I just purchased the Grizzly 0690. It’s a beautiful machine.
I actually have two questions:
1. What blade or blades would be best or at least very good?
2. How many amps should the breaker handle and what gauge wire should I have installed?
My son-in-law is an electrician and will be installing the breaker and the wiring, however I need to be certain about what I need rather than what he may think I need. He’s installed 220 for me before but that was for a large kitchen stove.
Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks, Jim
Replies
Jim,
Congrats on your new Grizzly. Listen, I am not trying to be disrespectful, but if your son-in-law is an electrician, and you are looking for wiring advice on a woodworking forum to second guess his judgement, then something is not right. If you don't trust him to do the job, perhaps it would be better to get someone else. Enjoy your new machine!
>Blades
http://www.forrestsawbladesonline.com/category_2_Woodworker_II.html?gclid=CKCl5fbt9JoCFRwpawodyGFDdQ
There are tons of other great blades, even from Home Depot, ( DeWalt etc.)
but Forrest sharpens very well and I like the Woodworker II as an all around blade. ( I definitely recommend other, more specific use, blades if you are going to do allot of one task; ripping or plywood etc., )
PS: I am sure grumpy old ed sharpens his own but for the rest of us best to use a sharpening service and Forrest is an excelent place to send them.
: )
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Edited 6/6/2009 1:38 am by roc
Edited 6/7/2009 1:03 am by roc
In my workshop all the 240v circuits are 30 amp using Hubbell twist-lock L6-30 plugs and receptacles. Thirty amp circuits require #10 wire.
I have a Hammer sliding table saw and a Freud Fusion is my favorite blade.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans.
When your ship comes in... make sure you are not at the airport.
The saw you have is rated at 3hp 15amps, so a 20amp breaker and #12 wire would follow code, if however you plan on upgrading to 5hp saw later on you could run 10 gauge wire with a 20amp breaker that way it is just a matter of changing the breaker out later not rewiring the shop. I would not recommend running a larger breaker than 20amp because instead of the breaker tripping when something goes wrong you could burn up your saw or worse your shop. I wired my 24'x48' shop myself and had it inspected when I was finished with no changes required.
Congradts on the saw, we can't get Grizzly shiped up here so I have never seen any of there stuff, but I have heard a lot of good stuff about there products on this forum and others.
Hi Jim - Blade selection is very much proprietary to your saw and what you cut. I'd stick with a full kerf blade(s) for your saw.
The philosophies vary widely about whether to choose task specific blades that will perform very well in a narrow operating range, or more of a "do-all" general purpose blade that will give good results in most applications but excel at none. Both philosophies have merit depending on the situation, your preference, budget, and cutting objectives. A decent purebred 60-80 tooth crosscut blade will certainly make cleaner crosscuts than a 30, 40 or 50 tooth general purpose blade of comparable quality. Inversely, a 24 tooth bulk ripper will certainly be more efficient at ripping thick material than the general purpose (GP) style blade. The key to being “better” depends on how you define that term. Better performance characteristics in one aspect of cutting doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better choice overall. Consider both sides of the equation before making a decision. Taking the approach of using task specific blades requires owning at least two blades that each excel in a limited operating region, and are typically unacceptable for tasks outside of their intended scope. They also require blade changes for each different task for optimum results. Two task-specific blades (typically a 24T ripper and an 80T crosscutter) will generally stay sharp longer than a single general purpose blade because they share the work load, but cost more upfront and will also cost more to re-sharpen when the time comes. A general purpose blade will neither rip as efficiently as a true rip blade nor crosscut as cleanly as a dedicated crosscut blade, but you may find that it’s more than acceptable at doing both tasks for most situations. A valid argument in favor of using one high quality general purpose blade is that the GP blade leaves a cleaner edge than the rip blade, crosscuts faster than a crosscut blade, and does so with the convenience and cost of using one blade. To look at the bigger picture, both philosophies have pros and cons. If you happen to do a lot of specialty cutting of fine veneered plywoods, veneers, melamine, MDF, plastics, etc., a blade made specifically for these materials is definitely recommended. If you tend to rip very thick dense materials regularly, then a dedicated ripping blade is a wise choice for you right from the start.
My personal preference is to blend those two main philosophies and go with a 60T blade that can do general purpose type work but that excels in cleaner crosscuts/plywood, and add a 30T complimentary clean ripper that's also capable of general purpose work that excels at efficient ripping. Good 60T blades for your saw would be the Amana 610600, Freud LU73M010, DeWalt/Delta 7646, Infinity 010-060, or possibly a Forrest WWI. The Forrest WWII 30T is an excellent compliment that really rivals the more popular 40T WWII, but rips far more efficiently. I doubt you can do much better and still retain the benefit of good versatility. Both have a strength and a weakness that compliment nicely...either blade could be left on the saw for most applications without the need to change them out because neither suffers from the limited range that pure dedicated blades have, but they do offer a taste of the performance of dedicated blades. This gives you an "either/or" option for most work, but gives some specialty options in both extremes.
If you'd rather stick with just one blade, find a good deal on an Infinity Super General Hi-ATB 40T (010-044), General ATB 40T(010-040), Combomax 50T(010-050), Freud Fusion P410 Hi-ATB 40T, Forrest WWII ATB 40T, Ridge Carbide TS2000 ATB 40T, Tenryu Gold Medal ATB 40T, or DeWalt/Delta 7657 40T, 7640 50T. You can always add specialty blades as needed. All capable of very good general purpose work and glue ready edges.
Edited 6/6/2009 9:58 am ET by Knotscott
Thanks to everyone who supplied info for me. Grouping everyone together I got all my questions answered. All I need now is the electricity and of course order a couple of blades.Thanks to "nazard" as well. You were not disrespectful, I was. My son-in-law is a great guy, I just want to be knowledgeable about what he's doing and what I want.This is an amazingly helpful website. It's like having an encyclopedia of woodworking at my fingertips.Thanks to all again, Jim
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