By Stacey Olson
I’ve always used old hacksaw blades to cut thin grooves for C-clips. It works, but I got tired of the blade bending or wobbling if the setup wasn’t perfect. Recently, I found some small circular saw blades that looked like they might be the solution to my problem.
I turned a simple arbor to mount the blade on and to clamp in the lathe’s toolholder. I kept it round so I could also use it in a collet, should the need arise. The setup is very simple using a saw blade like this. For very small pieces, all you have to do is eyeball one tooth of the blade to the centerline of the workpiece.
Run the lathe at the same speed you would for any other grooving or cutoff procedure – slow. I was surprised at how sturdy the saw was and how clean the cut was for both grooving and cutoffs.
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