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Does anyone know where I can get a fret-cutting blade that would work with a sawstop tablesaw? It would have to be either 8" or 10" in diameter for it to be usable.

Thanks!

Does the block mechanism stop the arbor in a lower position than other saws?

I'm not sur exactly what you're asking. But the electronics in the saw won't even allow it to start unless it has either an 8" blade or a 10".

Then I'd sY you're hooped in that regard. Fret saw blades are 5-6".

I've got 8" thin kerfed blades from Thurston. They aren't fret slot kerfed but you could likely get them to make you one.

Custom blades are available for a price.

I have purchased several custom blades from Thurston Manufacturing - call then and see what they can do for you.
http://www.thurstonmfg.com/index.html

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Steve Smith
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I was wondering why you couldn't use a smaller blade and my first thought was that maybe the saw stop mechanism didn't allow the arbor to be raised as high as say a powermatic. I don't own one so I didn't know what the issue was.

Doesn't the sawstop mechanism require a toothed blade? Larger than a fret blade, anyway.

Someone who has one told me you could turn off the braking mechanism so you could use smaller blades. In a way would defeat the purpose of the sawstop. This is a question I had and one of the reasons I didn't look at them when purchasing a table saw a few years back. I was looking at Sawstop when they were fairly new and the info I found at the time said it had to be a 10" blade or it wouldn't work.

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Why other than a saw stop being a superior table saw, would you need the safety function of a saw stop for fret slotting. Your fret slotting sled would cover the exposed blade.

This is actually going to be my first ever guitar build. I'm trying to come up with the easiest way to do the frets accurately.

I've had my sawstop for a few years, and it's a great saw. But its intended use was not for guitar-making, it was for furniture.

I suppose an easy alternative would be to do this with a handsaw. I was just looking for the greatest chance of success, and that seemed to be with a tablesaw.

I called sawstop before posting here, and they actually suggested Thurston - i did call them and the guy told me they are in process of developing a fret-cutting blade for sawstop, but it's not yet available.

A dovetail saw can be used to cut fret slots by hand, and although not as quick as a table saw will do it, can be just as accurate. I've also used the old version of the Makita battery powered saw (with the 3 inch blade) to cut fret slots.

You could always purchase a pre-slotted FB.

I've thought about it, but I'd really like to do it all myself.

The problem is proximity. The brake shoe has to be within a certain distance from the blade in order for the system to work, which is why a shoe designed for an 8" blade won't work with a 6" fret saw. I'm wondering whether a machine shop could modify a spare shoe to fit a 6" blade. The shoe is affixed to the brake housing with compression pins, which could easily be pressed out and replaced.

Thanks for explaining it. I do want to upgrade to one of these eventually but never knew this was a limitation. Would be a good reason to hold onto my inca.

Someone has managed to make a moulding head work on a Sawstop by connecting a cable from some sensor thing to the tablesaw arbor in order to fool the machine into thinking that it has a 10" blade.

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check out the Stewmac fret mitre saw set up. I don't have one (yet), but they look very well designed for accurate cuts. Unless it saves LOTS of time or elbow, I always try to stay as primitive as possible in my tools and methods. For me, feeling saws, rasps, files, etc working the wood is a huge part of my enjoyment. But i'm not a production facility either,and I understand time constraints for those who have them.

Well, b4 you start trying to fool the machine, make sure to try it on a hot dog first!

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Pat

Many years ago I had a 10" tablesaw blade from either Sears or Rockwell, called a thin rim veneer blade. About 1" of the rim and teeth was ground thinner than the rest of the body of the blade, so you still had the stability of the regular thickness blade body. If you could find something similar, I don't see why a good sharpening shop couldn't grind the rim to your exact specifications kerf wise.

Personally I would just check around for a good used small 8 or 9 inch tablesaw and dedicate that to fret sawing. I use an old 9inch rockwell that works great, the blade just has to run square to the sled and you can leave it set up. Mine takes up a small area behind my 10". You can pick these old saws up pretty cheap most of the time. Probably cheaper than having a custom blade made and safer than trying to fool your sawstop.
Cal

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Remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!

I just ran into this issue after making a fretting slide for my saw stop. Of coarse I didn't try the blade until after the sled was done, so I ended up having to make a new one for my jet table saw (different spacing on the sled).

As far as sawing it yourself goes, stewmac sells a hand saw gettup for $100, otherwise the cheapest way is to buy a premade fingerboard for the spacing, and use a cut off from a hacksaw blade as the fret locator, inside a hand miter box. Either way you'd have to buy a premade fingerboard.

Although, I have seen people run fret slotting blades on other tools (mitersaws, ect). If you think outside of the box, you'll come up with a solution.

-Dan

I emailed SawStop about the brake. Here is their response:

I called Thurston on the suggestion of Sawstop a week ago. The gentleman there took my info and said he'd email me when it's available - and that it might not be for a while.

If you can find yourself, and have space for, an older benchtop saw you would be able to cut frets and it would be able to handle Freud 7 1/4 " thin kerf blades. That blade can be very handy for guitar work. Cutting bindings, purfling etc. I've seen decent old saws for free or almost. Most people want new and shiny. Old and beat up can sometimes be better, or so I keep trying to convince my wife.

Cheers,
Danny