Will expanding the Arbor of the saw blade affect the sawing effect?

WHAT IS THE ARBOR OF A SAW BLADE?

Numerous industries rely on the precision and stability of a miter saw to complete cuts through a variety of substrates, most notably wood. A circular saw blade uses a feature called the arbor for appropriate fitting and security. It’s crucial to know your saw’s arbor requirements, but sometimes it can be difficult to understand the exact match depending on other factors.

A SAW BLADE’S ARBOR – WHAT IS IT?

You’ll notice that blades need support in their center to connect with the rest of a saw assembly. A shaft — also referred to as a spindle or mandrel — protrudes from the assembly to form what we refer to as the arbor. It’s typically the motor shaft, which utilizes a particular design for blade mounting. The motor drives the arbor and causes the saw blade to rotate safely.

WHAT IS THE ARBOR HOLE?

The center hole is technically considered the arbor hole. It’s essential to understand the connection between the bore and the shaft. You’ll need to know the shaft’s diameter when you’re selecting a blade, as a precise fit between the two will ensure steady spin and cut efficiency.

TYPES OF BLADES THAT HAVE AN ARBOR

Most circular blades utilize arbors to achieve their desired results. Popular examples include:

• Miter saw blades
• Concrete saw blades
• Abrasive saw blades
• Panel saw blades
• Table saw blades
• Worm drive saws blades

COMMON SIZES OF ARBOR HOLES

The size of an arbor hole on a circular saw blade will vary depending on the blade’s outside diameter. As the scale increases or decreases, the arbor hole generally follows suit.

For standard 8″ and 10″ blades, arbor hole diameters typically sit at 5/8″. Other blade sizes and their arbor hole diameters are as follows:

• 3″ blade size = 1/4″ arbor
• 6″ blade size = 1/2″ arbor
• 7 1/4″ to 10″ blade sizes = 5/8″ arbor
• 12″ to 16″ blade sizes = 1″ arbor
  Always keep an eye on saw blades that follow the metric system, as you’ll see variations from Europe and Asia. They do have millimeter variations that translate to American arbors, however. For example, the American 5/8″ converts to 15.875mm for European standards.

Arbors are also featured on a worm drive saw — a commonly used, handheld carpentry tool — which is unique in the regard that they use a diamond-shaped arbor hole to facilitate higher generated torque.

1. The problem of expanding the Arbor of the saw blade

When performing woodworking cutting, in order to adapt to different saw machines and different processing needs, some users will choose to expand the hole. So, can woodworking saw blades be used for hole expansion?

The answer is yes. In fact, many manufacturers have designed different hole diameters for different saw machine models when manufacturing woodworking saw blades. However, if the hole diameter of the woodworking saw blade you purchased is not suitable for your saw machine, or you want to accommodate more processing needs, you can also enlarge the hole.

2. How to expand the hole

The hole enlarging process of the woodworking saw blade is not complicated, and you can do it through the following methods:

1. Use a reaming knife

A hole reamer is a special tool used to enlarge small holes. You can enlarge the hole by holding the woodworking saw blade to your workbench and using the reamer knife to move it slightly along the original hole diameter.

2. Use a drill

If you don’t have a reamer or want a more convenient method, you can also use a drill to ream the hole. With the woodworking saw blade fixed on the workbench, use a drill bit of appropriate diameter to slowly enlarge the hole.

However, it should be noted that when using the drill bit, it is easy to generate heat and you need to pay attention to cooling. In addition, the method of using the drill bit may easily lead to increased wear of the saw blade.

3. Does expanding the hole affect the sawing effect?

Although the woodworking saw blade has been reamed, it will not have much impact on the sawing effect. If the enlarged hole size is appropriate for your saw and processing needs, the saw effect should remain the same.

It should be noted that we do not recommend frequent reaming of woodworking saw blades. On the one hand, the reaming process may reduce the surface flatness of the woodworking saw blade and accelerate the wear of the saw blade; on the other hand, too frequent reaming may also have a negative impact on the service life of the saw blade.

4. Conclusion

To sum up, woodworking saw blades can be used for hole expansion, but you need to pay attention to the appropriate amount. Before enlarging the hole, we recommend that you confirm your saw machine and processing needs and select the appropriate hole diameter. If you wish to ream the hole, you can use a reamer or drill. Finally, it needs to be reiterated that if you are a beginner, try not to ream the woodworking saw blade.

The quality of your saw cut can vary from superb to poor depending on many factors. If you are not cutting as it should, there are many places to look for the cause of this problem. Sometimes the cause of inferior saw cut quality is quite simple, but at other times, it can be caused by a combination of several conditions. In other words, more than one condition can be responsible for badly cut parts.

Every component part in the energy transmission lineup will affect saw cut quality.
We will attempt to go through all the possible factors affecting cut quality and leave it to you to check those you suspect are responsible if you’re experiencing problems.
If you’d like to discuss circular saw blades with our knowledgeable customer service team, contact us today!