If I were to use my tablesaw to make a wide (1″+) rabbet — you know, the two-step process — what type of blade would be the best to use? ATB? Flat-top? #teeth?
forestgirl — you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the girl 😉
Replies
Jamie: Can you say Dado blade set?? <G>, Really if you have one why bother using a regular saw blade??
ToolDoc
Haven't checked yet, but I think this theoretical rabbet may be wider than the dado set. Besides, I want to try this technique out. Came up in a WWA "Chat" last night.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Jamie: Cool, I think I would pick the flat top, being it should give a more square rabbet.. and what did your little friends over there think would be the best blade to use??? althou the more that I think about this Im going to stick to the Dado blade set even if I had to make multiple passes, Im thinking it would give me a more clean cut and a nice rabbet.But then again what are you asking me these questons for??
Let us know what you come up with cause I hate when we never get the first hand info..
ToolDoc
Hey DOC, Im her little friend
Jamie I use a combo blade ( of course I use it for 90% of my work anyway) but the blade isnt the concern as much as supporting the piece when you have it on edge. I use my grip tites. In fact Im feeling a lot better(finaly over the flu) Ill be using that technique today making some moldin. It works good for me. Its what I used on my kitchen cabs.
At Darkworks cut to size made to burn......Putty isnt a option
Ron: OK, our little Forest Girl is in good hands with you..LOL
ToolDoc
Ron,
I am considering buying a set of grip tites for the college shop.
Ever had a negative experience with them??
thanks,
silver
Silver -
I'll repeat some of my observations regarding the GP Pros, the ones with the little rollers that server to keep the rip piece tight to the fence and the setup that includes the metal facing for a non-steel TS fence (reguired for use of the GP's on the fence).
Installation of the sheetmetal TS fence facing requires precision installation of the supplied screws since the countersinks in the plate are none too deep. I deepened mine in order to get the screw heads deep enough to not be proud of the metal face.
The supplied screws are actually too long for the MDF facing on the Biesmeyer fence system. Once the holes are piloted and screws started (to establish centerpoint location) I needed to trim ~1/16" off the ends of the screws to prevent them from bottoming out against the steel center portion of the fence system
The devices *do* take some time to get used to. I've spent several minutes 'practicing' positioning them and taking them off. For me, being right handed with a left tilt saw, I seem to have best success operating them with my left hand. That puts my thumb in position to actuate the release lever. You *can* twist them off with one hand but these magnets are really strong.
Finally got 'round to watching the supplied video and learned that the rollers on the GT Pros should *not* be in contact with the workpiece on the device that's on the outfeed end if the rip width is less than the width of the roller. That is, if the roller straddles the saw kerf, then the roller will be pulling both the waste and the work piece into the fence thus closing the kerf and dragging the waste into the back side of the blade. This wasn't illustrated in the demo at our WW show.
I've also added the mod shown in the video of mounting a piece of lexan on the leading GT to provide even more protection around the blade. They don't show exactly how to do this - I just mounted the lexan under the screws that hold the rollers on notching it around the anti-kickback flapper. Will post a picture if you're interested.
As pointed out in the post I clipped and pasted in the splitter vs rivving knife thread, I never leave the GT's on the saw table on the blade side. They live on the side of the saw cabinet unless in actual use.
Important - this is also something that's not pointed out in any demo for these things that I've seen - your saw fence must be held *down* on the outfeed side. Obviously, when using the GT's on the fence as hold down featherboards, the workpiece will tend to force the fence up as it travels under them. On the Biesmeyer fence there is no provision for holding down the far end. I'm currently using a clamp from the metal center portion of the fence to under the back fence rail. Has anyone come up with a fix for this? In the future I'd like to add a permanent outfeed table to the saw but this would obviate using any kind of clamping system to secure the outfeed end of the fence to the back fence rail.
While they take some getting used to, I feel a lot safer using the TS with the Grip Tites than without them.
...........
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
I've been following your GT posts with great interest and thanks for your current post.
The incident you posted would not have happened if uncommon sense dictated that unused GTs are stored on the front of the saw cabinet, where you keep them.
As for the incident I posted involving my assistant, it hit me(literally)that he is NOT qualified to instruct and I will engage uncommon sense to see he is immediately replaced by someone who is qualified.My point being that 99%of the time, uncommon sense will prevent accidents.
I would love to see a picture. I don't get out much and I am surprised so many posters are using these. Good to know about the back side of the fence...I'll check my Unifence and the college's Powermatic Fence.
I am always trying to increase my student's margin of safety and GT sounds like a very worth while investment. Too bad their website is so poorly constructed.I was totally unimpressed with their company after a visit there. Sometime's it pays to spend the bucks...if you want to look like a pro, you gotta dress like a pro.
cheers and thanks for the heads-up,
silver
Dennis, you're confusing me again! Maybe we can start a separate "Grip Tite" Thread.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
girl in search of a forest
I've tried this on a sliding mitre saw with a regular alternate (left/right) tooth blade. You end up with a series of little ridges at the base of the rabet which you have to finish by hand. I'd go for multiple passes of the dado set.
Alternatively, you could try a variation of one of the tenon cutting strategies. Attach a long fence to your mitre gauge. Locate a stop block corresponding to one side of the rabet, use the rip fence as the other stop block. Having cut both shoulders pass the piece over the blade (as though you were cutting a cove) until the waste is all gone. Me thinks it would be messy.
Ian
The technique we were alluding to in the "chat" was the one wherein you make on cut the depth of the rabbetwith the stock face down, and a second cut with the stock vertical and the waste falls out leaving the rabbet (the rabbet is on the edge of the stock).forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I don't think it makes too much difference. A good 50 tooth combo or 40 tooth general purpose blade should work well as should a rip blade. After all, it's primarily a rip. The question I have is how good does the rabbet need to look? An ATB blade or a FTG blade will give you exactly the same cut and 90 degree corner if properly set up.
I frequently make rabbets the way you describe if I don't want to take the time to change to a dado setup. I just use what is in the saw. In fact, for a rabbet wider than the maximum width of your dado, a two stage cut will give you a nicer surface if that is important.
Going to sound like a broken record:Freud thin kerf rip blade in solid wood and plywood
makes very nice rabbets.
silver
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled