How do you tighten the blade?

[Henry Anthony]

As a novice user, I have not yet found a way, that I feel comfortable with, to hold the blade or a dado set while tightening the nut. Currently I am jamming a scrap up against it but with little pressure, the blade usually slips. Any ideas are appreciated.

[DaveM]

Henry
I know that Woodcraft has "blade holders" available. Personally I find it just as easy to use a piece of scrap 2 x 4. I like that cause it has some meat to it and I can hold it in place while I lossen or tighten the arbor nut. Dave

[Wood Dog]

Henry,

I would guess that if a survey were done, most would say they use the scrap wood technique. As you probably already know, when tightening a blade, a light hand is in order. Some would suggest to only finger tighten and let the saw do the rest. I do this with about a 1/4 turn on the wrench. The dado is a little different. I snug it up tight but on the other hand I don't lay down on the wrench either. In both cases, I use scrap wood, usually a 2X4.

Wood Dog

[Jerry Jensen]

I have used both scrap wood and the blade holder. The only reason I bought the blade holder is that I bent the screw that holds the insert in place when levering the scrap wood against it. I do feel like the scrap wood approach gives better leverage if you really want to hold that blade still, and the blade holder does not work with a dado blade anyway. Just watch to make sure you don't bend the screw when leaning on the wood.

[Dave Arbuckle]

"Some would suggest to only finger tighten"

I'm in that camp. Grasp the sawblade with your left hand, and tighten hard as you can with just your fingers with your right.

But NOT for dados, there you need a wrench to tighten.

Dave

[daveferg]

Actually, the slipping point---using a scrap of wood, is how I gauge what's tight enough. It only ends up being an 1/8th to a 1/4 turn past finger tight. It's only a small difference---I don't want even a momentary chance (and it's only a split second) that the blade would slip on the arbor, causing long-term wear.

[Henry Anthony]

OK guys. Thanks for the support. So I guess what I was doing was all right. I would feel a bit uneasy about the finger tight method. What is it meant by "Let the saw do the rest"? Is there something about the rotation and the load on the blade the somehow tightens the nut?

My main concern was with the dado. Just using a piece of scrap the blades were rotating and going out of the alignment I had put them in. I solved this by holding it with an old leather glove while tightening. Then used the scrap piece method.

Best regards,

Henry

[Dave Arbuckle]

Yes, the rotation of the blade does tighten the nut. This is why left-tilting saws use "normal" right-hand thread nuts, and right-tilting saw use left-hand thread nuts. If they were the other way 'round, the blade would be self-removing. ;)

Overtightening a blade is a big problem. It is easy to distort the blade plate, causing very difficult to track down sawing problems.

Dave

[Henry Anthony]

Thanks, Dave. I always enjoy your knowledgable posts.

Sorry for the double post. How the heck did that happen. [edit: I took care of it, Jake]

Best regards,

Henry

[ 04-08-2002: Message edited by: JSchnarre ]

[Henry Anthony]

OK Jake. Good job on this forum!

Best regards,

Henry