TS 3650 OEM blade

[amcnerl]

I bought a frued (sp?) thin kerf blade and was swapping them on the saw and noticed my OEM blade is a thin kerf blade. Has anyone else made this discovery? I was under the impression most were full kerf. No big deal, needed to cut a cabinet door and install a piano hinge along the cut and didn't want to take to much material off. I didn't check the thickness of the blade before I bought the new one. Just curious..

Still made the swap, glad too. Much nicer cut with the new blade.

[hewood]

Most contractor saws and hybrids that come with a blade have a TK because it's less taxing on the motor. Probably a little less expensive too. Most will agree that it's not hard to find an aftermarket blade that's better than a stock blade...very few are even respectable.

[BadgerDave]

Interesting that you pointed that out. The blade that came with my 3612 has a kerf measurement of .112 which is thicker than most thin kerf blades. I replaced that blade with a full kerf Freud LU84R011 which has a kerf measurement of .126.

The interesting part is that with the full kerf Freud blade mounted on the saw the tape measure on my front rail is dead on. It seems to me that running thin kerf blades on the 3650 would make the tape measure on the front rail only accurate enough to get you close. Because the installation instructions for the rails are the same for the 3650 as my 3612 , I've often wondered why there hasn't been more comments about the tape measure being "off".

Most of the time I don't use the tape measure on the front rail to set my fence so if I was using a thin kerf blade the slight difference wouldn't matter anyway. I'm just curious why Ridgid has the tape measure setup to be accurate for use with a full kerf blade but supply the saw with a thin kerf blade?

[hewood]

Dave - Is the cursor adjustable on your 3612? Most of my fences have ~ 1/2" of adjustability, so if the tapes close, you just reset the cursor to 0".

[BadgerDave]

Scott, of course my 3612 has that feature. Talk about feeling stupid. :o:rolleyes: I'll bet a dollar to a dime that I had to adjust it too when I put the LU84 on my saw. Yet another example of the 60's and early 70's catching up with me.:p

[amcnerl]

I hadn't thought of the lower power of the motor till it was mentioned here. Now it makes sense. What I found is the new blade is the same thickness as the original. My tape on the fence is still dead on. Also the marking plate in front of the blade with my pencil marks are still right. Lucky choice I guess. Thanks for the comments.

Hope the 60's and 70's don't catch up here. I'll never get anything done.....

[hewood]

... Yet another example of the 60's and early 70's catching up with me.:p Far out, Man! :D

[oldslowchevy]

Woooooah dude, i thought i was the only one man .................. that is sooooo groooovy man. badger dave was a real person(atleast once)lol

[amcnerl]

Nothing like a little flower power, peace and love to freak you out man... Don't bogart that .........

[oldslowchevy]

lo see this tread has gone waaaaaaaaaay off topic lol but in an effort to try to get back on topic i can say that 90% of the blade i come across at the big box stores are thin kerf. i hope that helps some.sniff sniff hummm whats that smell?lol

[amcnerl]

osc,

I thought it was just here where I live, most all the blades are thin kerf. Wow, man what a trip.