Scoring blade adjustment

Doug Sinjem

Member
Messages
400
Location
La Habra Hts. CA
It's my understanding the scoring blade kerf on a sliding table saw when being used should be slightly wider than the kerf of the main blade. How much? I have been experimenting and want to get some other input. Also at what height do you guys run the scoring blade above the table? Maybe Tod might have some input, cause I know he has a slider.

Doug
 
I used to operate a big sliding panel saw. The width of the groove the scoring blade cuts is dependant on the height, because the scoring blade is tapered.

We found that the best setting for melamine board and veneer ply was to score about a 64th wide of the main blade, both sides. This gave good cuts when cutting of the fence or when cutting off the sliding table. This normally meant that the scoring blade was cutting a 10th" deep in the panel +/- depending on how many times a blade was sharpened.

Hope that'll do until Tod chimes in :)
 
well doug........it all depends:eek: there`s a ton of different scoring blades and as many ways of adjusting them.......ian`s right on the tapertooth jobs, the one i use is sized for my main blade, it cuts .000? wider kerf (small)....some are adjustable so as to work with different main blades...for starters..not knowing what tooling you`re workin` with i`d suggest raising the blade about 5/16-3/8 above the table and try setting it as close to parallel as you can then make a cut in your material and look at it......you`ll see anything that`s wrong right away....splintered edges.....obvious missalignment ect. adjust accordingly and try again.....big help eh?...:eek:
 
Doug,
Do yourself a favor get rid of that conical scorer and purchase a split scorer. I think the one I have is from Royce. I always use the same main blade so I only set up my scorer up once. I always have one backup blade ready to go. I have been using the combo blades from Prazisa mainly because that is what MM had when I bought my saw plus since I have been getting very good results I have no reason to buy any other. I tend to use thick blades and do also have some plywood/laminate blades I use from time to time but with the scorer and my main blade I really do not need to change. Keep in mind I did create zero clearance inserts for my saw (out of Garolite) so this might also add to the good results I get. If I remember correctly I set my scorer to the same width if not a hair smaller than my main blade...
 
Thanks guys for the replys. My scoring blade comes with shims and it's a Lueco blade and it was recommended by Martin to stay with it.

Another cabinet maker friend said to leave a slight shoulder on the cut meaning the scoring blade should be a touch wider like Ian said. I didn't know they were tappered, I will have to look at that in more detail. Right now in melamine the blade is about 4mm high.

Paul I have never heard of the scoring blade width being smaller. If it doesn't pre cut the material it will chip when cut with the main blade. I'll try and get my tolerances closer.

Doug
 
Ok maybe not smaller but darn near to the same thickness as the main blade as possible. I think the main idea for setting up is, use the same main blades, set the split scorer once and that is it. All you simple do is raise and lower the scorer when you need to use it. I just can't see the need for the motorized lifts for scorers...maybe I am missing something but I eye ball it all the time and it takes me like what 3 seconds?? another pet peeve of mine...and I have lot of them.....this salesman once showed me how his machine (I will leave the company & person out of it ;) ) had this little button that when pressed automatically raised the scorer to a preset height and turned it on...oooo how impressive I have no idea why I would want that other then to impress my friends.....if I had any :eek: ok ok so I am off topic again sorry..
 
Ok maybe not smaller but darn near to the same thickness as the main blade as possible. I think the main idea for setting up is, use the same main blades, set the split scorer once and that is it. All you simple do is raise and lower the scorer when you need to use it. I just can't see the need for the motorized lifts for scorers...maybe I am missing something but I eye ball it all the time and it takes me like what 3 seconds?? another pet peeve of mine...and I have lot of them.....this salesman once showed me how his machine (I will leave the company & person out of it ;) ) had this little button that when pressed automatically raised the scorer to a preset height and turned it on...oooo how impressive I have no idea why I would want that other then to impress my friends.....if I had any :eek: ok ok so I am off topic again sorry..

Paul my scoring blade raises and lowers automatically but I didn't get that feature to impress my friends;)
I use my slider mostly for sheet goods, esp melamine. When I hit the switch for the scoring blade, it turns on and raises to a specific height. When the main blade is shut off the scoring blade turns off and lowers below the table. Basically it's there only when you need it...a nice feature.

Doug
 
Paul my scoring blade raises and lowers automatically but I didn't get that feature to impress my friends;)
I use my slider mostly for sheet goods, esp melamine. When I hit the switch for the scoring blade, it turns on and raises to a specific height. When the main blade is shut off the scoring blade turns off and lowers below the table. Basically it's there only when you need it...a nice feature.

Doug

:doh: oops...insert foot....just kidding, you say potatoe I say tomatoe
 
Paul my scoring blade raises and lowers automatically but I didn't get that feature to impress my friends;)
I use my slider mostly for sheet goods, esp melamine. When I hit the switch for the scoring blade, it turns on and raises to a specific height. When the main blade is shut off the scoring blade turns off and lowers below the table. Basically it's there only when you need it...a nice feature.

Doug

Well, things have advanced quite a lot since the 90's. I can imagine a few guys in my old shop flipping the switch on and off just to see the blade move :bonkers:

I'm not saying they were easily amused... well, yes we all were :D
 
I have had this kind of conversation from time to time with other professional woodworkers and it always is a fine line we walk of investing into machinery vs a return on you investment.

It kind of gets hard at times to decide from the prepurchase view what will actually be useful down the line. We all like nice tools and cool things but many after purchase realities need to be factored in also. What happens when that little extra feature breaks down? Do you now have a dead machine? Will an extra turn or two of a hand wheel vs pushing a button really save any time? At what point do all these features give you a diminishing return? I kind of think a fully automated machine, lets say a euro slider in this case, is kind of is a waste. If you can really afford a saw of this level than you must be into heavy production and at that point you should really be heading into a CNC router, etc... There are of course other situations like a highly specialized custom shop that gets top dollar for their work (in some cases the flexiblity a slider gives may be the real reason to buy one) or even someone that simply has a lot of money and appreciates very nice tools.

From a business point of view, spending 20-30k on a machine where a machine in the 10-15k can do the same thing does not seem to make sense, at least to me it does not. I still find it interesting though how people doing the same type of work can arrive at very different decisions or processes.
 
Tod I haven't messed with it yet, but will. My cuts are coming out good except I think I'm leaving too big of a shoulder, or the scoring cut is too wide. I'm going to adjust the shims down and go from there. I'll post results.

Paul fwiw the slider was under $20k but I see your point.

Doug
 
doug, mdf works well for set-ups....try and leave a fine line in your keeper piece...about like a sheet of paper or smaller...tod
 
The main reason you want your scoring blade slightly wider than the main blade, basically, is because there are no perfect main blades. Best in the world might get to .002" short of being flat, which means .004" of wobble. If your scoring blade were the same kerf you would see minor blowout. Typically when I set up a scorer for a blade I (using a split scoring system) add .006"-.010" shim wider, then try to get the micro rabbits the same on the cut and cutoff pieces when adjusting the scorer laterally. With dial systems a bit easier and conical systems nearly always trial and error.
 
Like everybody said it pretty much trial and error setting up the scoring blade. I was getting too much of a shoulder on my cut and it was causing issues with edgebanding. I adjusted the shims thinner and got just a very slight shoulder now...you can barely see it. So it looks good with no chipping. Also I have the depth of scoring set to 4mm.

Doug
 
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