Circ saw blade

I was ripping a sheet of 9mm plywood today for my Skerry oplans build and teh saw was not cooperating. The blade was pretty old so I picked up a new general blade plus a fine tooth plywood blade.

My question for the group - should I use the fine tooth plywood blade for ripping plywood? Sounds like a no brainer but teh okoume is not your average ply...

John


9 replies:

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RE: Circ saw blade

I find a carbide blade works better on plywood than the finetooth blades.

RE: Circ saw blade

With okuome that's 3/8" thick or less, I prefer a handsaw, specifically one of the Japanese saws sold by CLC.

Laszlo

 

RE: Circ saw blade

I had the same question, and asking around, heard that the plywood blade was not the clean cutting machine one might expect, and was told to lookf for a thin kirf carbide blade, and I found something called a finish blade that has worked really well.  And another piece of info (that maybe everyone else knows) that I picked up is that the depth of the blad should be set so that the teeth, where the blad is thickest, should judt clear the lower edge of the plywood.  This blade can go into the cut following a curve that my saber saw made.  David

RE: Circ saw blade

Thanks.

I will check the circ blades to see if they are carbide.

But Lazlo, shame on me for not thinking of that. I do not (yet) have the CLC saws but figured I'd take a whack at it with a hand saw. Cutting the line on the remainder of the 8' rip turned out to be simple. Actually quicker than if I took the time to set up the circ saw for the rip (find the goggles, plug in the  extension cord, set blade depth, lock the neighor's cat out of the garage so it does not make off with my fingers after I cut through them...)

Plus, it opens up quiet evenings of boat building. CLC's Bonsai saw may be slower then my saber saw, but I can use it after the kiddies go to sleep. 

Thanks again!

John

RE: Circ saw blade

Take a serious look at the diablo by freud.  It is a 40 tooth carbide blade that makes the narrowest cut of any carbide I have used.  We had a bunch of fences replaced at the farm last year and I used it to make fire wood out of the old fence boards.  It goes through 20 year old oak like it was soft pine.  I used mine to cut out all the planels for my wife's wood duck with no splintering.  Wish I could use it on the tighter curves.

http://www.freud.ca/English/Pages/Blades/Diablo/Diablo.html

On a side note, stitched the hull together last night, starting to look like a boat! 

RE: Circ saw blade

Thanks for the info.

I will check out that blade. In teh mean time CLC just shipped my Japanese pull saw, bonsai saw and rasp. I am thinking of saving the power tools for the big cuts and working by hand otherwise.

Last night I had the garage door open - the stars were out, air was crisp and hand cuts were straight.

John
Rochester NY

RE: Circ saw blade

I think you will really enjoy that Japan style pull saw, and find yourself using it for all kinds of things that you used to get out the goggles and earplugs and power saw for.

You've already mentioned some of the many benefits.  The fact that it is actually a FASTER route to end-of-job, if you count setup and cleanup, is one that surprised me as I learned to rely on my new CLC saw.

I had to retire mine when the blade wore out (CLC doesn't sell replacement blades, sadly).

I've bought two new ones since, at Home on De Pot and Sears.  Unfortunately, as happens more and more often with tools, they turned out to be identical made-in-China pieces of junk, differing only in brand name.

I believe the pull saw is inherently a far superior design to the push type handed down to us by the generation of our dear old Dads.

 

 

RE: Circ saw blade

John,

These muscle-powered tools and muscle-powered boats really go well together. I made that same discovery about being able to work while the family and neighbors were asleep. And then there's the feel of a really sharp blade going through a piece of high quality wood.

I understand that there's situations where power tools are better, such as mass production (would really hate to cut all the strips for a stripper with a hand saw) and some sanding, but it's nice to be able to drop back to quiet and safe tools where the carbon footprint is one's own exhalations. BTW, you're going to LOVE that Shinto Rasp.

Camper,

I am seriously impressed that you wore out that blade. Mine's on my 3rd boat. And you are absolutely right about the junk at Home Despot. I tried one of their draw saws back before my CLC saw and the teeth came off in an afternoon.

Laszlo

RE: Circ saw blade

Camper,

You are in luck. CLC now does sell replacement blades. I did not pick any up, but like knowing that they are there. I did think about getting a Japanese saw from one of the big box stores but was concerned about quality.

Also, I live in suburban sprawl but I work in a quaint college town. I do not mind paying same price or even a touch more for an item if you know the merchant by reputation and first name.

John Harris & Co. were courteous enough to re-arrange the Pocketship ride schedule at the last Okoumefest to accomodate my travel plans. I really enjoyed that nice glide across the Chesapeake and the opportunity to pelt him with all manner of questions.

John

 

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