Wow! No I haven't. I was always thinking I was at the mercy of what I was able to find in the stores. Great prices, too. Thanks, George!

You're more than welcome.

Lucky to have a blade sharpening shop here in town. They carry about any kind of blade you can think of. They turned me on to a thin kerf Freud blade that has no label on it. Fantastic performance at half the cost. The quality of the blades lets you resharpen several times so in the long run its a lot cheaper than throw away blades.

You know, I actually get so much good use from those cheapo B&D blades that I don't mind tossing them when they need to be. It IS irritating though, to turn a fairly new blade into an impromptu ninja star. Ha!

But, I can't wait to get my hands on one of these good ones. Honestly, I didn't think I had this good of a choice. But the irony that exists in my life will mean that as soon as I buy one, my saw will crap out! LOL

I believe in the old saying "you get what you pay for". Especially when it comes to saw blades. Higher end blades have a better carbide and better grade steel. This increases blade life, safety and decreases warping which makes for a better cut. I recently purchased another cabinet saw and went with a 12" 5hp saw. Stock blades would warp easily because of the speed and power of the saw. A saw is only as good as it's weakest link which includes the blade, motor, bearings, table, fence and operator.

If you are having a tearout problem as shown in Michael's picture above, try taping the cutline before you cut the wood. The tape will hold the fibers in place while the cut is being made. If you are not using a zero clearance blade insert that will help too. As others have stated above good blades will help. Construction grade plywood blades are not the answer. Freud, Woodworker II and others make great plywood/melamine blades that cut with little or no tearout.

I normally use tape for cross grain cuts (along with zero clearance sleds), but I was so PO'ed by the crappy results from this blade that I decided to show the difference between the two with a wider clearance insert and no tape. Both cuts were made the same way, just different blades as noted. I found it remarkable how a blade not normally used to make such cuts did a far better job than one supposedly designed for finer cuts.

There is no way I could make some of the stuff I do if all the cuts were as bad as that one showed! Ha!

I actually did not know about the better 7 1/4" blades, as every decent blade I'd seen in both general handyman stores, as well as places like Woodcraft, all had great blades, but for 10" saws. I just hadn't dug deep enough, I guess.

Michael, your post was very enlightening...Mine was for the general audience. I know you know these tricks!

Hmmm..... Apparently, the bad cuts I showed aren't the only ones possible by Irwin blades. (thankfully, no injuries reported)

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/19/4427083......lar.html

Bad packaging...

Scratched a prop while at a show this weekend. It was on the inside of the item but still wanted to fix it so it would look nice for the rest of the show. I took a cocktail peanut and used it like an eraser to remove the scratch in the natural finish. After the scratch had vanished it was polished with a cotton cloth and gave perfect results.

I wanted to turn you guys on to a GREAT product...

Timber Mate wood filler. Yes, I have used it, and love it. Very easy to use and does exactly what it says it will. Check these review videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX0iYF56nNo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueCs5FKT1f0&feature=related

I found it at a Rockler-stocked woodworking shop here, even though Rockler does not show it on their website. Woodcraft does, though. It is also available online (Amazon, etc.)

So many great tips here. Thank you, everyone.
I'll add one for thought



I saved all the baby jars from when my kids were little, washed them and use them as paint jars. I have also approched friends with new borns and asked them to just save the jars and lids for me and I send them through a dish washer cycle, remove the lable and the work great.

Hi Guys and thanks Mr Baker for a great thread idea!

How annoying is it when you measuring to mark and you can't find your pencil? Or you put it in your back pocket, forget and it ends up snapped?
You reach behind your ear and it's vanished? Well try this......

Cut a small groove across the width of your carpenters pencil and combine it with half a wooden clothes peg, I call it the 'Pegsil'

All the best
Alex
PS Don't tell the Misses!

Click here to view attached image.

Great ideas to both the above posts! My Dad used to save baby food jars to keep small hardware. Clear glass makes it a snap to see the contents. In fact, he would mount the lids to the underside of a shelf, and the jars could just be removed or screwed back on quickly, keeping everything well organized.

I have somewhat adapted the practice, although I try to find small plastic jars to prevent breakage. (Are baby food jars still glass??)

The Pegsil is cool! I tend to drop pencils in my pocket, point up, to keep them from breaking. But I can't count the number of times I've reached in for it (or something else) only to stab my finger.

Table saw safety tip: always use a fence or guide bar or something to make a straight feed thru the blade. Kick backs are a b**ch (I know from experience especially if the stock hits you in the gut or on the thumb, oh mama)! If, heaven forbid, you have a large flat piece that won't allow the use of a fence or guide then mark the piece with a dark straight line and move the piece through the saw very, very slowly evenly with both hands watching the cut and praying at the same time! On second thought never freehand a on a table saw, use a circular saw or sabre saw instead!

Excellent advice. Additionally, you don't have to freehand with a circular saw- they make aluminum guides you can clamp onto the work piece that will run the entire length of a 4'x8' sheet of plywood, plus a few inches. These help prevent you from twisting the blade during the cut, which can cause it to bind.

Anti-bone head tip: when using a circular saw, look under the workpiece along the cut line before starting, to make sure everything's clear of the path. This will prevent you from accidentally cutting through your sawhorse, collapsing both the workpiece and its former support onto your toes.

Never use a tablesaw fence to cross cut narrow parts to length. This WILL result in kickback and injury.Its tempting when trying to make multiple cuts the same length, but don't do it. The safe way to cut to precise lengths is to use a stop block on the fence. Place the stop block between the fence and the blade and set the fence to the proper length of cut. Now move the stop block clear back from the blade and clamp it to the fence. Now use the cross cut atachment to hold the piece stable while cutting.Just slide each piece to the stop block and move the crosscut guide forward to cut to even lengths with no kickback.

I saw this exact dagerous practice being taught on the cable show "American restoration" one of the workers was showing the owners son how to cut 4x4s to equal lengths. It worked on the show, but as they say "don't try this at home"

And NEVER cut freehand on a tablesaw.

99% of my crosscuts are done using a sled. The cuts are more accurate and much safer. Always use a splitter when ripping wood to avoid kickbacks, and as Gimpy said "NEVER CUT FREEHAND ON A TABLESAW". Please be safe. We want you around for a long time.

Sleds are a must for miter cornner boxes. Not only will a sled yield perfect matched cuts but it keeps the sharp point on the second cut from sliping under the fence and kicking back. I sometimes hear of kick back as if it was just something that will happen on its own. If you have kick back its because you are doing something wrong.