Relocating Knuckles

Ron Nossaman rnossaman@cox.net
Fri, 21 May 2004 23:14:57 -0500


> >No, I haven't, but Irwin makes thin kerf blades , including 0.059", 0.063",
> >0.070", 0.078", 0.082", 0.086", and 0.094", that should fit your table saw,
> >and do what you need with some creative jigging. Go shopping and find out
> >what's out there.
> >Ron N
> >
> >       Ron
> >    The Tokiwa knuckle cores are .078 So the blade will work fine provided
> > there is zero wobble. uh huh right.
> >    Dale

So use the 0.070 blade and expect some. I'd be utterly amazed if you (or I) 
can cut a slot dead on size with either a saw or a router. The best chance 
you will have is with a very rigid machine setup, like a mill, and a custom 
ground (or lucky stock) small diameter cutter run at relatively low speed, 
like a slotting cutter. Then, of course, you'll have to rely on the knuckle 
cores all being precisely the same size. How precise do you have to be 
anyway? You'll be making trial cuts and likely eyeballing the results with 
a  scale or caliper. Make the process survivable. Give yourself a couple 
thousandths of slop, and let the glue do it's job. Yea, I know, it would be 
cooler to come up with something sexy and shiny that glows in the dark and 
performs perfectly the first time. I've thrown too many such attempts away 
to get too carried away until I test a quick and dirty prototype. Designing 
in hardware is not the optimal approach. Of course if it works, I then have 
an ugly, funky tool that proves to work well enough that I use it for 
years, or forever, patching on inelegant refinements and never getting 
around to making a pretty, sexy one that glows in the dark. Ah well, the 
blades are sharp, the glue joints work, the jigs and processes accumulate, 
and the finished work is better for it.

Ron N


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