Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

Paul T.

--
The only dumb question, is the one not asked

On Jan 22, 11:33*pm, PHT wrote:
Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

Paul T.

--
The only dumb question, is the one not asked

That stuff is like butter to a blade. No abrasive aspect to it at all,
in fact, the opposite is true, it's pretty slippery.
You might want to go through in steps, so you won't over-heat the
waste-chips. It is a blind cut initially.

PHT wrote:
Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

Paul T.


I don't think you have to worry about it in the time it takes to run the
blade up through it, one time. Maybe you could use a cheaper blade
(assuming it's thinner or equal) to make the majority of the cut, then
finish it with the WWII.

Maybe a call or email to Forrest would help.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.

It's probably the "friendliest" stuff that blade will ever cut.

Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

The blade will dull slightly with every cut no matter what, but you'll
never notice it with UHMWPE.

Have fun chasing the sawdust. :-)


Just FYI...
From http://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

PHT wrote:
Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.

It's probably the "friendliest" stuff that blade will ever cut.

Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

The blade will dull slightly with every cut no matter what, but you'll
never notice it with UHMWPE.

Have fun chasing the sawdust. :-)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

-MIKE- wrote:
Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of
UHMW. I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the
blade through this UHMW will it dull the blade.

It's probably the "friendliest" stuff that blade will ever cut.

Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be
sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

The blade will dull slightly with every cut no matter what, but
you'll never notice it with UHMWPE.

Have fun chasing the sawdust. :-)


Just FYI...
From http://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can
rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."

If that is on the site you linked, please provide the navigation
because you link gets to a home page with no obvious link and
searching the site on "dull tool cutting" doesn't find a hit.
--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

-MIKE- wrote:

From http://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."

That's just plain amazing! You wouldn't believe how much of that stuff
I've cut with my TS and BS without any noticeable effect on the blades.

Of course, we might need to take into account that on the TS I cut with
an Olson 10x100 carbide-tipped blade ($50 from Menards).

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

J. Clarke wrote:
Just FYI...
From http://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can
rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."

If that is on the site you linked, please provide the navigation
because you link gets to a home page with no obvious link and
searching the site on "dull tool cutting" doesn't find a hit.

Discover google. :-)

It's from a pdf on their site, but I just googled the sentence I copied
and this popped up...

http://www.plasticsmag.com/features....ct-03&aid=3862



--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

From http://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."

That's just plain amazing! You wouldn't believe how much of that stuff
I've cut with my TS and BS without any noticeable effect on the blades.

Of course, we might need to take into account that on the TS I cut with
an Olson 10x100 carbide-tipped blade ($50 from Menards).


I'm right with you.
But I've always heard and read that from people in the plastics industry.

One man's dull is another man's sharp.

Try talking to a machinist about "flat" or an "exact measurement."
They consider woodworkers to be riding the short bus. :-)


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

-MIKE- wrote:
From http://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."

That's just plain amazing! You wouldn't believe how much of that stuff
I've cut with my TS and BS without any noticeable effect on the blades.

Of course, we might need to take into account that on the TS I cut
with an Olson 10x100 carbide-tipped blade ($50 from Menards).

Oops. I bought that blade on sale for $14.95 (six years ago) - and when
I looked for a current price, I discovered that Olson no longer makes
circular saw blades.

I'm right with you.
But I've always heard and read that from people in the plastics industry.

Could be so. I suspect that "large volume" for my shop doesn't amount to
much for a major production facility.

One man's dull is another man's sharp.

That's always true. I'm easy to please - I'm generally happy if I can
cut cherry and hard maple without burn or fuzz.

Try talking to a machinist about "flat" or an "exact measurement."
They consider woodworkers to be riding the short bus. :-)

The metalworking types even play this game with each other - but I did
design and build my own CNC router so I could cut joints with finer
precision than my neighbor can manage with his (manual) Bridgeport. :-

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
-MIKE- wrote:

From http://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."

That's just plain amazing! You wouldn't believe how much of that stuff
I've cut with my TS and BS without any noticeable effect on the blades.


I've done some turning with TS and UHMW PE. And it will dull tool
steel....for UHMW. Would still work great on steel. But UHMW takes a SHARP
edge to work well, and lots of relief. Carbide is NOT a choice to cut UHMW,
'cept occasional use on a TS. Carbide will not grind to as sharp an edge as
TS will, and the grind angles of a TS is for wood, not UHMW. Have no fear,
your blade will not even feel the cut on the zero clearance plate.

-MIKE- wrote:
J. Clarke wrote:
Just FYI...
From http://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can
rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."

If that is on the site you linked, please provide the navigation
because you link gets to a home page with no obvious link and
searching the site on "dull tool cutting" doesn't find a hit.

Discover google. :-)

It's from a pdf on their site, but I just googled the sentence I
copied and this popped up...

http://www.plasticsmag.com/features....ct-03&aid=3862

Different site.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"PHT" wrote

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

On these pages some years ago, I read an account from somebody who intended
to make a zero clearance inset by feeding the running saw upwards into the
plate.

He crouched down to watch what was happening, his face directly in line with
the blade.

As the blade bit into the plate it was ejected into his face.

Worth knowing about? Presumably this was a loose-fitting plate or he had not
troubled to fix it down.

Jeff

--
Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
email : Username is amgron
ISP is clara.co.uk
www.amgron.clara.net

"PHT" wrote in message
...
Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

Paul T.

--
The only dumb question, is the one not asked

It will have to be sharpened sooner no matter what you cut. How many
thousand are you cutting to be worried?

On Jan 22, 11:33*pm, PHT wrote:
Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

Paul T.

--
The only dumb question, is the one not asked

Hi, Paul,

I sell UHMW and have cut it for more than 10 years.

First of all, you should be using a carbide blade for it.

Secondly, it does NOT dull a blade to any noticeable effect - I do
about 250,000 cuts a year and I replace my blade every 1-2 years just
on general principle - it still feels fairly sharp when I do it.

Eric

On Jan 23, 9:00*am, surplusdealdude wrote:
On Jan 22, 11:33*pm, PHT wrote:

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW..
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

Paul T.

--
The only dumb question, is the one not asked

Hi, Paul,

I sell UHMW and have cut it for more than 10 years.

First of all, you should be using a carbide blade for it.

Secondly, it does NOT dull a blade to any noticeable effect - I do
about 250,000 cuts a year and I replace my blade every 1-2 years just
on general principle - it still feels fairly sharp when I do it.

Eric

There you go. Thread is over.

"Jeff Gorman" wrote in message
...

"PHT" wrote

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

On these pages some years ago, I read an account from somebody who
intended to make a zero clearance inset by feeding the running saw upwards
into the plate.

He crouched down to watch what was happening, his face directly in line
with the blade.

As the blade bit into the plate it was ejected into his face.

Worth knowing about? Presumably this was a loose-fitting plate or he had
not troubled to fix it down.

Well. Duh! Clamp the fence a small, non-zero distance away to hold it down.
Store bought plates have a pin at the rear to help keep the rear from
rising, but a solid hold-down is still called for.

On Jan 23, 9:20*am, "MikeWhy" wrote:
"Jeff Gorman" wrote in message

...





"PHT" wrote

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

On these pages some years ago, I read an account from somebody who
intended to make a zero clearance inset by feeding the running saw upwards
into the plate.

He crouched down to watch what was happening, his face directly in line
with the blade.

As the blade bit into the plate it was ejected into his face.

Worth knowing about? Presumably this was a loose-fitting plate or he had
not troubled to fix it down.

Well. Duh! Clamp the fence a small, non-zero distance away to hold it down.

Morris Dovey wrote:
....
with an Olson 10x100 carbide-tipped blade ($50 from Menards).

Oops. I bought that blade on sale for $14.95 (six years ago) - and when
I looked for a current price, I discovered that Olson no longer makes
circular saw blades.
....

Well that _IS_ a bummer -- wonder why they dropped them out?

I suppose the proliferation of others made the niche less profitable but
I surely thought they had great value. I'm not doing enough now to buy
many new blades but surely glad to have those I do if they're no longer
available...

--

On Jan 23, 6:27*am, Robatoy wrote:
On Jan 23, 9:20*am, "MikeWhy" wrote:





"Jeff Gorman" wrote in message

. ..

"PHT" wrote

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

On these pages some years ago, I read an account from somebody who
intended to make a zero clearance inset by feeding the running saw upwards
into the plate.

He crouched down to watch what was happening, his face directly in line
with the blade.

As the blade bit into the plate it was ejected into his face.

Worth knowing about? Presumably this was a loose-fitting plate or he had
not troubled to fix it down.

Well. Duh! Clamp the fence a small, non-zero distance away to hold it down.
Store bought plates have a pin at the rear to help keep the rear from
rising, but a solid hold-down is still called for.

I just put my fence over it..about 1/2" away from the edge of the
blade.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That's how I cut mine. The fence is the perfect "hold down" and
probably the safest. Just allow your TS to develop full RPM's and
raise the blade s-l-o-w-l-y and you will have a perfect zero clearance
plate. Just be sure that you raise the blade to the highest possible
position. Don't need any surprises later on. :-)
Minwax Mac (aka Jums)

"surplusdealdude" wrote in message
...
On Jan 22, 11:33 pm, PHT wrote:


Hi, Paul,

I sell UHMW and have cut it for more than 10 years.

First of all, you should be using a carbide blade for it.

Secondly, it does NOT dull a blade to any noticeable effect - I do
about 250,000 cuts a year and I replace my blade every 1-2 years just
on general principle - it still feels fairly sharp when I do it.

Eric

May be you forgot to mention, maybe you were not aware, a decent carbide
blade can be reshrpened. Your statement about the blade still feeling
fairly sharp when you replace it makes me think that you don't have blades
resharpened.

On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 04:33:52 GMT, PHT
wrote:

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

Paul T.

Well, as soon as you use the blade for plastic or wood, obviously it
won't be as sharp as before the cut. Plastics won't dull a blade all
that much, especially for one or two inserts. I never understood why
folks buy inserts--they are very easy to make from a piece of
cabinet-grade ply scrap and work just as good, maybe better because
the wooden ones can be shaped for a perfect snug fit.

On Jan 23, 11:45*am, Phisherman wrote:
On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 04:33:52 GMT, PHT
wrote:

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

Paul T.

Well, as soon as you use the blade for plastic or wood, obviously it
won't be as sharp as before the cut. * Plastics won't dull a blade all
that much, especially for one or two inserts. *I never understood why
folks buy inserts--they are very easy to make from a piece of
cabinet-grade ply scrap and work just as good, maybe better because
the wooden ones can be shaped for a perfect snug fit.

Mine are solid surface (Corian) Why? Because I have a bunch of it and
it is 1/2" thick. Different colours too!! Yippee.

J. Clarke wrote:
-MIKE- wrote:
J. Clarke wrote:
Just FYI...
From http://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can
rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."
If that is on the site you linked, please provide the navigation
because you link gets to a home page with no obvious link and
searching the site on "dull tool cutting" doesn't find a hit.
Discover google. :-)

It's from a pdf on their site, but I just googled the sentence I
copied and this popped up...

http://www.plasticsmag.com/features....ct-03&aid=3862

Different site.


Same info, however.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

Robatoy wrote:
On Jan 23, 9:00 am, surplusdealdude wrote:
On Jan 22, 11:33 pm, PHT wrote:

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.
Paul T.
--
The only dumb question, is the one not asked
Hi, Paul,

I sell UHMW and have cut it for more than 10 years.

First of all, you should be using a carbide blade for it.

Secondly, it does NOT dull a blade to any noticeable effect - I do
about 250,000 cuts a year and I replace my blade every 1-2 years just
on general principle - it still feels fairly sharp when I do it.

Eric

There you go. Thread is over.

Hitler.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:15:50 -0600, -MIKE-
wrote:

Robatoy wrote:
On Jan 23, 9:00 am, surplusdealdude wrote:

Secondly, it does NOT dull a blade to any noticeable effect - I do
about 250,000 cuts a year and I replace my blade every 1-2 years just
on general principle - it still feels fairly sharp when I do it.

Eric

There you go. Thread is over.

Hitler.

I wonder how many early adopters are left who will get that. Cracked
me up, though.



--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net
http://www.normstools.com

Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997

email addy de-spam-ified due to 1,000 spams per month.
If you can't figure out how to use it, I probably wouldn't
care to correspond with you anyway.

-MIKE- wrote:

Try talking to a machinist about "flat" or an "exact measurement."
They consider woodworkers to be riding the short bus. :-)

And rightfully so, considering the media...

I fly within a box +/- 50 feet. Try that in a car. G

surplusdealdude wrote:
Secondly, it does NOT dull a blade to any noticeable effect - I do
about 250,000 cuts a year and I replace my blade every 1-2 years just
on general principle - it still feels fairly sharp when I do it.

Thanks for posting actual professional experience!

B A R R Y wrote:
surplusdealdude wrote:
Secondly, it does NOT dull a blade to any noticeable effect - I do
about 250,000 cuts a year and I replace my blade every 1-2 years just
on general principle - it still feels fairly sharp when I do it.

Thanks for posting actual professional experience!

Too many things wrong with your statement to even start.

So I'll go to his....
Is he making 250k cuts on plastic, only. If that's the case, no wonder
he doesn't notice any dulling.
Is he going back and forth between plastic and hardwood and still not
noticing? That would say something.
Which is it?


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On Jan 23, 9:20*am, "MikeWhy" wrote:
"Jeff Gorman" wrote in message

...





"PHT" wrote

Got some insert blanks for the new table saw. They are made out of UHMW.
I have a WWII blade and I'm wondering how much running the blade through
this UHMW will it dull the blade.
Don't want to do it if it means the blade will have to be sharpened
sooner. I just got this blade a couple of weeks ago.

On these pages some years ago, I read an account from somebody who
intended to make a zero clearance inset by feeding the running saw upwards
into the plate.

He crouched down to watch what was happening, his face directly in line
with the blade.

As the blade bit into the plate it was ejected into his face.

Worth knowing about? Presumably this was a loose-fitting plate or he had
not troubled to fix it down.

Well. Duh! Clamp the fence a small, non-zero distance away to hold it down.

On Jan 23, 12:09*am, Morris Dovey wrote:
-MIKE- wrote:
*Fromhttp://www.plasticsintl.com
"Care should be taken to keep tools sharp because UHMW-PE can rapidly
dull tool cutting edges,..."

That's just plain amazing! You wouldn't believe how much of that stuff
I've cut with my TS and BS without any noticeable effect on the blades.

Of course, we might need to take into account that on the TS I cut with
an Olson 10x100 carbide-tipped blade ($50 from Menards).

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USAhttp://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

The carbide is the key here.

If you cut with a regular steel saw, yes, you'll run into problems
almost right away.

Use carbide, and the blade lasts forever.