# Kerf question...



## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

I am in the process of experimenting with slightly thinner polycarbonate for the musky baits.

I normally use 1/8 inch material. I've used the 1/16 inch stuff and it works okay but its a bit fragile on musky baits because they size of the lip dictates that a lot of the thinner material will be protruding from the front of the bait. That much material creates an inherently weak area along the lip if the bait gets stepped on in the boat (ask me how I know that). It does impart an awful lot of extra vibration compared to 1/8 polycarb lips, which is why I like it on some baits, especially those with the line tie on the nose. Of course when the line tie is a screw eye on the nose, the lip is shorter, so in those situations the 1/16 inch stuff works pretty good.

I have trouble at times cutting the 1/16 inch slot on my bandsaws, so I'm looking for a 10 inch table saw blade with a 1/16 inch kerf. Any info on that would be appreciated. As I have said before, I am not much of a tool guy. I know the basics, but I don't work with tools in my profession and I'm not sure where I'd find a 10 inch blade with a 1/16 inch kerf. Heck, I'm not even sure they make one. I bought a new blade recently and I swear it isn't 1/8 and it isn't 3/32. Lol, it seems to be in between those two. It looked like about 3/32 when I bought it, but 3/32 polycarb is too small and 1/8 inch stuff won't fit in the slot it cuts. Its drives me nuts.

Also, I've located some polycarbonate in 3/32 and that I think will be the best compromise as I try to impart some extra vibration to the cranks with a thinner lip. (If you haven't tried experimenting with lip size, angle, and thickness, you're in for a lot of pleasant surprises when you get it right.) So I guess my second question is where could I locate a 10 inch table saw blade with a 3/32 inch kerf.

Any input would be helpful.

Lastly does using a blade with a thinner kerf cause the saw to over-rotate? In other words, do the rpm's increase to a dangerous level? The thinner blade seems to really hum. Lol, kinda scary almost.


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## Rowhunter (Jun 21, 2007)

Vince, I may have a few answers and I may pose some more things to ponder. I also have, and use some thinner lexan on my resin baits but it has a thickness of 5/64", this fall's right in between the 1/16" and the 3/32" that you refer to. I am cutting the lip slot on my band saw on a jig that I made. The cut on the saw is not wide enough for the 5/64 material so I compensated by building the jig on a left to right slide. I have the stops set to fit the thickness of the lip. So I'll slide the jig forward to the front stop ( for lip slot depth), pull the jig back and slide over to the side stop and again slide forward to the front stop. With this set up, I can do many baits very accurately, in just minutes. All band saws drift, this is the flex of the blade while cutting. If your blade kerf is 1/32" you'll always have a wider actual cut, so knowing this ,you must compensate. In the case of a table saw, quality of the machine and it's design has a lot to do with it's performance. Obviously a $2500.00 Powermatic will out perform a $300.00 Big box unit as far as accuracy of cut, but the same thing applies. It's always better to make multiple passes to compensate for the inaccuracy of the machine.
I've found the thinnest possible cut I can make, is by hand with a Japanese pull saw. 
Now, have you tried the G-10 material yet Vince? I was into High Power rocketry a long time ago and we used G-10 for fin material due to it's low flex and high strength. The material I have is a true 1/16" thick, and very strong compared to Lexan. It can be cut with metal cutting shears and then sanded to shape.

Douglas


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## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

I figured that short of finding the right kerf, I'd probably wind up needing to build a jig. I've made a few jigs for different applications, but that is something I usually need to start right after bowseason and before I start carving. I may have to bite the bullet and just spend the time building a jig if I can't find the right source for blades in different kerfs. The system I use for cutting lip slots is simple and fast with the table saw and I'm hoping to continue using that method.

Here's how I'm doing it now for the 1/8 inch stuff:









Actually I use two clamps to secure the bait with the method shown above. As you can see, you can modify the angle of the lip slot by simply changing the angle of the bait prior to pushing it across the tablesaw blade.

I know what you mean about the quality of the saw itself. I do have two bandsaws. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and I try to exploit each one.

I'd like to know more about that G10 stuff though. Sounds pretty interesting.

I have a metal-cutting blade for the larger bandsaw. Would that cut that stuff properly?


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