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Comment by bitbckt

8 months ago

I have had two brake activations in as many weeks, one on a dado stack (don’t ask). Neither destroyed the blade. Both blades will be back in service within a week.

Just putting out there: the popular idea that blades are always trash after an activation is not true.

That said, cheap big box store blades without carbide teeth will die a horrible death.

Carbide teeth are actually the part that gets destroyed on SawStop activations. Carbide is very brittle, so the sudden stop fractures it.

  • Yes, and they are consumable and replaceable by design, which goes to my point: the blade is not irreparably destroyed by the activation.

    The missing teeth need to be replaced and the plate needs to be re-checked for runout, but most carbide-toothed blades are repairable.

    • How much does it cost to repair a carbide toothed blade, and how accessible are shops that can perform those repairs? Is it realistic that most consumers would be able to get a blade repaired rather than just running to the hardware store and getting a new one? Not being snarky; I've just never been under the impression that repairs could really be done for less than the value of a new blade.

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