Q:

I recently replaced the blade on my tablesaw with a 40-tooth thin-kerf carbide blade with four laser-cut openings, and made a zero-clearance insert for it. The blade cuts well, but it also whistles like mad. Why is it whistling, and can I do anything to stop it?

Bob Hicks, Chittenango, NY

A:

The most likely cause is the openings spinning past the saw’s throat insert. But it’s possible that the teeth or the openings are just noisy.

Remove the insert (but not the blade) and run the saw. If there’s no whistling, the insert is the cause. Widen its opening by raising a standard-kerf blade through it.

Whistle while it works. When a blade whistles as it spins, the culprit is often a relief cut like this spinning past the edge of a zero-clearance opening. When a standard-kerf blade was used to widen the zero-clearance opening, the whistling stopped.

If the blade whistles, it’s the teeth or openings. There’s no fix for the teeth, but you can fill the openings with silicone sealant. Or just give up and get a new blade.

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