At a recent woodworking show in Detroit I watched a Oldham rep
demonstrating their top of the line table saw blade. He was cutting
some very thin slices, about 1/16", from a variety of wood samples,
melamine and even Corian. The finish of the cut surfaces was
extremely smooth with a slight burnished effect which may have been
brought about by the slow feed rate. The rep also gave credit to
their blade stabilizer for the fine performance. The blade stabilizer
was a single piece, about 4 inches in diameter, having an o-ring
located in it. The o-ring was about 1/8" thick and about 3 inches in
diameter. Only one blade stabilizer is used against the blade and a
regular washer is on the other side of the blade. I'm guessing this
may tend to "cup" the blade slightly to the regular washer.

One of the more impressive cuts made was a rip through a 10 inch
length of cherry. Half-way through the cut the rep stops pushing the
cherry into the blade and launches into a short monologue about how
hard cherry is to cut without burning. His hands are waving in the
air but I'm watching the piece of cherry with the blade spinning
inside it—and it's not moving. The cut is finished and there is no
burning on the cherry and only a slight more burnishing where the cut
was interrupted. This was no fancy cabinet saw he was using either
(probably wouldn't want to drag one around the country) but appeared
to be a smaller contractor-grade saw on a wooded platform.


Being slightly skeptical, I gotta wonder what else is going on here
that I don't know about—or is this blade/stabilizer combo this good.
What say you?

dustin pockets wandered in from the void and babbled something like:

At a recent woodworking show in Detroit I watched a Oldham rep
demonstrating their top of the line table saw blade. He was cutting

Haven't used one in years, but Oldham's Signature blades were good
quality and cut smoothly. I went to buy one last month and found that
the local stores have replaced the line with gulp Irwin & Dewalt.
In fact, Grizzly is the only place I know of anymore.

Don't know about the specific Oldham blade demonstrated, the saw it was
demonstrated on, or the ethics of the rep demonstrating it, but back when I
used to do alot of trade shows, I got to know a rep doing a similar demo. I
asked about the bench top saw he was using, and how well it was cutting. He
said there was nothing "stock" about the saw. They had basically taken every
component from an ordinary saw and reworked it - upgraded bearings,
balanced, redesigned, etc. He said they did that so that customers would
think that the blades would make their saws cut as well. (surprise,
surprise). Of course for many folks, the high priced blades were a big
improvement, but the results demonstrated at the show were largely
unobtainable for most folks.

Jim Ray, President
McFeely's Square Drive Screws
www.mcfeelys.com


--
email SPAM countermeasures require removal of allnails to reply
"dustin pockets" wrote in message
om...
At a recent woodworking show in Detroit I watched a Oldham rep
demonstrating their top of the line table saw blade. He was cutting
some very thin slices, about 1/16", from a variety of wood samples,
melamine and even Corian. The finish of the cut surfaces was
extremely smooth with a slight burnished effect which may have been
brought about by the slow feed rate. The rep also gave credit to
their blade stabilizer for the fine performance. The blade stabilizer
was a single piece, about 4 inches in diameter, having an o-ring
located in it. The o-ring was about 1/8" thick and about 3 inches in
diameter. Only one blade stabilizer is used against the blade and a
regular washer is on the other side of the blade. I'm guessing this
may tend to "cup" the blade slightly to the regular washer.

One of the more impressive cuts made was a rip through a 10 inch
length of cherry. Half-way through the cut the rep stops pushing the
cherry into the blade and launches into a short monologue about how
hard cherry is to cut without burning. His hands are waving in the
air but I'm watching the piece of cherry with the blade spinning
inside it-and it's not moving. The cut is finished and there is no
burning on the cherry and only a slight more burnishing where the cut
was interrupted. This was no fancy cabinet saw he was using either
(probably wouldn't want to drag one around the country) but appeared
to be a smaller contractor-grade saw on a wooded platform.


Being slightly skeptical, I gotta wonder what else is going on here
that I don't know about-or is this blade/stabilizer combo this good.
What say you?

While I am partial to Forrest, I have seen that Oldham demo also and agree
that it is a pretty good blade. But, like a vacuum cleaner salesman he is
there to sell a product and will set the stage to show off the products
advantages and hide the saws disadvantages.

A good cut is dependent on a fence being STRAIGHT and the stock being
STRAIGHT.

First off, when I watched the demo he did not do this with a board that was
longer than the rip fence of the saw. The trick he was showing was using a
relative short piece of stock. Short pieces of stock tent to be straighter
than say a 4' or longer piece of stock that is more commonly used in normal
use. Also a less than perfectly straight fence will yield better results
with shorter pieces of stock like the 10" piece that you were looking at,
than with longer boards.

If you use straight short pieces of wood all the time, IMHO most any good
blade will yield similar results. I seriously doubt that any demonstration
would yield the wow effect you and I have witnessed with the common TS and
the common longer board.

The key to getting those results are to have your saw set up properly and to
use "perfectly" straight stock along with using a good blade.




"dustin pockets" wrote in message
om...
At a recent woodworking show in Detroit I watched a Oldham rep
demonstrating their top of the line table saw blade. He was cutting
some very thin slices, about 1/16", from a variety of wood samples,
melamine and even Corian. The finish of the cut surfaces was
extremely smooth with a slight burnished effect which may have been
brought about by the slow feed rate. The rep also gave credit to
their blade stabilizer for the fine performance. The blade stabilizer
was a single piece, about 4 inches in diameter, having an o-ring
located in it. The o-ring was about 1/8" thick and about 3 inches in
diameter. Only one blade stabilizer is used against the blade and a
regular washer is on the other side of the blade. I'm guessing this
may tend to "cup" the blade slightly to the regular washer.

One of the more impressive cuts made was a rip through a 10 inch
length of cherry. Half-way through the cut the rep stops pushing the
cherry into the blade and launches into a short monologue about how
hard cherry is to cut without burning. His hands are waving in the
air but I'm watching the piece of cherry with the blade spinning
inside it-and it's not moving. The cut is finished and there is no
burning on the cherry and only a slight more burnishing where the cut
was interrupted. This was no fancy cabinet saw he was using either
(probably wouldn't want to drag one around the country) but appeared
to be a smaller contractor-grade saw on a wooded platform.


Being slightly skeptical, I gotta wonder what else is going on here
that I don't know about-or is this blade/stabilizer combo this good.
What say you?

Those blade demonstration saws are like finely crafted and tuned Swiss
watches ... I doubt seriously that you could buy one, but would have to
build it from the ground up instead.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 9/21/03

"dustin pockets" wrote in message

Being slightly skeptical, I gotta wonder what else is going on here
that I don't know about-or is this blade/stabilizer combo this good.
What say you?

I don't have that Oldham blade, but I have not trouble making 1/16" by 1/16"
pieces, generally from holly and ebony for inlay.

With almost any really good blade, Forrest, Freud, Amana, whatever, and a well
tuned saw (whcih really does not take all that long, if you knwo what to do),
you should be able to rip perfectly. Ripping is what a table saw DOES.

(DarylRos) writes:

I don't have that Oldham blade, but I have not trouble making 1/16" by 1/16"
pieces, generally from holly and ebony for inlay.

With my fathers Metabo saw and a Gudo blade that's also no problem!

--
Dr. Juergen Hannappel http://lisa2.physik.uni-bonn.de/~hannappe
Phone: +49 228 73 2447 FAX ... 7869
Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
CERN: Phone: +412276 76461 Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23

Swingman wandered in from the void and babbled something like:

Those blade demonstration saws are like finely crafted and tuned Swiss
watches ... I doubt seriously that you could buy one, but would have to
build it from the ground up instead.

Well, there is THAT too...
I meant to comment on the 'lack of vibration' part, but dimissed it in
lieu of the brief blade commentary...

Greg

Juergen Hannappel writes:

(DarylRos) writes:

I don't have that Oldham blade, but I have not trouble making 1/16" by 1/16"
pieces, generally from holly and ebony for inlay.

With my fathers Metabo saw and a Gudo blade that's also no problem!

Make that "Guhdo"... They also sell table saw blades with
polycrystalline diamond tips, for furniture factories where the time
to change blades for sharpening really consts seroius money...

--
Dr. Juergen Hannappel http://lisa2.physik.uni-bonn.de/~hannappe
Phone: +49 228 73 2447 FAX ... 7869
Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
CERN: Phone: +412276 76461 Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23

About 4 years ago I was in the market for a new blade and was thinking
about buying a Forrest when the woodworkers show came to town. Well, I
saw the same demo you did, probably the same saw and same guy, and
decided to buy the Oldham instead. At that time the top of the line
Oldham was called the "Wizard Elite" It came with the stabilizer also,
but it did not have any O ring, just a machined steel disk that
installed on the threaded side of the arbor. The blade worked for me
every bit as good as the demo indicated it would. At some point I
removed the stabilizer because I needed the additional depth of cut,
and couldn't really see any difference, so I never reinstalled it.

About a year ago, I thought it was time to have the blade
sharpened, plus I wanted a full 1/8" regular kerf blade, so I did
finally purchase a Forrest WWII. IMO the Oldham, when new, cut just as
well as the Forrest. (I did have the Oldham sharpened, but it will
probably just sit in the drawer until I need to have the Forrest
sharpened)







--

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland

A well tuned saw can make a good blade excellent. Surprisingly enough, the
Delta combo blade I got with my Unisaw a couple of years back will also give
the WWII a run for its money. It's what I went back to when I sent in the
Forrest for sharpening recently.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 9/21/03


"Lawrence Wasserman" wrote in message

any difference, so I never reinstalled it.

About a year ago, I thought it was time to have the blade
sharpened, plus I wanted a full 1/8" regular kerf blade, so I did
finally purchase a Forrest WWII. IMO the Oldham, when new, cut just as
well as the Forrest. (I did have the Oldham sharpened, but it will
probably just sit in the drawer until I need to have the Forrest
sharpened)

Swingman wandered in from the void and babbled something like:

A well tuned saw can make a good blade excellent. Surprisingly enough, the
Delta combo blade I got with my Unisaw a couple of years back will also give
the WWII a run for its money. It's what I went back to when I sent in the
Forrest for sharpening recently.

Funny you should mention that. I bought a Dewalt blade last year,
thinking that it would be better than the 'crappy' Delta OEM blade.
Had trouble with cuts being skewed kinda funny. Aligned the saw till
I was blue in the face. Out of desperation, I reinstalled the Delta
blade and - voila - no more strange cuts. Thing actually cuts pretty
well, and has held an edge well. I ripped 280 feet of sappy SYP in
one session - and it still cuts well.

SYP?? You still cutting on that stuff ... don't they have any _real_ wood
over there in GA?

;)


--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 9/21/03


Greg G. wrote in message
Swingman wandered in from the void and babbled something like:

A well tuned saw can make a good blade excellent. Surprisingly enough,
the
Delta combo blade I got with my Unisaw a couple of years back will also
give
the WWII a run for its money. It's what I went back to when I sent in the
Forrest for sharpening recently.

Funny you should mention that. I bought a Dewalt blade last year,
thinking that it would be better than the 'crappy' Delta OEM blade.
Had trouble with cuts being skewed kinda funny. Aligned the saw till
I was blue in the face. Out of desperation, I reinstalled the Delta
blade and - voila - no more strange cuts. Thing actually cuts pretty
well, and has held an edge well. I ripped 280 feet of sappy SYP in
one session - and it still cuts well.

In article , (dustin pockets) writes:
Being slightly skeptical, I gotta wonder what else is going on here
that I don't know about—or is this blade/stabilizer combo this good.
What say you?

I'd have asked him to perform the same demo WITHOUT the stabilizer and a
"standard" blade to show the difference!

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD"
To reply, remove the TRABoD!
Kaplow Klips & Baffle: http://nira-rocketry.org/LeadingEdge/Phantom4000.pdf
www.encompasserve.org/~kaplow_r/ www.nira-rocketry.org www.nar.org

Save Model Rocketry from the HSA! http://www.space-rockets.com/congress.html

Swingman wandered in from the void and babbled something like:

A well tuned saw can make a good blade excellent. Surprisingly enough, the
Delta combo blade I got with my Unisaw a couple of years back will also give
the WWII a run for its money. It's what I went back to when I sent in the
Forrest for sharpening recently.

Funny you should mention that. I bought a Dewalt blade last year,
thinking that it would be better than the 'crappy' Delta OEM blade.
Had trouble with cuts being skewed kinda funny. Aligned the saw till
I was blue in the face. Out of desperation, I reinstalled the Delta
blade and - voila - no more strange cuts. Thing actually cuts pretty
well, and has held an edge well. I ripped 280 feet of sappy SYP in
one session - and it still cuts well.

Greg G.

"dustin pockets" wrote in message
om...


Being slightly skeptical, I gotta wonder what else is going on here
that I don't know about-or is this blade/stabilizer combo this good.
What say you?

News to me about the saws used in the demo being fined-tuned machines - but
it makes sense. (Wondering a little how "tuned" they'd stay given the rigors
of moving from show to show to show.)

The Oldham Signature blade series comes in a couple of flavors. One for
about $80 available from thewoodworkerschoice.com scored very well in a FWW
blade test. Only bested by the WWII.

Lowes used to carry a $40 version of that Oldham Signature blade. Outward
appearances we such that they seemed identical. Only the product number was
the give away that the Lowes flavor wasn't the same one tested by FWW. That
said - the Lowes flavor cut pretty well in my saw. I bought two and find
them comparable to a Freud I have.

Swingman thus spake:

SYP?? You still cutting on that stuff ... don't they have any _real_ wood
over there in GA?

;)

Man, this post just showed up!

Yea, still cutting it occasionally. It was for a 72 x 32 x 2 1/4"
workbench top a while back. Finished with Tung Oil, it actually looks
quite good. Not like the crappy looking SPF stuff. Even though I
have overhauled a Ford 4R70W transmission on it, and innumerable
woodworking projects, I STILL marvel at how nice it looks when freshly
oiled. I posted a picture of it last year in abpw.

I use poplar more often these days. The carpet bagging developers
haven't left much wood to work with. Since we're so shy of it here,
why not send me some native Texas wood? How about some nice native
mesquite for accents? ;-)