I will "never" do this. However, I might put a table saw blade in the lathe and thin it down with a tool post grinder... That Stewmac blade really is right pricey! Thanks!
Thanks for watching! Doing this with proper tooling, on a lathe, would be ideal and very likely a breeze. The trick will be in starting with the right blade - having a lathe, the tools and experience - I have none of those things. Hmm. Agreed, the StewMac blades are way expensive. I know there isn't a huge market for such a blade, but $160 seems very, very expensive. Good luck with any project you do, or don't do. Be safe and take care!
When i first priced the stew-mac blade i had the same thought ❌️⬆️$$$$ i have the lathe and tool post grinder set up necessary to make my own fret blades in any diameter i want the only thing holding me up is projects on my bench that are time critical once those are cleared out i will be making fret blades in 5 diameters 10,8,7.25,6.5,4.375 which i have all the bladed necessary already so my cost will be $0
Andluth, thanks for watching. I hear what you are saying, and this was a first time attempt at such an idea, a lot learned. A 1/4" grind would probably be fine for most fretboards. I went a bit deeper (roughly imitating the stewmac blade) as I cut some fretboards that are nearly 3/8", which is around a 1/4" slot. The board then gets radius'd to final thickness. I probably didn't think it all through before I started grinding. So far, I've not had any issues with this blade, it runs straight and true, no heat, no vibration. A good project - so far. Hope you are doing well. Be safe and take care!
I would never do it!!!!!! I’m a metal worker bye trade, Pipefitter that is ( before I retired), and we never did such. And your an engineer (whether you are or not). Good ole southern ingenuity. Can’t beat it.
Good work! I will say that my eyes went wide with danger when I watched this video. Glad you’re safe and have the skills to pull it off without cutting your fingers or nose off.
Hey Tim, thanks for watching! Sorry for the eye strain, but my eyes were wide open too, I guess it goes with the territory. Yep, all safe and still have all my fingers, eyes, ears, toes... a good day! Be safe and take care!
Thats a mad one bro. No need for you to tell me not to do that.............as i always tell my students "you will still have your fingers, they just wont be attached to your hand". I'm heading out to a tool shop today to ses if there's anything that takes my fancy.
Hey Brian, thanks for watching and the nod to safety. I just wanted to see if I could do it...not always a good reason to do something. Hope all is well, enjoy your weekend. Take care!
Jurgen, thanks for watching! It was a stressful project, visions of blood splattered walls kept me focused. Honestly, it wasn't to hard to do. Definitely possibilty to slip up and get injured, but that is an everyday concern. My biggest concern was how the blade would behave once mounted to the saw. So far so good. I might make one more as a back up. Not knowing how well the blade will hold a sharp edge. More testing.
Jim, thanks for watching and the comment too. Simple is often the best approach, but I often overthink a contraption then realize the "simple approach" afterwards.
Hey Steve, thanks for watching! Good point, eyes open seems to help. I also realized so time ago, when I get hungry, I'm prone to making mistakes. Stomach growls, and I lose concentration, lol. Hope all is well. Take care!
Power tools scare the bejeezus outta me (except my my bandsaw...why? Beats me) especially table saws and grinders. Nice reworking of that blade!! You should take a look at Del Puckett's videos of how he uses a Harbor Freight Mighty Mite benchtop table saw (mightily underpowered but there's a workaround or actually a work "with"), sliding jig and 4" 0.023 jeweler's blade to cut fretslots for his cigar box guitars. I was inspired (cutting fretslots with a fretsaw kills my hands) to do the same, built myself a sliding jig but when it came time to get a blade, that took some time. Stewmac sells a 4" blade for $125, nope...Del uses one he got from someone who gave it to him, the company sells them for approx. $25 but you have to order a minimum of 4 blades, nope... I did finally happen upon a source for one at $25! Much modifying ensued (the Mighty Mite's blade height adjustment is horrible) to make the blade and jig work which it did eventually (more mods needed, though) and I happily cut maybe 6 fretboards before the blade became too dull 🤬 So, as I understand the Stewmac blade is very durable and maybe I need to reconsider the cost-to-usability factor! But, for now I'm back to slowly cutting by hand... Funny what we do to make what we do "easier" 🤣
Hurdygurdyguy, glad you're catching up on the vids! I had ordered some 4" jewelers blades some time ago, and tried a slotting project.... it failed but I still have 4 blades. They are from the now defunct Thurston Mfg, Co. #121 .023" x 4" for a 3/8" arbor. They are a very fine tooth blade...if you want them, send me a msg and I'll mail them to you.... unless you are in a remote part of the word. email me at: thenextproject.info@gmail.com Take care, John D
Tom, thanks for watching. I keep extra fingers, and eyes in danger prone areas ... Basically everywhere I work. All kidding aside, this project went well, I worked slow and kept track of my digits at all times. Be safe and take care!
Liam, thanks for watching! I'm glad you noticed I'm a bit off, and thanks for the manly embrace! Hope you are well and until next time, be safe and take care!
Seems like the old lathes used back in the day to resurface car brake rotors might be a good way to machine these. I don’t think garages do that work anymore, just buy new Rotors.
Hey Paul, thanks for watching! That sounds like an interesting idea. If you have a metal lathe of any sort, you may be able to rig up a way to chuck a blade and precisely thin it down. Hmm, now I want to go find a lathe. Hope all is well, and nice cover of "Stray Cat Strut", yep, I checked. Be safe and take care!
Edad, thanks for watching! Typical safety disclaimer..."just don't do it"... I am very pleased with this "idea test". The saw blade has worked perfectly, sliced 8 fingerboards with it so far, and not an issue. It would be nice to have ready made slotting blades comparable to the StewMac blade, but for a reasonable price. Maybe not enough demand for a brand name to product a batch of them, idk. This was an interesting test, glad I did it. Hope all is well for you, be safe and take care!
Hey Bob, thanks for watching! It will be interesting to see how long it will hold an edge. I probably won't use it on Richlite, that stuff would kill it quickly. Have a great weekend, take care!
Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening (New Acronym: GMAE?) - I started doing the don’t do it thing yesterday! Question about that Irwin blade - did it originally have teeth that were cut straight or staggered angles (alternating)? I have a few other blades on hand that are same size and tooth count but have staggered angles. One other question, what cad software did you use for the great pdf you made? I do need to start getting more precise on diagraming but watching my budget till I can start selling my basses. Cheers, and happy weekend!
Good morning/day... GMAE! The Irwin blade was a 140 tooth straight slitting style balde. It had no tooth set ( side to side tooth stagger ). All teeth in perfect alignment. I use Adobe illustrator for the PDF diagrams, and SketchUp demo for the 3d-ish models. Not saying either are the best for what I'm doing, just what I have acess to. Take care!
Jorge, good to hear from you again! Sorry, I don't sell the blades, it was a test to see if I could make a fret slotting blade. It takes some time, and the right kind of blade needs to be used as a starting point. There really should be affordable options available for us guitar builders. Take care my friend!
Hey man, I love watching your ideas, got some of them saved away, but I admit to having some concerns about this one. Firstly, I’m not an engineer or otherwise qualified except thru the school of life. Did you take into consideration that those sawblades rotate at 3 - 4000rpm. They are designed to withstand the centrifugal forces and stresses of making cuts. By removing metal and thinning the blade you are reducing the strength of the blade. The other thin blade would be made of much different material to compensate for the thinness of the blade. I’ve seen blades seperate on saws in action and it’s not pretty. Items like this have sharpening/resurfacing limits set by the manufacturer to ensure safe use. Take care man, I hope your blade doesn’t fail on you and keep coming up with the great ideas.
Kevin, thanks for watching and great comment/concern! I too have concerns for the integrity of this blade and strongly suggest nobody attempts this. I'm not an engineer either, and you are as correct as I know in your comment regarding the material/metallurgy of the saw blades. I did as much research as is/was available regarding the type of blade(s) and the blade I chose to use. There are similar blades that are ground to thinner kerf tolerances, so the idea isn't completely without consideration. I chose to use a "slitting" style blade, one without tooth set. The listed composition of this blade appears to be comperable to a jewelers slitting blade. But again, I have no laboratory data to back that up, only mfg product material info which is very limited typically. My particular saw runs at 3500rpm/no load, probably around 2750-3000 when cutting. Luckily, the blade is completely covered during cutting, and about 95% covered when not cutting. But, that doesn't ensure 100% safety, nor chance of catastrophic failure - nope! One benefit (maybe) of the use this blade will experience, is the limited depth of cut it will be making. Probably 1/8" to 3/16" depth, depending on the fingerboard at hand. So, basically the depth of the teeth, maybe slightly more. The re-grind I did is between 3/8" and 7/16", so not much material removed. Allowing for the bulk of the original blade to remain as a stiffener. I took great care to ensure the blade stayed cool during the re-grind process, kept my hands on it the entire time. It never got hot. I was hoping to not impact any factor temper of the blade. Also attempted to remove equal amounts of material from either side, to keep the blade as true and balance as I could, in a caveman sort of way. Not that I can compare my re-grind process to the temperatures a blade can experience when in use, but I've had blades in the table saw get so hot you wouldn't want to touch them for some time. I really hope this blade will stay together, more testing and experimenting will follow. So far it's gone through 3 maple fingerboards with out any apparent issue. I've touched the blade after cutting, and so far it hasn't experienced any heat up. A better test would be to look at it under a microscope, but that's out of my reach. I'm not saying this is/was a good idea, and I strongly suggest nobody does this modification. I wanted to understand why a "brand name" fret saw blade costs $160 US. I still can't see why the brand name blade costs so much. Likely the answer is the limited number produced, limited sales volume, which means this is a "specialty" item and so goes the price. If a big name blade company wanted to produce 50K of these blades, they would cost $11 at your local store. The SM blade may be produced in very small batches, by a smaller specialty blade company. It is possible to have a small specialty blade company cut custom blades from their standard blade stock, again, a pricey option - I've looked into that in the past. Talked myself out of it instantly, ha. Thanks again for the great comment and concern, duly noted, and I fully agree! Be safe and take care!
Great video. One question. How do you know when you have the right thickness? At this point I can press a .025 feeler gauge into my test slots put I have to press. A .023 slips in easily. Am I still a bit too thick?
bdechenne, thanks for watching and that's a great question. I used a cheap amazon micrometer to check the blade thickness while grinding. Your test slot "testing" is also a great real world way to check, just a bit more work for you. Depending on the guitar, banjo, cigar box...work you do, you may want to have a couple slotting blades on hand. Not all fret wire is 0.023, some is a bit wider, but that's another topic. I'd guess, if your test slots fit a 0.025" feeler gauge, you are a hair too wide for most 0.023 tang wire. However, if you plan to cut richlite fingerboards, there have been many comments about oversizing the fret slots to approximately 0.025". Richlite is so hard, pressing frets in it a bit more trouble. I use an 0.023 slit and richlite works for me, results may vary.... sorry for the rambling. Back to your question. If the 0.023", or 0.024" feeler gage easily fits your slots, your blade is a hair thick. Maybe half-a-hair. Sounds like you are having pretty good luck, for something that you should never do. Be safe, take care and good luck with your projects!
@@theNextProject Thanks very much for the reply. The whole process went very smooth and I should never have done it. And yes I am ordering another blade to keep a couple thicknesses on hand. By the way I used a slow speed grinder, 80 grit wheel, and I was able to improve the cutting ability and keep the saw blade cool by wetting it with a wet rag. Makes it a bit more messy though.
Sounds like a great process you have figured out. I kept my blade cool too, cool enough to keep my hand on the blade during grinding. Keep the blade cool is probably very important to it staying true and not fatiguing. Wishing you the best with your projects!
Jesse, thanks for watching! Hope I'm understanding your question, but here's a possible solution... If you had a pre-radius fingerboard that wasn't already slotted, you could probably rig up some blocking to act as the "flat" surface. Say your radius board is 1/4" thick, and stuck to your fret spacing template. On either end of the fingerboard, you could add some 1/4" thick flat stock, which would also be stuck to your fret spacing template. No more "radius rocking". You will need a cutting surface (sled) that is flat and wide enough to keep the blocking in contact with for the entire length of the fret spacing template on both the infeed and outfeed ends. Hope that is what you were asking.
Make sure not to overheat that blade while grinding. It will mess up heat treatment and can lead to all kinds of trouble (warping, cracks, etc). So minimal pressure and (maybe) a bottle of water or oil should help you keep things less explosive deathlike.
Josef, thanks for watching and good point about not getting the blade hot. I kept my hands on the blade at all times and made sure it didn't get warm during the process. As you mentioned, I was concerned about removing any temper the blade may have had by overheating it. Now that I think about it. I've gotten blades hotter while in use on the table saw. We should be good... Hope you are doing well, take care!
@@theNextProject Thank you for all the great projects you are doing and having us along for the ride. :) Yes, I saw there was no discoloration on the blade so it should probably be fine. Just wanted to point out that watching for overheating it is quite crucial if anyone will try to replicate something like this for themselves. Because you know how patient people generally are. So, someone will most definitely “I can do it faster” and get his blade red hot.
@@josefodium8888 f glad to hear you're enjoying the projects. And you have an excellent point, (we) do tend to get impatient at time...I'm guilty if that for sure. I should have mentioned that in the video. Take care!
The store bought blades are not that expensive . I'd rather not risk my fingers . I am a guitar player first and a woodworker on down the list. Just my view. You can count on my never doing it. Thanks.
Melody, thanks for watching and I appreciate your pov. I also appreciate that you won't gamble and attempt to make a blade like this, you have very good common sense! My guitar playing ability is way down my list. Not where I want it, but that's where it is. :( The StewMac fret slot blade was ± $160.00US at the time of this video. The blade I modified in this test was ± $11.00US at the time of this video. Before upgrading my hobby to using a table saw to cut slots, I had slotted a lot of fingerboards using a couple different hand saws made for fret slotting. Prices of those saws range from $8 to $75 - for a hand saw. Quality also varies greatly. My curiosity with this project was "why is a 7in. saw blade so expensive?". It comes down to supply and demand. Very little demand, so there is a very limited supply, or suppliers. A saw blade manufacturer could make us all a blade for... $11, if they could sell enough. My project process went better than I expected, took a little longer, but was easy. I went slow, kept the blade cool enough to keep my hands on, and not over heat the blade itself. I now use one of the blades only for cutting richlite, a very hard material for fingerboards. The other blade for more common wood materials. Thanks again for watching and leaving a comment. Be safe, take care, and play a tune for me = thanks!
I'm assuming you did *NOT* use a blade with carbide teeth. BTW, try it with a paper saw blade. Seriously. (Check out John Heiser and Mattias Wandel. They made paper sawblades a few years back.) I bet a card stock sawblade would make the appropriate kerf. ..and be disposable.
Tim, thanks for watching! Nope, not a carbide tipped blade. If I recall it was considered a "vinyl" blade, not made of vinyl, but for cutting such materials. It was a reasonable narrow kerf blade with NO tooth set. So all ground teeth were perfectly in line right out of the packaging. It was an interesting test of idea, and I've continued to use this blade about 6 or so times since that video. So far, so good. I haven't see Matthias Wandel's video... Searched, but everyone else's vids are popping up. I had seen a couple vids by John Heinz where he kinda cuts some stuff - fun attempts. Basically anything spinning really fast will cut something - slowly, barely, or not. Definitely gets high marks on disposable! Thanks for you comment, fun stuff! Be safe and take care!
Good modification. I have to admit I was a little worried for your safety as I kept imagining a blade chunk splitting off and imbedding itself in your jugular (just got finished watching an episode of Good Sam where a glass shard did that to a waiter). The problem is that you work so well with templates and jigs that it actually looked much easier and safer than I know it actually was. I always like your episodes but especially the ones where you build and modify tools and put them to use. I still don't understand why you don't have at least a few hundred thousand subscribers.
Hey Chris, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! Sorry for the concern, the good news is my jugular wasn't in line with the dangerous work, my bellybutton was in peril however, hehe. Honestly, since I've never done anything like this before, I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I moved very slowing and with great caution. I wasn't sure if the grinding wheel would even put a scratch in the blade, but it did work well. I also used minimal grinding pressure, really not attempting to remove any noticeable amount of material per revolution. I kept my hands on the blade to control speed of revolution and to continually sample the temperature of the blade. It was comfortably warm the entire time, never did I let it get hot. I was concerned that too much heat could damage the blade and make it unfit for use. So far, I've cut 3 fingerboards and some scrap pine with it. Still looks like new. More testing and inspection to follow as projects warrant. As for sub counts. I'd guess there are probably a lot of reasons my sub numbers are low. At this time, the channel it NOT monetized, so YT may not have it ranked at a "push" level, idk. Sadly, YT is dropping ads on my videos anyway, which I personally hate ads. So, I'm thinking of monetizing the channel, then turning OFF all ads. Not sure if that will work, but I'm looking into it. I'm not making videos to make $5 a month from annoying ad placement, just want to share what I have going on and chat with cool people! Hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
Cool Idea! I’ve always wondered why those SM blades were so expensive. I think it’s the extra thickness on the inner diameter acting as a stabilizer maybe. I use a kobalt sliding miter saw outfitted with a 2-3ish inch diameter slitting saw blade and it’s works great but I think the blades won’t last long. Maybe 5-7 fretboards. I will consider doing this when I get a grinder. I don’t know why I didn’t get scared for you (but i should have)??? Anyway, turned out great!!
ChinJazz, good to hear from you! Completely agree, the inner portion of the blade is a stabilizer. The Irwin blade I have is 0.070" at the arbor hole (probably why I kept calling it a 70thou kerf blade, which was incorrect). The blade had a factory kerf grind of ±0.063", so the thicker arbor area was a stiffener for sure. The StewMac blade also has the thicker body and steps down to the fret slotting kerf at the very outer "cutting" area of the blade. You could definitively use this "MOD" type of a blade on a sliding miter saw. I know others use the SM blade in such a fashion. I have no proof to back this up, but I would expect other people have done this same type of re-grinding to similar saw blades. Carbide and such tipped blades won't be an option for this mod, but the hardened steel blades should work well as long as care is taken not to get the blade hot during grinding. I kept my hands on the blade the entire time, only got slightly warm, not uncomfortable to touch. I've spilled hotter coffee on myself, ha. If you know a machinist, they may have better ideas of how to do this kind of work, but for a little garage with no dedicated milling nor metal lathe equip... seemed to go well. Oh, I have a pile of parts for a buffer build. Your buffer project sparked a renewed interest for me. Now to find the time to work on it. Thanks for watching and take care!
@@theNextProject Awesome! The buffer project was pretty simple all things said. I spent more time sourcing the parts. Bar milled to left hand threading was about $50 at a local machine shop. I’d say that’s my most intricate jig and spent the most time on shape and form factor for height and accessibility for full guitar body access.
Good stuff, I'm having trouble getting any machine shops to answer the phone, or call me back. For now (temporary) may use a 1" threaded rod to use for the shaft. Not my "plan A", but until I get a good shaft with R & L threaded ends... I have limited work and storage space, so I'm leaning toward making the buffer clamp to my bench when it's to be used. When not in use, it will hang from the rafters, or on a wall, idk. Need to make the motor rather easy to remove so I can hoist the remainder of the buffer up, up and away - somewhere. Thanks for the info, talk soon!
@@theNextProject Yeah it took me 2 or 3 weeks to unearth a machine shop I could work with on such a small job like threading a bar. I just rewatched your vid here and didn’t see hinges on the back of your jig that tilts the grinder. Where are those little buggers hiding? :)
@@ChinJazz hinges, I used the term very loosely. There are 3 screws in a row behind the grinder. They connect (hinge) the board the grinder is bolted to, and the board the sawblade box rests on. The screws are not tightened, just using them as a pivot point and to hold the two boards in rough alignment. The screws work kinda like a strat tremolo, everything just pivots on the screw. Sorry for the miscommunication on that. Take care!
Andluth, thanks for watching. Great question and I don't really recall. I was going really slow, being careful not to heat the blade. Maybe 2 - 3 hours, maybe???? It was easy work, and a complete experiment. I just went really slow barley taking anything per pass, kept my hands on the blade to ensure it stayed cool enough to touch. I don't recommend anyone try this type of thing. There are many dangers during and after such a project that are foreseeable and unforeseeable. I've had no issues with this blade since grinding it, but again - proceed at your own peril. Hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
Rick, thanks for watching! Yes, some slitting blades will work - some. You will need to find the right blade with the correct arbor size, and may also need stiffeners for the blade to keep it running true. Tooth count will also be a factor. I had attempted to use a slitting blade, with an arbor reducer in a different saw (not tablesaw). I the reducer caused one problem, and the lack of blade stiffness caused a wild cut problem. There are a number of people who use such blades in micro table saws and power miter saws, but I don't have those tools. For me, the StewMac blade was a great, yet expensive investment, then I made my own "mod" blade and couldn't be happier at this point. The SM blade is very expensive, but it can be resharpened, so that will help reduce the overall cost - but there will be a resharpening cost. The StewMac Japanese Fret pull saw is another great option, but at a cost. No real easy answer. Good luck with your projects. Be safe and take care!
Bahaha, no, no, no, no, no, well maybe...no. I don't have any common sense, so don't ask me. I think the process of grinding the blade is pretty straightforward, but the final results and end use are where danger may lurk. I have no idea how well a blade may hold up, or if it will fracture. I chose a "slitting" style blade to start with. It had NO tooth set, so all teeth were perfectly inline. Not sure if that is an issue, but it's where I started. So, good luck if you don't do this! :)
Cool. But too dangerous! Way too dangerous! Why not use a saw blade for a rotation tool that is inspired by a dremel? And in order to do this, you have to make a guide to get straight slots.
Achim, thanks for watching! CNC should be the next step....sadly no room, no money, no training/experience. Maybe someday. Hope all is well, be safe and take care!
That was extremely reckless and irresponsible. I can't believe my eyes and ears! I'm never ever gonna save myself almost £100.00 by doing such a dangerously idiotic and foolish task, even if it does work brilliantly well.................................! Oh to hell with it, where can I buy an irwin blade?
So true, and now I'm paying the piper. Arrived home from an outing only to find my garage has been swallowed up by the angered sinkhole gods. Sawblade, table saw, grinder, all gone down the hole. My dog was giving me an "I told you so look". Seriously, I'm a bit shocked at how much Stew charges for these blades. An actual saw balde company could easily make this blade, and sell them, for $11, okay, maybe $15. Stew and a few others have a very niche market, so there is no incentive for a big manufacturing co to bother with this type of item.... Leave it to me to launch a new industry. Ha. Thanks for watching, cringing, and the great comment too. Be safe and take care!
@@theNextProject , oh no!!!! I didn’t know sinkholes occurred around there. Or maybe the fault of the builder? Either way that’s not good. I’m sorry. How about the rest of the house?
Reality, good to hear from you! It's good to be safe! I still have my hand saws at the ready and will no doubt use them or slot clean-up, nut slots... I just like creating unnecessary challenges for myself - as you probably already know, haha! Hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
Now that's funny! Thanks for watching anyway., and welcome to my humor, or lack there of. I'm not a comedian by the way, so not sure what would have been funny. Be safe and take care!
I will "never" do this. However, I might put a table saw blade in the lathe and thin it down with a tool post grinder... That Stewmac blade really is right pricey! Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Doing this with proper tooling, on a lathe, would be ideal and very likely a breeze.
The trick will be in starting with the right blade - having a lathe, the tools and experience - I have none of those things. Hmm.
Agreed, the StewMac blades are way expensive. I know there isn't a huge market for such a blade, but $160 seems very, very expensive.
Good luck with any project you do, or don't do.
Be safe and take care!
When i first priced the stew-mac blade i had the same thought ❌️⬆️$$$$ i have the lathe and tool post grinder set up necessary to make my own fret blades in any diameter i want the only thing holding me up is projects on my bench that are time critical once those are cleared out i will be making fret blades in 5 diameters 10,8,7.25,6.5,4.375 which i have all the bladed necessary already so my cost will be $0
You could save time and increase safety by only grinding 1/4" in from the tip of the teeth. That is deeper than a fret slot. Great video!
Andluth, thanks for watching.
I hear what you are saying, and this was a first time attempt at such an idea, a lot learned.
A 1/4" grind would probably be fine for most fretboards. I went a bit deeper (roughly imitating the stewmac blade) as I cut some fretboards that are nearly 3/8", which is around a 1/4" slot. The board then gets radius'd to final thickness. I probably didn't think it all through before I started grinding.
So far, I've not had any issues with this blade, it runs straight and true, no heat, no vibration. A good project - so far.
Hope you are doing well.
Be safe and take care!
I would never do it!!!!!! I’m a metal worker bye trade, Pipefitter that is ( before I retired), and we never did such. And your an engineer (whether you are or not). Good ole southern ingenuity. Can’t beat it.
Thanks man! I should do a duct tape episode too, lol. I wish I were an engineer, I'd probably make better choices.
Take care!
Good work! I will say that my eyes went wide with danger when I watched this video.
Glad you’re safe and have the skills to pull it off without cutting your fingers or nose off.
Hey Tim, thanks for watching!
Sorry for the eye strain, but my eyes were wide open too, I guess it goes with the territory.
Yep, all safe and still have all my fingers, eyes, ears, toes... a good day!
Be safe and take care!
Thats a mad one bro.
No need for you to tell me not to do that.............as i always tell my students "you will still have your fingers, they just wont be attached to your hand".
I'm heading out to a tool shop today to ses if there's anything that takes my fancy.
Hey Brian, thanks for watching and the nod to safety.
I just wanted to see if I could do it...not always a good reason to do something.
Hope all is well, enjoy your weekend. Take care!
That is brilliant ingenuity, I'llbuy two of them! always putting your body on the line for us John 😂
Jurgen, thanks for watching!
It was a stressful project, visions of blood splattered walls kept me focused. Honestly, it wasn't to hard to do. Definitely possibilty to slip up and get injured, but that is an everyday concern. My biggest concern was how the blade would behave once mounted to the saw. So far so good.
I might make one more as a back up. Not knowing how well the blade will hold a sharp edge. More testing.
I like the way you think. Simple but very effective. Nice job.👍👍
Jim, thanks for watching and the comment too.
Simple is often the best approach, but I often overthink a contraption then realize the "simple approach" afterwards.
I have a tendency to do that as well. I think of it as just a part of learning.
The safest thing is not to fall asleep. Great vid as usual
Hey Steve, thanks for watching!
Good point, eyes open seems to help.
I also realized so time ago, when I get hungry, I'm prone to making mistakes. Stomach growls, and I lose concentration, lol.
Hope all is well. Take care!
Power tools scare the bejeezus outta me (except my my bandsaw...why? Beats me) especially table saws and grinders. Nice reworking of that blade!!
You should take a look at Del Puckett's videos of how he uses a Harbor Freight Mighty Mite benchtop table saw (mightily underpowered but there's a workaround or actually a work "with"), sliding jig and 4" 0.023 jeweler's blade to cut fretslots for his cigar box guitars. I was inspired (cutting fretslots with a fretsaw kills my hands) to do the same, built myself a sliding jig but when it came time to get a blade, that took some time. Stewmac sells a 4" blade for $125, nope...Del uses one he got from someone who gave it to him, the company sells them for approx. $25 but you have to order a minimum of 4 blades, nope... I did finally happen upon a source for one at $25!
Much modifying ensued (the Mighty Mite's blade height adjustment is horrible) to make the blade and jig work which it did eventually (more mods needed, though) and I happily cut maybe 6 fretboards before the blade became too dull 🤬 So, as I understand the Stewmac blade is very durable and maybe I need to reconsider the cost-to-usability factor! But, for now I'm back to slowly cutting by hand...
Funny what we do to make what we do "easier" 🤣
Hurdygurdyguy, glad you're catching up on the vids!
I had ordered some 4" jewelers blades some time ago, and tried a slotting project.... it failed but I still have 4 blades. They are from the now defunct Thurston Mfg, Co.
#121 .023" x 4" for a 3/8" arbor.
They are a very fine tooth blade...if you want them, send me a msg and I'll mail them to you.... unless you are in a remote part of the word.
email me at: thenextproject.info@gmail.com
Take care, John D
Another brilliant video, thanks. Now, where did I put those spare fingers....
Tom, thanks for watching.
I keep extra fingers, and eyes in danger prone areas ... Basically everywhere I work.
All kidding aside, this project went well, I worked slow and kept track of my digits at all times.
Be safe and take care!
You are nuts, but I love you for being just that, in a man hug sort of way that is.
Liam, thanks for watching!
I'm glad you noticed I'm a bit off, and thanks for the manly embrace!
Hope you are well and until next time, be safe and take care!
Seems like the old lathes used back in the day to resurface car brake rotors might be a good way to machine these. I don’t think garages do that work anymore, just buy new Rotors.
Hey Paul, thanks for watching!
That sounds like an interesting idea. If you have a metal lathe of any sort, you may be able to rig up a way to chuck a blade and precisely thin it down.
Hmm, now I want to go find a lathe.
Hope all is well, and nice cover of "Stray Cat Strut", yep, I checked.
Be safe and take care!
Pretty cool hack
Edad, thanks for watching!
Typical safety disclaimer..."just don't do it"...
I am very pleased with this "idea test". The saw blade has worked perfectly, sliced 8 fingerboards with it so far, and not an issue.
It would be nice to have ready made slotting blades comparable to the StewMac blade, but for a reasonable price. Maybe not enough demand for a brand name to product a batch of them, idk.
This was an interesting test, glad I did it.
Hope all is well for you, be safe and take care!
Nice project, I hope it will work a long time !
Hey Bob, thanks for watching!
It will be interesting to see how long it will hold an edge.
I probably won't use it on Richlite, that stuff would kill it quickly.
Have a great weekend, take care!
Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening (New Acronym: GMAE?) - I started doing the don’t do it thing yesterday! Question about that Irwin blade - did it originally have teeth that were cut straight or staggered angles (alternating)? I have a few other blades on hand that are same size and tooth count but have staggered angles. One other question, what cad software did you use for the great pdf you made? I do need to start getting more precise on diagraming but watching my budget till I can start selling my basses. Cheers, and happy weekend!
Good morning/day... GMAE! The Irwin blade was a 140 tooth straight slitting style balde. It had no tooth set ( side to side tooth stagger ). All teeth in perfect alignment.
I use Adobe illustrator for the PDF diagrams, and SketchUp demo for the 3d-ish models. Not saying either are the best for what I'm doing, just what I have acess to.
Take care!
hello there..if you sell those adjusted saw blades it would be a dream come true..best wishes. jorge.
Jorge, good to hear from you again!
Sorry, I don't sell the blades, it was a test to see if I could make a fret slotting blade. It takes some time, and the right kind of blade needs to be used as a starting point. There really should be affordable options available for us guitar builders.
Take care my friend!
Smart! 🙂
Thanks for watching! The test/experiment went well. Still using the project blade. So-far, so-good.
Be safe and take care!
Hey man, I love watching your ideas, got some of them saved away, but I admit to having some concerns about this one. Firstly, I’m not an engineer or otherwise qualified except thru the school of life. Did you take into consideration that those sawblades rotate at 3 - 4000rpm. They are designed to withstand the centrifugal forces and stresses of making cuts. By removing metal and thinning the blade you are reducing the strength of the blade. The other thin blade would be made of much different material to compensate for the thinness of the blade. I’ve seen blades seperate on saws in action and it’s not pretty. Items like this have sharpening/resurfacing limits set by the manufacturer to ensure safe use. Take care man, I hope your blade doesn’t fail on you and keep coming up with the great ideas.
Kevin, thanks for watching and great comment/concern!
I too have concerns for the integrity of this blade and strongly suggest nobody attempts this.
I'm not an engineer either, and you are as correct as I know in your comment regarding the material/metallurgy of the saw blades.
I did as much research as is/was available regarding the type of blade(s) and the blade I chose to use. There are similar blades that are ground to thinner kerf tolerances, so the idea isn't completely without consideration. I chose to use a "slitting" style blade, one without tooth set. The listed composition of this blade appears to be comperable to a jewelers slitting blade. But again, I have no laboratory data to back that up, only mfg product material info which is very limited typically.
My particular saw runs at 3500rpm/no load, probably around 2750-3000 when cutting.
Luckily, the blade is completely covered during cutting, and about 95% covered when not cutting. But, that doesn't ensure 100% safety, nor chance of catastrophic failure - nope!
One benefit (maybe) of the use this blade will experience, is the limited depth of cut it will be making.
Probably 1/8" to 3/16" depth, depending on the fingerboard at hand. So, basically the depth of the teeth, maybe slightly more.
The re-grind I did is between 3/8" and 7/16", so not much material removed. Allowing for the bulk of the original blade to remain as a stiffener. I took great care to ensure the blade stayed cool during the re-grind process, kept my hands on it the entire time. It never got hot. I was hoping to not impact any factor temper of the blade. Also attempted to remove equal amounts of material from either side, to keep the blade as true and balance as I could, in a caveman sort of way.
Not that I can compare my re-grind process to the temperatures a blade can experience when in use, but I've had blades in the table saw get so hot you wouldn't want to touch them for some time.
I really hope this blade will stay together, more testing and experimenting will follow. So far it's gone through 3 maple fingerboards with out any apparent issue. I've touched the blade after cutting, and so far it hasn't experienced any heat up. A better test would be to look at it under a microscope, but that's out of my reach.
I'm not saying this is/was a good idea, and I strongly suggest nobody does this modification.
I wanted to understand why a "brand name" fret saw blade costs $160 US.
I still can't see why the brand name blade costs so much. Likely the answer is the limited number produced, limited sales volume, which means this is a "specialty" item and so goes the price.
If a big name blade company wanted to produce 50K of these blades, they would cost $11 at your local store. The SM blade may be produced in very small batches, by a smaller specialty blade company. It is possible to have a small specialty blade company cut custom blades from their standard blade stock, again, a pricey option - I've looked into that in the past. Talked myself out of it instantly, ha.
Thanks again for the great comment and concern, duly noted, and I fully agree!
Be safe and take care!
i'm totally not going to do this to that new 142 tooth blade i have.
That sounds like a smart decision. Thanks for watching.
Be safe and take care!
Great video. One question. How do you know when you have the right thickness? At this point I can press a .025 feeler gauge into my test slots put I have to press. A .023 slips in easily. Am I still a bit too thick?
bdechenne, thanks for watching and that's a great question.
I used a cheap amazon micrometer to check the blade thickness while grinding. Your test slot "testing" is also a great real world way to check, just a bit more work for you.
Depending on the guitar, banjo, cigar box...work you do, you may want to have a couple slotting blades on hand. Not all fret wire is 0.023, some is a bit wider, but that's another topic.
I'd guess, if your test slots fit a 0.025" feeler gauge, you are a hair too wide for most 0.023 tang wire.
However, if you plan to cut richlite fingerboards, there have been many comments about oversizing the fret slots to approximately 0.025". Richlite is so hard, pressing frets in it a bit more trouble. I use an 0.023 slit and richlite works for me, results may vary.... sorry for the rambling.
Back to your question. If the 0.023", or 0.024" feeler gage easily fits your slots, your blade is a hair thick. Maybe half-a-hair.
Sounds like you are having pretty good luck, for something that you should never do.
Be safe, take care and good luck with your projects!
@@theNextProject Thanks very much for the reply. The whole process went very smooth and I should never have done it. And yes I am ordering another blade to keep a couple thicknesses on hand.
By the way I used a slow speed grinder, 80 grit wheel, and I was able to improve the cutting ability and keep the saw blade cool by wetting it with a wet rag. Makes it a bit more messy though.
Sounds like a great process you have figured out. I kept my blade cool too, cool enough to keep my hand on the blade during grinding. Keep the blade cool is probably very important to it staying true and not fatiguing.
Wishing you the best with your projects!
Ok. It works on flat fingerboards. What about the other with curved surface?
Jesse, thanks for watching!
Hope I'm understanding your question, but here's a possible solution...
If you had a pre-radius fingerboard that wasn't already slotted, you could probably rig up some blocking to act as the "flat" surface.
Say your radius board is 1/4" thick, and stuck to your fret spacing template.
On either end of the fingerboard, you could add some 1/4" thick flat stock, which would also be stuck to your fret spacing template.
No more "radius rocking".
You will need a cutting surface (sled) that is flat and wide enough to keep the blocking in contact with for the entire length of the fret spacing template on both the infeed and outfeed ends.
Hope that is what you were asking.
Make sure not to overheat that blade while grinding. It will mess up heat treatment and can lead to all kinds of trouble (warping, cracks, etc).
So minimal pressure and (maybe) a bottle of water or oil should help you keep things less explosive deathlike.
Josef, thanks for watching and good point about not getting the blade hot.
I kept my hands on the blade at all times and made sure it didn't get warm during the process.
As you mentioned, I was concerned about removing any temper the blade may have had by overheating it.
Now that I think about it. I've gotten blades hotter while in use on the table saw. We should be good...
Hope you are doing well, take care!
@@theNextProject Thank you for all the great projects you are doing and having us along for the ride. :)
Yes, I saw there was no discoloration on the blade so it should probably be fine. Just wanted to point out that watching for overheating it is quite crucial if anyone will try to replicate something like this for themselves.
Because you know how patient people generally are. So, someone will most definitely “I can do it faster” and get his blade red hot.
@@josefodium8888 f
glad to hear you're enjoying the projects. And you have an excellent point, (we) do tend to get impatient at time...I'm guilty if that for sure.
I should have mentioned that in the video.
Take care!
im going to try using my flywheel grinder
Marc, thanks for watching!
A flywheel grinder might do the trick.
Good luck, be safe and take care!
@@theNextProject those blades are expensive great vid I definitely won't try that way
LOL, smart man!
I'm still using that blade, probably 8-10 fingerboards across it. So far, so good.
The store bought blades are not that expensive . I'd rather not risk my fingers . I am a guitar player first and a woodworker on down the list. Just my view. You can count on my never doing it. Thanks.
Melody, thanks for watching and I appreciate your pov.
I also appreciate that you won't gamble and attempt to make a blade like this, you have very good common sense!
My guitar playing ability is way down my list. Not where I want it, but that's where it is. :(
The StewMac fret slot blade was ± $160.00US at the time of this video.
The blade I modified in this test was ± $11.00US at the time of this video.
Before upgrading my hobby to using a table saw to cut slots, I had slotted a lot of fingerboards using a couple different hand saws made for fret slotting. Prices of those saws range from $8 to $75 - for a hand saw. Quality also varies greatly.
My curiosity with this project was "why is a 7in. saw blade so expensive?".
It comes down to supply and demand. Very little demand, so there is a very limited supply, or suppliers. A saw blade manufacturer could make us all a blade for... $11, if they could sell enough.
My project process went better than I expected, took a little longer, but was easy.
I went slow, kept the blade cool enough to keep my hands on, and not over heat the blade itself.
I now use one of the blades only for cutting richlite, a very hard material for fingerboards. The other blade for more common wood materials.
Thanks again for watching and leaving a comment.
Be safe, take care, and play a tune for me = thanks!
I'm assuming you did *NOT* use a blade with carbide teeth.
BTW, try it with a paper saw blade. Seriously. (Check out John Heiser and Mattias Wandel. They made paper sawblades a few years back.) I bet a card stock sawblade would make the appropriate kerf. ..and be disposable.
Tim, thanks for watching!
Nope, not a carbide tipped blade. If I recall it was considered a "vinyl" blade, not made of vinyl, but for cutting such materials. It was a reasonable narrow kerf blade with NO tooth set. So all ground teeth were perfectly in line right out of the packaging. It was an interesting test of idea, and I've continued to use this blade about 6 or so times since that video. So far, so good.
I haven't see Matthias Wandel's video... Searched, but everyone else's vids are popping up.
I had seen a couple vids by John Heinz where he kinda cuts some stuff - fun attempts. Basically anything spinning really fast will cut something - slowly, barely, or not.
Definitely gets high marks on disposable!
Thanks for you comment, fun stuff!
Be safe and take care!
Good modification. I have to admit I was a little worried for your safety as I kept imagining a blade chunk splitting off and imbedding itself in your jugular (just got finished watching an episode of Good Sam where a glass shard did that to a waiter). The problem is that you work so well with templates and jigs that it actually looked much easier and safer than I know it actually was. I always like your episodes but especially the ones where you build and modify tools and put them to use. I still don't understand why you don't have at least a few hundred thousand subscribers.
Hey Chris, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
Sorry for the concern, the good news is my jugular wasn't in line with the dangerous work, my bellybutton was in peril however, hehe.
Honestly, since I've never done anything like this before, I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I moved very slowing and with great caution.
I wasn't sure if the grinding wheel would even put a scratch in the blade, but it did work well.
I also used minimal grinding pressure, really not attempting to remove any noticeable amount of material per revolution. I kept my hands on the blade to control speed of revolution and to continually sample the temperature of the blade. It was comfortably warm the entire time, never did I let it get hot.
I was concerned that too much heat could damage the blade and make it unfit for use.
So far, I've cut 3 fingerboards and some scrap pine with it. Still looks like new.
More testing and inspection to follow as projects warrant.
As for sub counts. I'd guess there are probably a lot of reasons my sub numbers are low.
At this time, the channel it NOT monetized, so YT may not have it ranked at a "push" level, idk.
Sadly, YT is dropping ads on my videos anyway, which I personally hate ads. So, I'm thinking of monetizing the channel, then turning OFF all ads. Not sure if that will work, but I'm looking into it.
I'm not making videos to make $5 a month from annoying ad placement, just want to share what I have going on and chat with cool people!
Hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
Cool Idea! I’ve always wondered why those SM blades were so expensive. I think it’s the extra thickness on the inner diameter acting as a stabilizer maybe. I use a kobalt sliding miter saw outfitted with a 2-3ish inch diameter slitting saw blade and it’s works great but I think the blades won’t last long. Maybe 5-7 fretboards. I will consider doing this when I get a grinder. I don’t know why I didn’t get scared for you (but i should have)??? Anyway, turned out great!!
ChinJazz, good to hear from you!
Completely agree, the inner portion of the blade is a stabilizer. The Irwin blade I have is 0.070" at the arbor hole (probably why I kept calling it a 70thou kerf blade, which was incorrect). The blade had a factory kerf grind of ±0.063", so the thicker arbor area was a stiffener for sure.
The StewMac blade also has the thicker body and steps down to the fret slotting kerf at the very outer "cutting" area of the blade.
You could definitively use this "MOD" type of a blade on a sliding miter saw. I know others use the SM blade in such a fashion.
I have no proof to back this up, but I would expect other people have done this same type of re-grinding to similar saw blades. Carbide and such tipped blades won't be an option for this mod, but the hardened steel blades should work well as long as care is taken not to get the blade hot during grinding.
I kept my hands on the blade the entire time, only got slightly warm, not uncomfortable to touch.
I've spilled hotter coffee on myself, ha.
If you know a machinist, they may have better ideas of how to do this kind of work, but for a little garage with no dedicated milling nor metal lathe equip... seemed to go well.
Oh, I have a pile of parts for a buffer build. Your buffer project sparked a renewed interest for me. Now to find the time to work on it.
Thanks for watching and take care!
@@theNextProject Awesome! The buffer project was pretty simple all things said. I spent more time sourcing the parts. Bar milled to left hand threading was about $50 at a local machine shop. I’d say that’s my most intricate jig and spent the most time on shape and form factor for height and accessibility for full guitar body access.
Good stuff, I'm having trouble getting any machine shops to answer the phone, or call me back.
For now (temporary) may use a 1" threaded rod to use for the shaft. Not my "plan A", but until I get a good shaft with R & L threaded ends...
I have limited work and storage space, so I'm leaning toward making the buffer clamp to my bench when it's to be used. When not in use, it will hang from the rafters, or on a wall, idk.
Need to make the motor rather easy to remove so I can hoist the remainder of the buffer up, up and away - somewhere.
Thanks for the info, talk soon!
@@theNextProject Yeah it took me 2 or 3 weeks to unearth a machine shop I could work with on such a small job like threading a bar. I just rewatched your vid here and didn’t see hinges on the back of your jig that tilts the grinder. Where are those little buggers hiding? :)
@@ChinJazz hinges, I used the term very loosely.
There are 3 screws in a row behind the grinder. They connect (hinge) the board the grinder is bolted to, and the board the sawblade box rests on. The screws are not tightened, just using them as a pivot point and to hold the two boards in rough alignment. The screws work kinda like a strat tremolo, everything just pivots on the screw. Sorry for the miscommunication on that.
Take care!
I live in a tsunami zone and definitely will NOT be doing this project. This weekend. In my garage.
John, thanks for watching!
Hope you weathered the storm, this weekend, in your garage.
Be safe and take care!
How long do you think it took you? Thanks
Andluth, thanks for watching.
Great question and I don't really recall. I was going really slow, being careful not to heat the blade.
Maybe 2 - 3 hours, maybe????
It was easy work, and a complete experiment. I just went really slow barley taking anything per pass, kept my hands on the blade to ensure it stayed cool enough to touch.
I don't recommend anyone try this type of thing. There are many dangers during and after such a project that are foreseeable and unforeseeable.
I've had no issues with this blade since grinding it, but again - proceed at your own peril.
Hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
@@theNextProject I have been on the same blade from LMI for 20+ years but if I ever need a new one I am going to try this -but I'm not - but I am
What about one of those "Slitting Saw" blades that are sold by fractional mm graduations? About a .56mm should do, about $20 or less.
Rick, thanks for watching!
Yes, some slitting blades will work - some.
You will need to find the right blade with the correct arbor size, and may also need stiffeners for the blade to keep it running true.
Tooth count will also be a factor. I had attempted to use a slitting blade, with an arbor reducer in a different saw (not tablesaw). I the reducer caused one problem, and the lack of blade stiffness caused a wild cut problem.
There are a number of people who use such blades in micro table saws and power miter saws, but I don't have those tools.
For me, the StewMac blade was a great, yet expensive investment, then I made my own "mod" blade and couldn't be happier at this point.
The SM blade is very expensive, but it can be resharpened, so that will help reduce the overall cost - but there will be a resharpening cost.
The StewMac Japanese Fret pull saw is another great option, but at a cost.
No real easy answer.
Good luck with your projects.
Be safe and take care!
So... If I'm hearing you right... I should try this?
Bahaha, no, no, no, no, no, well maybe...no.
I don't have any common sense, so don't ask me.
I think the process of grinding the blade is pretty straightforward, but the final results and end use are where danger may lurk. I have no idea how well a blade may hold up, or if it will fracture. I chose a "slitting" style blade to start with. It had NO tooth set, so all teeth were perfectly inline. Not sure if that is an issue, but it's where I started. So, good luck if you don't do this! :)
@@theNextProject I'm not gonna do that. lol But it was fun to watch. It would be kewl to know how long it lasts. Just keep them goggles handy!
I won't be doing that
Hey Graham, thanks for watching!
Some things are better left alone.
Hope all is well, take care!
Cool.
But too dangerous!
Way too dangerous!
Why not use a saw blade for a rotation tool that is inspired by a dremel? And in order to do this, you have to make a guide to get straight slots.
Achim, thanks for watching!
CNC should be the next step....sadly no room, no money, no training/experience. Maybe someday.
Hope all is well, be safe and take care!
That was extremely reckless and irresponsible. I can't believe my eyes and ears! I'm never ever gonna save myself almost £100.00 by doing such a dangerously idiotic and foolish task, even if it does work brilliantly well.................................!
Oh to hell with it, where can I buy an irwin blade?
You stole my thunder 😬
So true, and now I'm paying the piper. Arrived home from an outing only to find my garage has been swallowed up by the angered sinkhole gods. Sawblade, table saw, grinder, all gone down the hole. My dog was giving me an "I told you so look".
Seriously, I'm a bit shocked at how much Stew charges for these blades. An actual saw balde company could easily make this blade, and sell them, for $11, okay, maybe $15.
Stew and a few others have a very niche market, so there is no incentive for a big manufacturing co to bother with this type of item.... Leave it to me to launch a new industry. Ha.
Thanks for watching, cringing, and the great comment too.
Be safe and take care!
Hey man, thanks for watching. Send me a msg at: thenextproject.info@gmail.com
Hope all is well, talk soon.
@@theNextProject , oh no!!!! I didn’t know sinkholes occurred around there. Or maybe the fault of the builder? Either way that’s not good. I’m sorry. How about the rest of the house?
@@kmichaelp4508 well, the dog house is safe, lol.
Just kidding, no sink holes, no worries. Send me a msg man!
I think my judgement is just good enough not to attempt this 😂
Reality, good to hear from you!
It's good to be safe! I still have my hand saws at the ready and will no doubt use them or slot clean-up, nut slots... I just like creating unnecessary challenges for myself - as you probably already know, haha!
Hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
@@theNextProject all good here... Well I, for one, enjoy watching your unnecessary challenges 😂 do be careful though!!!
Not funny people, trying to be funny, makes thing aggravatingly boring.
Now that's funny!
Thanks for watching anyway., and welcome to my humor, or lack there of.
I'm not a comedian by the way, so not sure what would have been funny.
Be safe and take care!