March 20, 2002

 

To:                        Dick Morano

 

From:                        Dan Smullen

 

Subject:                        Minutes from Furniture SIG meeting of 3/6/02

 

Attendees:            We had 35 people at Ward Donahue’s house for this meeting, including the following new people:

 

Board stuff:            Connie Gates said that the RWS now has over 400 members.

 

Next Meeting:  We meet next at my house on April 3rd – directions to follow.

 

Other news:

 

·         Pat Camilleri attended the Toronto woodworking show – he said that it was about 40,000 SF [the Buffalo show would fit in a corner of it!] 300 booths, including 150 –200 “second tier” vendors.  The big names in power tools had very large areas set up with everything running.  There were areas especially for women to make projects, some areas for children to do the same, and some general areas where anyone could make a simple hands-on project of some sort.

Some large universal woodworking systems from Europe were at the show, and in general there was plenty to see and interact with, lots of equipment not usually seen at our smaller regional shows – I’ll be putting this show on my list for next year!

·         SIG size – our SIG has grown to the point that the numbers can overwhelm the host’s ability to get us all together for the meeting portion each month.  All year we have had 30 or more people. On the one hand, this is great!  New ideas, new shops to peruse, etc. At the same time, perhaps there is a better format to have our general meetings and the shop sessions which would allow more flexibility.  Chuck Rinehart and Dan Holmes have agreed to coordinate some thinking and discussion around how we might “have it all”.  If anyone has an idea or knows of a community meeting place in their town which could be used without too much hassle, please let Chuck or Dan know. 

 

 

Program:

 

Bill Kinney, from Sawell Saws and Tools in Niagara Falls, NY was a guest speaker.  He brought a number of handouts and spent at least two solid hours explained both the technology and practical use of carbide saw blades.  Sawell manufactures industrial blades and sharpens blades of all sizes, along with any other tool that cuts wood.  Bill packed a lot of information into the talk, so I will try to present the main points in the bullets below:

 

·         Bill has been involved in the saw blade business, which started out as a sharpening service only for about 2 years

·         After a time he decided that it would be beneficial to make blades for general purpose or custom uses to grow the business

·         Sawsmiths, people who can make a proper blade, tension it, flatten it and complete with inlaid carbide and appropriate sharpening, are a dying breed

·         Sawell serves end users almost exclusively

·         Carbide grades used for blades:

o        C1 - throwaway bulk blades

o        C2 - most commonly used for blades in industry

o        C4 – micro grain, hardest premium grade

o        Router bits usually use a lesser grade of carbide, due to the slightly less demanding SFM [surface feet/min] criterion

·         Average blade size made is 18 – 20”, but can run up to 52” diameter

·         8,000 – 10,000 RPM is OK with Sawell blades

·         Cu plugs are sometimes used to absorb vibration and quiet blades

·         Blades must be tensioned prior to finishing to stress the blade

·         Flattening is the most important aspect of resharpening – almost 100% of incoming blades need to be made flat first

·         Rules of thumb: the thicker the material to cut, the fewer teeth on blade

·         Stabilizers only needed if you’re forcing the blade – pushing it beyond its limits

·         Stiffeners main role is to provide heat sinking, not to reinforce blade – most useful with thin kerf blades which have less mass to carry away heat

·         Sawell’s version of stiffeners are concave to each side of the blade, not dead flat

·         Alternating top bevel [ATB] is the best grind for hardwood cutting, especially cross grain [more cellulose fibers to cut]

·         Blades with fewer teeth are used for ripping [less fibers to cut with the grain]

·         Triple chip design is best for plastics and abrasive materials

·         Modified triple chip has raker teeth with a slight 45o corners to minimize chipout

·         Preferred height of blade protruding above workpiece should be 3/16”. As blade dulls, raise until chipping stops. Keep doing this until blade is about ¾ - 1” above material.  This is mainly true when using blades with raker type teeth – you are trying to keep the raker angle optimized against the workpiece.

 

That’s it, considering my meager note-taking skills.  If anyone wants more information and was not able to attend the March 6th meeting, you can call most any one of us who did get the handout kit. 

 

Bill welcomes calls from anyone with a vexing cutting problem to give him a call at 716-695-2763 [or 800-314-1477].  His fax is 716-695-2796. He might already have had to solve your type of problem, or can think of a new solution if need be.

 

Sawell has free pickup and delivery. Currently, Ward Donahue has offered his house to be a central dropoff point for any blade you want to have sharpened. Sharpening cost runs from about $8 to $14, depending on number of teeth. Extra charges would be added at nominal cost for bad or missing teeth if needed.  Ward may have more information on typical pricing, since he has used the service for quite some time.

 

We thank Bill for his passionate discussion of a technology he knows very well!

 

Happy woodworking! 

 

Dan