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The last time I bought a fret slotting blade was from LV in van bc 35 yrs ago . It was about 4in. Am looking for something at least 6in in diameter. For making stringing , rosettes, and fretting. Looked at SM but way too $$$ . Suggestions for a reasonably priced one ??? Thank you!

like this?

https://www.msdiscounttool.com/catalog/ ... gLLO_D_BwE

Of course, u will need the drive

I have a set they are only 4in Friend rebored them to 5/8in. Problem is that over 1/16 in protrusion they burn and heat up very quickly at 3400 rpms on the TS and trying to cut 1in rosewood or vy tough hdwds into vy fine strips. is difficult

If you get the LMI blade, it’s only 70$USD. The SM has the stiffeners built in which drives up the price.

Although you do need stiffeners to use it and standard one are too big, didn’t see how much the LMI stiffeners were...

For making stringing and binding and other thin stock parts I have been using a Diablo 6-1/2” thin kerf, at around .063 or 1/16”. These are cheap, a last almost forever on thin stock.
Been using this for making kerfings as well.
I would prefer to have a dedicated blade thats only for fret slotting.

B

_________________
My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

What Bri said exactly. You cant beat those Diablo blades for chomping through tough hardwoods and leaving a nice
smooth cut without burning. Something I've thought about doing for a fret slotting blade is buying a 6 or 8in. HSS plywood
blade and taking it to a machine shop and have them thin the rim area. Although the blades are cheap the machine shop charges
might make it impractical. A machinist friend would be handy:)

The diablo blades ( 7 1/4 inch) may be your best bet. For resawing 1 inch thick rosewood or other dense woods a blade with a plate much thinner will probably heat up and warp. The coating on the diablo blades makes them a little more slippery so they heat up less. It's unfortunate that you lose as much wood as you get from resawing for rosettes and purflings. For really fine work you could start from veneer - then half the sawing would be already done.

I have some diablo thin cut blades but they are the 24 T kind , are the ones your speaking of have more teeth for ripping ? and yes I did look up LMI they have a .023 blade for $60 plus shipping. Hey thank you all for the suggestions. If anyone else has more ideas let me know. I found a nifty jig on the Cl forum that uses a plexiglas or acrylic top to cut vy thin veneers. I could do the same, but using plywood instead.

. Ken I have an 8 in , 80 tooth veneer type blade . the problem with it IMHO is that in dense hdwds it burns the teeth and leaves a residue. If a machine shop made the teeth thinner, more than likely the thin teeth will burn in dense hdwds.

The Diablo comes in 24, 40 and 60 tooth varieties. I find that the 40 tooth works well for me. While the 60 tooth
might give marginally smoother cuts it's more expensive and harder to find in stores than the 24 and 40. I use the 24 tooth
on my circular saws and I'm sure on my table saw a time or two for cutting laminated linings and binding stock.
For ripping, nothing wrong with the 24t and... it can be had really cheap, if that means anything.

And I agree, I wouldn't recommend using a veneer blade for anything other than veneers and fret slotting and such.

TNX ken for the info ,just looking at these blades. they are all available via amazon prime. Going to call LMI MON. for the fret slotting blade

The 7 1/4 inch Diablo blades have an alternate top bevel grind and are a general purpose blade and can be used for cross cutting or ripping. The higher the tooth count the smaller the gullets so the quicker they fill up with sawdust. When cutting thicker stock this can make the feed rate slower and cause things to heat up more. On one inch stock it shouldn't be too much of a problem and the higher tooth count may give you a smoother finish. 40 teeth on a 7 1/4 inch blade is roughly equivalent to 60 teeth on a 10 inch blade.
For long rips I would probably use the 24 inch tooth blade and scrape the surface with a razor blade scraper if it didn't give a smooth enough surface. If I wanted a smoother cut off the saw I might try the 40 tooth blade to see how well it would work - sometimes these things surprise you.
Keeping some spray can oven cleaner handy can remove resin build up and help things run cooler.

You have the stiffeners?

Good question Mike . Just went to the back shop and found 4 steel 1/8in by 2 3/4in stiffeners with 5/8in bored hole done on a cnc by a machinest friend. Good thing you mentioned them I/ve totally forgotten about them. they were used with the jewellers HSS blades. I decided to get the 40 t atb diablo 7 1/4in blade I have 5 of the 24 t ones and went to walmart to get some easy off. I/ve been cutting up a lot of softwoods lately and they seem to gum up BS and ts blades Tnx everyone for all the tips . they are much appreciated

Yeah, blades can be inexpensive, but stiffeners are strangely expensive