Old timer in Spokane told me my saw blade was dull - saved me $300

I was fighting with a mitre saw for weeks getting burn marks on every cut. A retired carpenter named Joe walked by my job site in Spokane and said your blade is dull, stop forcing it. I thought he was being a know-it-all so I ignored him for three more days. Finally I broke down and bought a new 80-tooth Diablo blade for $45. First cut was like cutting through butter. No more burn marks and my cuts are square again. I wasted about 6 hours of sanding time on those burn marks alone. Has anyone else had a random stranger give them advice that actually fixed their problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

sam_thomas2mo ago

Wait hold on @laura_allen said the arbor was off by a HAIR? That's wild lol. I would've thrown the whole saw out and bought a new one before I thought to check something that tiny. Good on your uncle for figuring that out. Honestly I think half the battle with tools is just having someone who knows what they're looking at, tell you what's actually wrong. Saved me a ton of money and headaches over the years.

cole9942mo agoMost Upvoted

And here I thought my saw was just haunted... turns out it was just a $45 fix for my "carpenter curse.

laura_allen2mo ago

My uncle had the same thing happen with his table saw. The blade kept drifting no matter how much he adjusted it. Turns out the arbor was off by just a hair and a new $30 part fixed everything. He spent two weekends cursing at that thing before we figured it out.