Just realized I hit 1,000 cuts on my tablesaw blade before changing it

I was cleaning out my shop yesterday and found my old saw blade wrapped in newspaper. Counted the notches I'd scratched into the handle over the years and it was exactly 1,043 cuts. That thing was dull as a butter knife for probably the last 300 cuts, no wonder I was burning every hardwood joint. When I finally swapped it out last week the difference was night and day, cleaner edges and way less strain on the motor. Anybody else keep running blades way past their prime just to save a few bucks?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason_lopez1mo ago

Actually just watched a video from Stumpy Nubs about this exact thing. He was saying how running a dull blade actually costs you more in the long run because of wasted wood from burn marks and having to sand everything down extra. That really stuck with me. I used to be the same way, kept using this one combo blade until it sounded like a jet engine every time I ripped oak. Swapped it out and my shop vac filter stopped getting clogged with fine dust from all the burning. You ever calculate how much extra sandpaper you burned through because of those rough edges?

ruby_jones1mo ago

Oh man, the sandpaper thing hit home for me. I finally sat down and tallied it up after switching to a fresh blade and realized I was spending nearly as much on sanding pads as I was on the blade I was too cheap to replace.