# Table saw blade Sizes?



## Altman (Nov 16, 2010)

Hello everyone,
First of all I would again like to thank the forum and everyone with the quick responses on my questions. Without you I would have made unnecessary mistakes which could have been very unfortunate for me. Thanks again. 

Next question, as you all know by now, I a 10’’ Ryobi table saw. Will there be any problem if I use an 8’’ blade for the normal cutting work such as cross cuts etc. Should I need to cut thicker pieces of wood then I would switch back to the 10’’ blade.

Concerning dado blades if found the following on woodgears.com and he states the following under his work shop tricks “So I bought three cheap skillsaw blades. The teeth on these blades are quite a bit wider than the actual blade itself. By rotating adjacent blades by half a tooth, the teeth go into the gaps of the adjacent blades. With three blades side by side, the teeth from the two outside blades will barely not touch in the middle. To get extra width, its possible to put shims between the blades, up to nearly a millimeter before the blades leave a piece of wood in between. This way, you can do fine adjustments for how wide your cut will be. A variety of materials work good enough for shims - I prefer sheets of plastic, mostly from packaging. Cardboard also works, although the edges can fray and then you can't rely on them to be completely flat anymore. Or you can order a set of dado shims from Lee Valley Tools. “ 

I am looking forward to your opinions and advice.

Thanks Altman.


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## newwoodworker (Mar 27, 2009)

Yes you can use a smaller blade I have done it in a pinch before it without any issues.

As far as the dado thing goes you could do this I remember reading a thread about it over on another forum http://woodtalkonline.com/topic/200..._p__16272__hl__dado__fromsearch__1#entry16272 and they said it would work.
But honestly when you can buy this set of dado blades from lowes Shop Skil Steel Dado Set at Lowes.com for only $39.88 I doubt you would be saving anything going the other route of buying 3 separate blades and making a make shift dado set. 

plus if your table saw is like mine it has a limit on thickness and size of dado blades you should use with the saw check your manual the skil one is the perfect size for mine based on what my manual says.


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

Altman said:


> Hello everyone,
> First of all I would again like to thank the forum and everyone with the quick responses on my questions. Without you I would have made unnecessary mistakes which could have been very unfortunate for me. Thanks again.
> 
> Next question, as you all know by now, I a 10’’ Ryobi table saw. Will there be any problem if I use an 8’’ blade for the normal cutting work such as cross cuts etc. Should I need to cut thicker pieces of wood then I would switch back to the 10’’ blade.
> ...


Hi Altman - no problem using smaller diameter blades as long as the arbor diameter matches. As far as stacking blades to simulate dado sets, I suppose it can be done carefully ensuring you don't get and carbide to carbide contact. You do need to watch how wide to go. Measure the arbor length and subtract the thickness of the arbor nut and any washers to get max width for the arbor and also check for any periperal interference in the blade cavity once you have every thing assembled. Don't know how satisfied you will be with the quality of the dado though. 
Good Luck


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## Ralph Barker (Dec 15, 2008)

Another point to consider: when carbide-tipped blades are rotationally offset on the arbor, there is no guarantee that they will retain that relationship during the cut. Minor variations in wood density and grain patterns may cause one or more blades to rotate in relation to the others, resulting in carbide-to-carbide collisions and chipping. Assuming a through dado, I'd stand to one side of the blade line to avoid the little bits of flying carbide that might result.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Altman

I use the 6 1/2" and the 7" blades all the time, I like the 6 1/2" blades the best they are 1/16" wide the norm and stack them up when I need to make a slot for plywood, you can buy the 7" blades for a song, when you stack them up they are locked into each other, most sale the 8" dado sets the norm, 1" is not a big deal..you are just going down 1/2" deep, the norm ,I don't know who made the rule you must use a 10" blade all the time but it's just not true...once you use a 6 1/2" blade ,you will say the same WOW look at the nice clean cut and I did for peanuts..  and I didn't put all that lumber in the trash can...

===


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## Altman (Nov 16, 2010)

*Thanks for Advice*

Hello everyone,

To all of you gentleman, you are what I like to call “scholars and gentlemen ”, thank you for your expertise. 

I know it sounds like I am always looking for the cheap way out, unfortunately in South Africa it seems to me that wood working is not a trade or hobby in which many people are interested. Thus the lack of shops that supply the important equipment like t-tracks, dado blades etc. And of course if you do find one that can help, well normally they know that you can only find and buy equipment by them and for that you will pay a price. Please understand I am not complaining but if I can find a method to make something for a few rands and it will do the same job it is better than spending a fortune because you may not be given a choice. It is the same with the home brew mortis pal that I read about, I am honest if I say that I have not seen anything to that effect sold here. So what I have to do is gather the information on the different sizes and then build my own. 

In the mean time please be patient and bear with my questions, your advice save me a lot of frustration and trears. 

I like the idea of the smaller blades and am glad to hear that it will save money. I will take the precautions you have given me and will let you know how things are progressing. Hopefully I will be able to post photos one of these days.

Thanks and cheers, Altman.


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## LexB (Apr 12, 2010)

I also use a think-kerf 7-1/4 inch blade on my 10 inch tablesaw sometimes, but one thing to keep in mind is that your stock splitter/riving knife will probably be too thick for the blade, so you'll have to remove it. That's the down-side, but the up-side is that it will reduce the load on your saw's motor. You'll also get reduced depth-of-cut, so you can't cut much more than two-by stock with a small diameter blade.


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