Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | Jan 04, 2005 05:58am | #1

   Depends on the rake. You definitely do not want to use a positive rake or positive hook blade to cut brass.

2. 
   RickL | Jan 04, 2005 05:56pm | #2

    I cut a lot of brass on the table saw and use a negative hook triple chip blade for this. This type of blade is designed for this work as well as being used to cut wood on a radial arm saw. The negative hook minimizes the climbing a positive hook blade does so it's much safer. If you simply did a search on google for a metal cutting blade for brass on the table saw it would have given you the answer. I've been searching the web for over ten years now and never bother to ask questions on forums as I can find the answers faster  myself as 99.99999% of the  questions have already been asked so the answer is already out there.

   http://www.sussexsawandtool.com/specialty/sstferrousblades.html

1. 
   jackplane | Jan 04, 2005 07:46pm | #3

   rick,

   what's your question?

2. 
   forestgirl | Jan 04, 2005 09:39pm | #4

   Rick, why the lecture?  You start out with good, helpful information and then slam the guy for not going to Google instead of Knots.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   RickL | Jan 04, 2005 11:06pm | #6

   Why do you call it a slam?????  Talk about misinterpretation!!!!  It was just a helful hint to get the answer faster.   You know the old saying...Give the man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime. So what's wrong with helping a person find his own answers????? 

1. 
   IanDG | Jan 04, 2005 11:21pm | #8

   Answers given on this forum help not only the person asking the question, but the ones browsing as well.

   IanDG

2. 
   jackplane | Jan 04, 2005 11:38pm | #9

   If it weren't for questions, this forum would not exist.

3. 
   UncleDunc | Jan 05, 2005 02:25am | #10

   >> Why do you call it a slam?????Because it is susceptible of being read as, "If you weren't so lazy and stupid, you would already have found the answer and not had to ask."I'm amazed by the number of readers on Taunton forums who have never tried Google, despite seeing it referenced here all the time. And of the people who have tried, not everyone knows how to use it. When you do a search that returns 3 million hits and page through the first 100 without finding a site even remotely related to what you're looking for, it's easy to get discouraged.

4. 
   forestgirl | Jan 05, 2005 02:54am | #11

   This is funny, Rick.  [Oh, first, apologies to Wally for hijacking his thread to discuss how you responded to it.]

   OK, back to what's funny.  Your unwillingness or inability to see how condescending the last half of your original post was and how poorly it contrasted with the concise and personalized answer you provided in the first part of your post.  You helped him out, then you slammed him (yes, slammed him) for asking here in the first place.

   And then there's the small matter of showing him how to get a "faster answer" by fishing at the Google Pond.  Well, I doubt he would have come in under 15 minutes by the time he figured out the best search string to use and waded through all the commercial chaff that arose with the kernles of relevant hits.

   I use Google several times a day, and love it.  But if I wanted a quick, user-oriented answer to the question Wally posed, I'd probably have done the same thing unless I was simply in the mood to read all about hook angles and tooth configurations.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

3. 
   Rich14 | Jan 04, 2005 09:50pm | #5

   Rick,

   Why is the sky blue?

   Why is grass green?

   Why don't people at the South Pole fall off the earth?

   Rich

1. 
   joinerswork | Jan 06, 2005 04:28pm | #19

   Rich,

   Where does the white go, when snow melts?

   Cheers,

   Ray

1. 
   jaypoe | Jan 06, 2005 04:58pm | #20

   I too, at one point in another forum, was "slammed" in the same manner with much of the same wording used in ricks post (I wonder?). I had asked a question(s) regarding 3 or 5 hp tablesaw motors and was critisized for the depth and detail of my questioning. I agree a google search is a wonderfull tool and use it religiously but being detail oriented, even if when I find a vast number of answers elsewhere I would still post questions on a forum of my peers and share my results. I found ricks post to be condecending also but he more than made up for it with post #13.

   Lots of good info out here and many way in which to attain it. By searching old questions, asking new questions (even if they have been asked) or by experience. I choose all of the above. Happy learning, Jay

3. 
   IanDG | Jan 04, 2005 11:17pm | #7

   I've cut a lot of brass angle and strip on an Elu CSMS using the ordinary negative rake carbide blade with no problem but I have always clamped it in place while cutting.

   If it can move about into the gullet between teeth it can get real nasty, real quickly. I'd be a little concerned about vibration movement, cutting on a TS -- perhaps strips of tape on the back so it's not a metal/metal contact?

   IanDG

4. 
   RickL | Jan 05, 2005 03:55am | #12

   I cut hard brass, soft brass, copper, aluminum,and zinc routinely with a triple chip negative hook blade. It's a lot like cutting wood in most ways. Brass extrusion has a kind of skin to it and when cut will actually bow more than wood so it takes some practice to get a feel for it.

   Learning how to search with google is a valuable tool worth experimenting with. It takes a bit of practice to come up with the right phrasing for the question but it's well worth the effort.

   Pantry lamp is bright nickel plated brass and most of the cuttining was done on a table saw. Alabaster is the stone.

   
   

   ---

   Edited 1/4/2005 10:11 pm ET by rick3ddd

   
1. 
   wally1 | Jan 05, 2005 05:26am | #13

   Thanks Rick. I looked up the site you suggested and found the blade in which I need. Sorry you took so much heat for your reply. I am planning to make a hand plane, and was going to cut box joints with my table saw. Can you tell me how long of life you get out of these blades. I will be cutting 1/4 thick brass.

1. 
   RickL | Jan 05, 2005 06:02am | #14

   Thanks Wally,
   Can't say exactly how long they last but it's as least as long in cutting wood. Some folks just don't know when to shut up and it's a darn shame when they try to read between the lines of someone who is offering useful information and they try to rephrase that info into a negative comment. 1/4" brass is a piece of cake. Cuts like butter! I've cut 2" thick brass with no problems. Just take care and watch those fingers! A short fence is best for the bowing issue. I'll have to make a diagram to explain what I mean but it's really quite simple. It only applies to ripping brass.
   Rick

1. 
   UncleDunc | Jan 05, 2005 07:23am | #15

   >> Some folks just don't know when to shut up and it's a darn shame when they try to read
   >> between the lines of someone who is offering useful information and they try to rephrase
   >> that info into a negative comment.I was perfectly willing to believe your first post was well meant. I'd have to work a lot harder to believe that's true of this one.

1. 
   forestgirl | Jan 05, 2005 08:03am | #16

   Touche!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   forestgirl | Jan 05, 2005 08:09am | #17

   "they try to rephrase that info into a negative comment."  Oh, c'mon Rick, go back and read your first post.  No rephrasing or reading between the lines was needed.  BTW. don't waste your breath telling me to "shut up" -- I'll hold your feet to the fire as long as I feel like it.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   AlanWS | Jan 06, 2005 02:59am | #18

   Thanks for putting your answer here where others can read it, and for helpful comments on searches. One of the big advantages of finding an answer on a forum like this, rather than by simply searching the web, is that you can more easily evaluate whether the answer is reasonable. Anyone can post any nonsense on the web, and an enormous amount of that is mixed in with the enormous amount of good info. You may not realize how much of your own expertise you are using in deciding what to believe on the web. (That expertise is very valuble, and worth the practice to obtain it.) An answer posted here on a forum will be screened by knowledegable people and commented upon. But the real value comes when you ask the wrong question, and someone with lots of knowledge can not only answer your question, but figure out the question you should have asked, and answer that too.