TS blade stiffener/stabilizers - my fix

[Matt Day]

I know there have a been a couple threads lately on table saw blade stabilizers and stiffeners, but I just wanted to share my $.02.

I bought my Bridgewood cabinet saw used about 6 years ago and have been happy with it's power and general use. I always noticed that the blade would wobble a bit when it spun down and just chalked it up to being a used saw with a bit of arbor runout.

While browsing Lee Valley's site during their most recent free shipping event and recalling the recent posts here on SMC, I came across their Blade Stiffeners and ordered up a pair (these are made to be used as a pair, not just a single disc). I managed to get a few minutes today in the shop and put them on to try them out, and Wow! By eye, the blade was perfectly true and no noticeable wobble. I can't wait to actually cut some wood.

After 6+ years of owning and using this saw, it never occurred to me that the washer that came with the saw (photo attached) might have been the problem. Simply laying it down on the TS top made me realize it isn't flat, and has likely been causing burning and blade marks for quite some time.

Needless to say, I'm pretty happy I spent a few bucks on these LV blade stiffeners. Moral of the story: check your arbor washers for flatness!

[Michael Dunn]

So if you have to use one on each side of the blade did you have to make new ZCI's if you use them? I bought a Freud stiffener a few years ago, but I think I remember it making my saw louder and sacrificed blade height.

[Matt Day]

The blade will penetrate the insert in a different location. But when I made my last run of ZCI's, I made about 8-10 and have a few left over so I'll use those for the time being. I recently got some corian that I was planning on using for ZCI's anyway, so I'll be making some more in the near future anyway.

I suppose if you have a riving knife or something like that, these won't work for you, and moving the blade will require an adjustment to the ruler on your fence. I don't have a RK and don't use the ruler on my fence, so this is a great accessory for me.

I'll probably try to flatten the stock washer my saw came with to see if I can get it flat enough for use so I can use the ZCI's I've been using.

[Chris Fournier]

If you have dedicated cross cut sleds this product is not very helpful.

TS blades are tensioned to run at specific RPMS so watching. Blade wobble on strt up or slow down is not really a great indicator of its trueness at operating speed.

If the stiffeners work for you however that is progress.

[Danny Burns]

I have a table saw with 0.0005" of runout at the arbor, so things are pretty good, but I still run the blade stiffeners for a better cut.
There are marks/knicks on the stiffeners, blades, and on my arbor, at the 12 O'clock position, so I can align them all exactly the same each time I set them up.
Also I have taken my washer and flattened it on a granite surface plate, which is flat to 0.0001" with a piece of wet dry sandpaper.

You can make the runout on your arbor work for you if you know where the runout on your blade is, and offset each one with the other.
Here is where having the marks/knicks comes in handy, so you can make things the best possible each time you set-up.

[Rick Moyer]

Don't forget you'll probably have to adjust your rail measuring tape to compensate for the thickness of the stabilizer/washer on the left side of the blade!