| There are several things that you can do to | | | | between 20mm and 30mm should ensure a clean |
| ensure you get the best cuts and longest life out | | | | surface finish. |
| of your saw blade. Just follow these tips to | | | | Maintaining Good Saw Blade Sharpening: |
| achieve chip-free cuts in Particleboard or MDF on | | | | *ALWAYS CUT WITH A SHARP SAW BLADE. |
| a Panel Saw or Sliding Table Saw. | | | | Cutting with a sharp saw blade will give cleaner, |
| Using the right saw blade and proper alignment: | | | | smoother cuts, and will help to extend the life of |
| * Make sure to always use the right blade for the | | | | your saw blade. Trying to get a few more cuts |
| material you are cutting. Different types of | | | | out of your saw blade between sharpening to |
| matereial may require you to use a different style | | | | save a little money can result in dimishing the |
| of wood. (Tip: Use a triple chip grind blade with 80 | | | | sharpening life of your saw blade, give bad cuts, |
| teeth for particleboard or MDF.) | | | | and is potentially dangerous. |
| * Use a properly tuned saw, and make sure your | | | | * When having your saw blade sharpened make |
| fence and miter slots are aligned parallel to the | | | | sure that the sharpening shop is properly |
| blade. Having blades perfectly parallel to the fence | | | | matching the prescore to the main blade. |
| helps avoid back cutting whether you are using a | | | | Keep the Blade and operating equipment clean of |
| single blade or a two blade system. Keep your | | | | dust and wood chips: |
| saw blade teeth raised so that half the carbide is | | | | *Make sure the saw flanges are clean and |
| showing over the stock. | | | | burr-free. |
| * Always run the proper blade configuration with | | | | *Keep the mounting surfaces clean. Any debris on |
| the correct amount of teeth, TCG grind, and the | | | | the mounting surfaces can cause the bade to |
| correct prescore. If the prescore is not used, be | | | | wobble, resulting in removing many of the teeth |
| sure to use a high ATB blade. | | | | from the cut on the sides and increasing the kerf |
| * Select a precision saw blade with the | | | | of the cut. Chips and dust in the cutting path on |
| appropriate tip configuration for the machine and | | | | the material can also impact the horsepower |
| material being used, tensioned to the motor rpm | | | | consumption, feed rate, vibration, and heat build |
| of the machine it is used on, and a micrograin | | | | up which will have a negative effect on the tool |
| carbide designed for longer life on composite | | | | life and the finish. |
| materials. (cermet II is a longer life tip material | | | | *Keep blades from binding in the cut |
| that is both tougher and longer lasting than | | | | Scoring: |
| carbide) | | | | * Scoring can give very good cuts in many |
| * Maintain proper Blade Projection. The blade | | | | materials. If using thin material, stack cut using |
| projection is the distance from the top of the | | | | double face tape to secure the stock. |
| material to the top of the blade when it is cutting. | | | | * Make sure the blade is well adjusted to the |
| The blade projection can have a great effect on | | | | scoring blade. |
| the surface finish. Keeping a blade projection | | | | |