the back plate to tilt the blade which isn't all that often. I'll probably go the box in version later, that's a good idea but I like the vacuum hook up where it is. I don't like all that dust being drawn out below the motor. Look at all that dust on the motor, that can't be good for the motor in my opinion. I don't get fine dust with this setup only dust chips on the floor from the belt. You will want to get one of these or build one as there are plans for it on the site.
http://www.leestyron.com/90upgrade.php
http://www.leestyron.com/sharkguard_plans.php
I haven't one yet but most of the dust and chips I get are from the blade being thrown at you. I really need the the Shark. I also plan on making a cabinet for the saw and get rid of the legs. the cabinet also has a dust collection bin built into it.
http://www.plansnow.com/tablswc.html
I think you will find that a table saw will be your most used saw after your band saw. Mayne even more then your band saw once you jig it up. Most of the jigs will be made to work off sleds. A real fast and accurate way of sawing. I've been wanting that Inca miter gage but it cost more then your saw.

You will only get 1 1/8" to 1 3/8" cut depth with a 7 1/4" blade in a 10" saw.
Before you put that blade in, use the 10" blade to adjust the mitre slots paralell to the blade. Raise the blade all the way up and use a square to measure to the slots. Depending on the saw, you will have to adjust the motor or the top to get them in line. Next, adjust your fence to the blade. Again you'll be doing this with the 10" blade installed and raised all the way. Once that is done set the tilt stops at 0 degrees and 45 degrees. Now you can put in your 7 1/4" blade and zero clearence insert. Run a test cut using something similar in hardness and thickness to what you will normally cut, I'm thinking 1/4" maple for your needs, and look at the results. If you can see any saw kerf on the piece, you may have to tweak the fence. If all is good, measure the piece you ripped and set the width scale accordingly.

Steve

Hesh,I would definately use a 10 inch blade ,and probably a 40 tooth blade is a heck of a lot better for guitar work.I use a 40 for guitar and cabinet work.With the 24 you`ll spend the rest of your life sanding.Also Erwin makes a blade called a Marathon that has a nice thin kerf and seems to last forever.I`m sure Diablo makes about the same and is good too.But what do i know? I`ve only been making a living being a wood butcher for the last 36 years.
THE SKIN MAN
James W B

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

G'day Hesh,
I got mine from a signwriter,they have it for magnetic signs that stick onto the sides of cars and vans etc. On a table saw the purpose of zero clearance inserts is to stop thin pieces going down past the blade. In my experience this includes the sawdust carried round in the blades gullets. Strong suction on the blade guard will help prevent this. Good policy here is to never use the saw without the riving knife or blade guard in place and aligned with the blade. Never lose respect for the spinning blade and you will always finish with the same number of fingers that you started with. Sold mine when I realised I had'nt turned it on in two years and bought a big resaw band saw and a smaller 14" so I never have to change blades.
Cheers Chopper

Thanks guys!!!

Steven my friend I did as you suggested and checked the blade, 10", with care not to hit the square on a tooth and read my results against a miter slot on the front and then the back of the saw. It appeared to be right-on. Soooo since the Square is not in very fine increments I got out some feeler gages and checked again and I think that it is probably as close as I could ever get it, perhaps within .002 according to the gages. The 0 and 45 degree stops seem right-on too and required no tweaking.

Now here are some more questions, concerns if I may please:

The fence is easy for me to see how square it is by snugging it up very nearly covering a miter slot and then using feeler gages in the slot. Once I did this the fence is about .006 off from the front to the back. I'll try to adjust this out and yes I did the same test on the other side of the blade and got the same variance. Is this method sound?

Next, looking at the pictures below I am concerned about the throat plate. The depth of the table insert for the throat plate is .199 give or take a few thou all the way around. This means that the plate(s) that I make will need to be 1/5" or less in thickness. You can see from the pictures that the throat plate is fairly large and I am concerned that any material that I make it out of short of metal will be so thin that it will flex under load. Is this a valid concern?

Also the plate is attached with a counter sunk screw on the front and a clip on the underside on the back. If I counter sync a screw in wood the thickness that will remain will only be about .060..... This concerns me. How are you guys holding these plates in place? And what about the back? I suspect that having it be able to move when in use defeats the entire purpose of the zero clearance idea and may be something that could be eaten by the saw if it moved enough.

Lastly, for now..... , I am still confused about what to do about the what-ever-it-is that the manual calls a riving knife. You can see the bracket in the back too in a picture. If I remove this, it is very flimsy and moves at the slightest touch, what to replace it with if anything at all? Darrin and Ken thanks for the the definitions and explanations - it made perfect sense to me.

Thanks again - I am almost there.

Oh yeah - when installing a blade I tightened it pretty good but not as much as I could. I am guessing that the motion of the saw keeps this nut from coming loose - is this correct?

Hesh Buddy I just screwed in a little screw that has the built in washer and it catches under the metal. I not sure what you are concerned with about counter sinking the front screw. there is enough support for the insert. The screws just to locate it and hold it down.

Regarding the throat plate, I would rough cut a blank on the bandsaw of say 1/2 baltic birch, use your other plate as a template and rout the final dimensions. The phenolic material is very stout stuff too. I've made some out of aluminum but it's a pain in the glutes. Then rout a rabbet around the edge. It looks like yours as a spring steel lip to snap it in place. You may want to rig up something like that. Mine sits much deeper and has screws into the sides that you can arrange for a snug fit side to side. As far as adjusting the depth of your insert, maybe you could tap those ears in the throat opening and put some set screws underneath. It'll be a trial and error of removing the throat plate, but you could get it flush. Put some loc-tite on the screws so they dont back out.

It sounds like you're pretty square on the blade. It's always a good idea to mark a tooth and measure from that same spot, so any disparity in the blade (warpage) is taken out of the equation. Your fence will need some adjusting. You want it parallel or a little (.003") farther away from the blade towards the outfeed side.

A simple splitter is just some brass rod the same diam as your kerf drilled into the throat plate in line with your cut. That way you can pull it out when you need to.

Hesh, like any tool there are so many safety concerns that you really need to understand. I dont think any of us could explain all of them off the top of our head. I know there are a lot of members here that are roughly in your area. If some of them are experience with the table saw, you should have them come over and repay your tutorials with some hands on tutorials. Things you can do with the bandsaw that your'e used to can get you hurt on a table saw. For example, you always need a reference point with the table saw...a miter gauge or a rip fence. Never free hand a cut through it like you can on a band saw. Don't pull the piece back out of a cut. Never reach through to pull a cut the rest of the way through the blade. Whereas a bandsaw cuts straight down, the table saw cuts down and forward so it can grab a piece that has gone part way through and pull it back very very forcefully. Make a little outfeed table level with the saw so you can push your stock right on through.

I don't intend this solely to scare you, just to caution you. I know from your posts regarding it that you're somewhat apprehensive about it, which can be helpful as far as using caution. But I would hate for you to lose the usefulness of this tool because that apprehension was compounded by a scare from something that a bit more knowledge would have prevented.
I don't have 36 years worth of woodworking experience, but I've worked with this tool enough to be proficient and respectful. It's an amazing tool. It can cut a strip of hard maple off nearly thin enough to read through or cut a two inch think piece of oak in half. It's delicate and brutally powerful at the same time.

Darrin

Don't cut holes into the ears that 's where the set screws for leveling the inserts ride against. Put set screws in you insert if you can't thickness you insert to size. I wouldn't get overly concerned about the insert. The zero clearance only helps with tear out. What are you going to do make a zero clearance insert for every different heigth you use? You will need a new insert for when you get a set of dato blades. Like I said, most of the jigs will be of the sled types.

If your insert is too thin, just put some oil on the ears of the hole, then put some hot melt glue on it and gently press your insert level with the table. Let the glue harden. It will stick to the insert but not to the ears. Your insert will then be perfectly level and this help also to keep it tight in place.

Hi James,

With all due respect (you've got me by quite a few years of experience), I would have bet a crispy $20 that the Freud 7-1/4" 24 tooth, thin kerf blade would leave a jagged edge on hardwood. Most of my tablesaw experience was with 10", 12" and even 16" blades (large sliding table saw), and those larger diameter blades, even the really stout ones that were basically 1/8" thick steel, would always leave ragged (stepped?) edges in hardwood if they had sparse teeth. I thought of them as rough ripping blades, and knew I had to deal with the rough edge in a subsequent operation. With plywoods, it seems the more teeth the cleaner the edge (and less veneer chipout on crosscuts), and every so often I'd get lazy and leave a plywood blade in and rip hardwood. Indeed, I got a much cleaner edge, though I had to be careful not to burn some hardwoods, and I knew I was going to be sending the plywood blade out for sharpening much earlier than was typical.

When I was told by Grant Goltz to buy a 24 tooth blade for hardwood, and especially for making binding, I was beyond skeptical - I flat did not believe it. That is, I didn't believe it until I watched fiddleback Katalox binding strips come off the tablesaw that were virtually ready to install on a guitar. (I could say they were ready, but my raw material was rare and I was skeptical, so I asked Grant to cut slightly thick, and then "touch-sanded" them down to .080") So, I don't blame you for not believing it, but the blades are only about $10 at Home Despot, and I'd ask you to try one. The fact that they are a thin kerf blade and leave such a clean edge means that they compete pretty well with cutting binding strips on a bandsaw, which definitely requires multiple passes through a sander to get them smooth.

It won't be Hesh's only tablesaw blade, but I'll bet it will be used in lutherie more than any other blade.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

The only thing you can't do is tilt the blade. Just run the blade to max height when cutting the insert. When using a dado, I just put the original insert back on. Dust collection gets real good when the whole blade is covered !

Another benefit of the zero clearance insert is that you don't get small offcuts falling down into the the saw.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Uhhhh, let me clarify that. I put the original insert back on when doing a narrow dado cut! Or like Chris said a new insert for wider dados. Check, check, check for clearance. Then check again.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I'm giving one of those Diablos a try next trip to Home Depot. My latest blade cost $100 but it is for cutting malamine and doesn't chip the plastic. Nice if you build your jigs from the plastic covered plywood or malamine.

I absolutely cannot recommend this book more highly.

http://www.amazon.com/Accurate-Table-Sa ... 786&sr=8-1

It is a fantastic resource for your table saw. The guy who wrote this is old school and it shows in his writing style and in his ideas.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Hey Hesh,

Lee Valley sells a phelonic (sp?) zero clearance insert that fits a Craftsman tabls saw. It comes without the slot pre-cut.
You just retract the blade fully - drop in the insert and hold it in place by clamping it with some wood scraps
and then turn the saw on and raise the blade to make the slot.

Sorry if this was mentioned already. I didn't read all the posts...

Be careful, there are a lot of different Craftsman Table Saws, and those inserts are model specific.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

One way to hold the insert down is by putting the fence over the edge of the insert and cranking up the blade. Obviously make sure the fence isn't over the blade.

Brock bro I just ordered the book - thanks for the recommendation!

Dave buddy I actually ordered the insert and a micro-splitter along with, and don't laugh, a ready made hold-down/push stick from Lee Valley this afternoon. Waddy the one that they list might fit my saw - it is the same dimensions so hopefully it will fit but thanks for looking out for me bro.

Chris and everyone else this has been incredibly valuable to me all the info that you guys have shared - many, many thanks to each and everyone you!!!!

I actually made my first cut this afternoon on some scrap WRC left over from the stinkin bird houses. It went fine. The fence on the saw leaves a great deal to be desired and I am still trying to get it adjusted correctly. It does not want to sit at the same height in the back as it does in the front...... Also I still have about .006 of what I would call wash-out (like a wing tip.... ) at the back and I am trying to reduce this to .003 as recommended here.

The last thing that I am looking for and I don't even know what to call it but it is a port that I can install on both sides of the wall between my shop and my saw room. The idea is to leave my Festool in the shop but plug the hose into the wall port and on the other side plug a hose in to clean up the loose chips and dust from my sawing. Kind of like central vacuum systems where the vac is stationary but you can plug in in strategic locations throughout the home.

I have not seen any adapters like this at Wood craft - anyone have any ideas?

Thanks again my friend.

Oneida-Air sells various sizes of vacuum and dust collector hose and hose ends that screw on. All you need is a pipe in the wall - drain pipe would do, and a hose for each side of the wall. Well, a second hose for the saw room, as you already have a hose on the shop side.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Thanks Waddy - I had looked at those as a result of Google but everything is much larger than my requirement. I have a 2" hose.........

You nust not have made it to the "Dust Deputy Accessory page. Check this out - HERE

It ain't cheap, but it's quality stuff. HERE is another possibility.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hesh my fence is like that too. I don't think it can be changed as I didn't notice any adjustment. I always measure the distance from the front of the blade to the fence and the back of the blade to the fence if it's a important cut and adjust the fence if need be. I'd get a nice fence if I felt I really needed it. But I'm always pulling my fence on and off. If I don't need it on the saw it's off and I use the saw for a bench sometimes. You could put a piece of malamine on the fence face to correct the back being a little high if it bothers you but I find I'm usually cutting something higher then the gap is. But for the price you can't complain. You can always build onto it but you would be better off to just buy a grizzly cabinet saw with all the bells and whistles if you decide you want a really nice TS in the future.

Hesh, my friend, do you purposely throw those big, fat, juicy straight lines out there to all the comedians of the world, or what!

I'll bet you can buy some hose adapters and rig-up a through-the-wall vacuum connector.

As Chris mentioned, you may want to screw a scrap of melamine or plywood to the face of the fence, recessing the screw heads. This board may become "sacrificial" at some point, (like when you're setting up for some narrow cuts, or when using the table saw to create a rabbet) but at least the flying carbide never hits the metal fence.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say, "The fence on the saw ... does not want to sit at the same height in the back as it does in the front..." If you really mean the height, then that makes no difference. A board screwed to the face of a fence may work better for some tiny or thin parts being sawn, as it makes it more difficult for the wood to sneak under the fence.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia