Fret Slotting Blade

[Hydrogeoman]

I about choked when I saw (no pun intended) this blade, especially after shelling out ~$70 for the Stewmac one.

look up "Cleveland Slitting Saw" on ebay

I don't know if Cleveland Tool is still in business, but I am going to try and find out if this type of blade comes in a .023 kerf. (sorry about not providing a link, everytime I paste the URL in, the link sends you to the sign-in form, ***?)

Edited June 5, 2006 by Hydrogeoman

[ryanb]

Slitting saws come in virtually any size down to about .006", every 0.002" or so, including 0.023". They are sold by any machine shop supplier. They are normally used for cutting metal in a milling machine, and you have to have the right arbor to put it on (and something you can put it in ... like a milling machine).

For an example, try http://www.mcmaster.com/, search for slitting saw and look at the second page.

The Ebay one you mentioned is a slight variation of the same thing used by jewelers. (Jeweler supplies have them too.) You still have to have the right arbor. You really can't just slap it into your table saw.

[Hydrogeoman]

Slitting saws come in virtually any size down to about .006", every 0.002" or so, including 0.023". They are sold by any machine shop supplier. They are normally used for cutting metal in a milling machine, and you have to have the right arbor to put it on (and something you can put it in ... like a milling machine).

For an example, try http://www.mcmaster.com/, search for slitting saw and look at the second page.

The Ebay one you mentioned is a slight variation of the same thing used by jewelers. (Jeweler supplies have them too.) You still have to have the right arbor. You really can't just slap it into your table saw.

Thanks for the education, I thought I was on to something great as these blades are going for less than $5, but the arbor size shoots that idea down.

[erikbojerik]

Not only that, but the entire blade is the same thickness, so you'd need stabilizers to keep the blade from warping when you cut. The StewMac blade thicker and is 0.023 only on the outer 1/4" or so. These jewelers blades are fairly delicate things, made for slower speed saws than a table saw.

I actually went to the trouble of having a quote made up for a company to make some the same specs as the StewMac blade, and the cost came out about the same.....as long as I bought 100 up front.