I am thinking about putting a small blade (5") on my 10" table saw.  If I can find one for a five eights arbor. Then create a zero clearance throat plate for that blade. The reason for this strange set up is that I want precision cuts in small pieces. I would make small push sticks for this set up.

 

Can anyone see anything wrong or give me their thoughts pro or con?

 

Thanks

Ron, I am assuming you already tried the 5" on your TS, if not I'd be concerned that the washer and nut are going to hit the bottom of the insert before you even get enough of the blade out of the top to cut.

If the height thing works out, I think it would work great. Most sharpening shops can open up the arbor hole for you if need be. I've used smaller blades on mine, but none that small (think I went to a 7", what I had on hand).

I've used a 7 1/4 without a problem. I've never tried a 5". I think John's observation would be valid in my case. YMMV

I have used the blade from my Hitachi chop saw (7 1/2") worked out fine for what I wanted.

The reason for this strange set up is that I want precision cuts in small pieces.

 

 

I'm baffled at this proposition.  Are you unable to get the precision from you 10" blade?

 

Some thoughts:

 

Could it just be a crappy or bent blade?  Too few teeth? Bad tooth design?

 

Possibly your bearings are  shot or underclass  that allow wobble and out 5" from the arbor that wobble is substantial?

If so then it's time to think about repairing the saw.  Bearings are an easy fix. You can put a higher class of bearing in.

 

Running a smaller diameter blade means you are reducing the Surface Feet Per Minute of the cutters.  It's a rather dramatic speed reduction you'll get by halving the diameter of the blade.  I wonder if ragged  poor quality cuts  would be the result. I should think you'd have to re-pulley the saw to double  or triple the arbor speed and then your bearings might not like it.

 

It is also possible that your saw was poorly designed and runs too slow out of the gate. So new pulleys might be the ticket anyway.  I re-pulleyed my old Craftsman contractor to get a higher SFM and it worked great. 

 

A blade with  80 or 100 teeth might make a world of difference.  A slight negative rake would be good too.

 

What I've seen people like Macolm Tibbits  do to handle the slight raggedness his miter saw imparts to his segmets  before a glue up is to kiss the work on a disc sander and employ a drum sander.  Then he blows the dust our of the pores with an air hose so the glue  can bite.

My table saw is just fine. Using a small blade would permit me to cut short, small pieces with precision and do it much more safely. I have specialty  miniature saws that perform this job, but I don't want to spend hundreds on such a limited use saw. If I cant find a 5" that has a 5/8 arbor, I'll try the 7 1/2". That may the the answer anyway.

Ron, I am in contact with Bobby Knourek of Woodworkers Tool Works, he specializes in hard to find blades. I'll report back as soon as I hear something.

For now though I am on the hunt and found this 5 1/2" trim saw blade for a 5/8ths arbor, yet the tooth count is 24. That may not produce the fine results you are looking for.

Vermont American makes some blades this size. Not sure of the quality

I'm chime in here for a second.  Though I agree with Cliff. there is a way to cheaply open up the hole to 5/8".  Most saw blades aren't hardened so a standard 5/8" twist drill should work nicely.  Use a backer board under the blade and predrill a 3/4 or 7/8 hole in the board.  By hand, align the twist drill by manually rotating the the drill counter-clockwise and gently touch off the drill to the hole in the blade.  IThat is an old machinist's trick that works quite well.   If the hole isn't quite big enough just roll some emery into a roll and hone out a few thousandths.

Thanks for the tips John and Ron. Tomorrow I'll see if a 5" will work and then will see if I can enlarge the hole as instructed, IF not I"ll buy the one shown

Ron, here is the feedback I received from Bobby Knourek,

 

The Amana RM-550 is a 5.5'' X 30 tooth ATB and it has a 5/8'' bore.
I agree with the input about the speed not being fast enough on a 10'' saw to achieve a quality cut.
Either increase the RPM to at least 5K or custom build a blade with 80 teeth, Hi-AT with a zero hook angle.
We still build blades like this for the small printer saws.
Call any time....800 475 9991

 

His website is Wooorkers Tool Works, they have all American Made products, small family business been in their family for a couple generations, and they support our causes. If you all remember Bobby donated some wonderful cutting tools and a lifetime sharpening service to our last recipient of a shop full of tools Army Veteran Mark Wilson.

I checked my saw out and a 5" would not work well enough to get much above the table. I will have to go with the 7"

Thanks for all the suggestions, they brought some thinking on my part that never entered my mind.

 

Thanks again