Wood is vastly used in making houses, furniture, and other materials. Albeit wood is lightweight and easily available, cutting it isn’t easy at all. Woodworkers make use of a table saw in order to penetrate through the thickness and sturdiness of a piece of wood. Apart from cutting, a table saw is also capable of making shapes out of wood stock.
After several uses, the blade in a table saw eventually wears out. Neglecting this issue might create uneven, less smooth cutting. Hence, it’s ultimately important to keep the blade sharp enough to make the transition in cutting wood as smooth as possible.
Several people are actually clueless about how to sharpen a table saw blade. Frankly, this is one of the most common problems with the easiest remedies.
Uses
Table saw is considered as the most flexible of all woodworking tools. Apparently, this particular tool is capable of ripping, crosscutting, rabbeting, dadoing, squaring, and even shaping woods. Having a specific tool capable of doing such detailed forms makes the process easier. In addition, it enhances people’s creativity in building better designs.
Before the existence of table saw, people only created basic cuts from wood stock due to limited sources and the manual process. This archaic method hindered woodworkers from creating more designs in contrast to this generation where tools are readily available in making work less tedious and more precise.
How to Sharpen a Table Saw Blade
Unbeknownst to some, table saw blades eventually become dull after many uses. Many users easily decide on replacing their blades to continue with their work, but it’s not really necessary to immediately go for a replacement. Instead of immediately resorting to more expense, you can try fixing your blades first, making it fully functional.
The steps in polishing a table saw blade is achievable as long as you’re determined to learn the steps and if you follow the instructions carefully to avoid injury along the way. Here are the steps needed to sharpen your table saw blade:
1. Take Safety Precautions
Before working on the blade, you must make sure not to injure yourself or anyone in the process. Look for a place that’s relatively safe and away from children for them not to inhale the metal shedding and also to refrain from touching parts that impose potential danger. See to it that you’re working on a flat surface in order to take off the blades from the body easily. Moreover, your table saw should not be plugged nor turned on upon removing the blade.
Dismantling the blades can be tedious and dangerous as there are still sharp objects lingering on the tool. Therefore, it’s mandatory to wear a pair of thick work gloves to protect your hands from scratches and pricks. Other protective gears needed in changing your table saw’s blade are goggles and face mask.
Filing away pieces of metal is an inevitable occurrence in sharpening your blades. Inhaling the metal dust can be detrimental to your health while the minute fragments of the said dust can cause blindness once it gets into your eyes. That’s why it’s important for you to wear your personal protective equipment before honing your blades.
2. Sharpening the Table Saw Blade
This step is a difficult process that takes time to finish. In order to properly sharpen your blades, you must not rush yourself in performing the procedure.
- Begin the procedure by using your sharpening file in honing a portion of the blade. Do a backward and forward stroke until you’re fully satisfied with the outcome.
Investing in a diamond blade is seen as one of the most effective ways in honing your blades.
- Remove your table saw’s circular blade and place it next to the diamond blade. This step is when you’ll be polishing the inside of the tooth and basically conducting friction against the diamond blade. Continue doing this entire process until you’re contented with the result.
You might find this step difficult at first, but as you keep on practicing, you’ll eventually get the hang of it. Learning this basic process can save a lot of money in the long run.
3. Add a Lubricant
A lubricant is used in tools to smoothen their movement and also to prevent it from rusting. Lubricating your table saw blades can aid in keeping it sharp and rust-free, saving you from the risk of purchasing new blades.
In order to do this, you need to add a small drop of oil onto the blade, including the sharpening edge. Using a newspaper, wipe the oil for it to spread throughout the blade. This can be messy, so make sure to continue wearing your gloves to avoid staining your hands with oil. After doing the entire step, replace the blade.
4. Perform a Test Run
Just because you’ve made an assessment of the blade based on its physical appearance, that doesn’t mean you’re not mandated to do a test run before completely using it at work.
After doing the first three steps mentioned, perform a test run on your newly sharpened blade by getting a piece of wood and cutting it into several pieces. You can truly see if the blade is sharp enough to create an impeccable cut by simply checking on the shredded wood. If there are still brittles on the side of the wood, then it’s still not sharp enough.
If you think the blade isn’t that sharp yet, you need to repeat the previous step until you’re fully satisfied with the result. However, if your blade still can’t produce a good cut, then maybe it’s time to purchase a new one.
Conclusion
Table saw is deemed as an important one amongst all woodworking tools due to its versatility in cutting and forming wood stocks.
Several people aren’t really familiar with how to sharpen a table saw blade and just opt to purchase a new one.
However, the steps in honing the blade are definitely doable. Give it a try before forking out your hard earned cash.
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