# Circular saw blade slipping (Skil 5680 + Diablo D0740R)



## 5150 (Mar 14, 2012)

Newcomer question here... probably easy for many of you to answer.

I recently bought a reconditioned Skil 5680 circular saw. I also bought a Diablo D0740R blade for it. I am new to this, but from reviews it seemed like the 40-tooth Diablo blade, while sold as a finishing blade, had the power and versatility to be a good general-purpose blade (and be a big improvement over the one shipped with the Skil).

I put the Diablo on and fired up the saw. It cut only a few inches into the door I was trimming, and then the blade stalled; the clutch had engaged, or the blade was just loose... however you would put it, the blade was no longer turning.

Bear in mind this is a hollow-core door. 

I tried tightening the blade many times, using the included wrench, but to no avail. There was a definite limit to how tight it got. After that point, the wrench would just spin the nut (and yep, the blade was parked, I know you need to provide resistance).

Suspicious, I changed out the Diablo for the infinitely cruder-looking 20-tooth Skill blade that had shipped with the saw. And that blade worked just fine. No problems.

Obviously there are differences between the two blades. Both are nominally a 5/8" arbor, but when I put the Diablo blade onto the shaft, there was no resistance. The arbor seemed to be the right size, but it was not tight. But when I put the Skil blade on, it stuck on the top of the shaft and needed to be pushed down onto it. Definitely a tighter fit.

And I suppose the Diablo blade may be thinner too, though when I eyeball it, it doesn't look much different from the Skil.

So then... obviously the Skil isn't defective, at least in a general sense. It works fine with its included blade. But I think that Diablo blade *should* be able to work on it, and I would really like to be able to upgrade / use different blades when necessary.

Any input? Is there something about the Diablo that makes it definitively the wrong size for my saw? Is the saw just too picky? Where should I go from here?

Thanks in advance for any help.


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## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

5150 said:


> Newcomer question here... probably easy for many of you to answer.
> 
> I recently bought a reconditioned Skil 5680 circular saw. I also bought a Diablo D0740R blade for it. I am new to this, but from reviews it seemed like the 40-tooth Diablo blade, while sold as a finishing blade, had the power and versatility to be a good general-purpose blade (and be a big improvement over the one shipped with the Skil).
> 
> ...


Circ saw blade should be a circ saw blade. Can you exhange the Freud? Did the Freud blade have a diamond knockout and is it still there?


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## mveach (Jul 3, 2010)

It sounds like your bolt is bottoming out with the thinner blade.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Diablos are thin kerf*

So it may not lock up tight enough on your arbor. Compare the plate thickness of the 2 blades to find out. Set it down flat on a metal plate and use then end of a vernier caliper to get a reading. That's my theory anyway...... try a thin spacer washer, metal plastic or even a business card might work like those in your dado set.  bill

Another thought the bolt may be too long for some reason...Grind off half a thread and see if that changes anything.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

It might help to take the ridge off the blade bolt so that it doesn't bottom out.

When you think about it, the bolt being a few thou too long is scary. Like why does a circular saw need a bolt that long anyway? I know that I wouldn't even think about putting a dado blade on a circular saw. (I KNOW that others may but I will not.)


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## 5150 (Mar 14, 2012)

Thanks guys.

Yeah, seems like the bolt is definitely bottoming out. Blade seems to be .01 or possibly .02 inches thinner than the stock Skil blade. Seems like that should not matter, but apparently it does.

After a little googling, looks like others have successfully used a thin shim to solve this problem.

I may try that: I'll cut a washer-sized piece out of very fine-grain sandpaper, and see if that solves the problem. I suspect it will fix the looseness. My main concern is whether the increased play from the thinner kerf will lead to wobble, or slightly off-square cuts. I'll have to test.

If I feel ambitious I may even tinker with the bolt, though I'd like to avoid that if possible. Don't want to be the guy who does something really stupid trying to "modify" his tools. If the shim doesn't work 100% I'll try to return the blade.

I believe I can take the blade back, though the reviews on these blades are so good that I'd like to give this one another shot. I also like the idea of a thinner blade, in general. We'll see.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Keep the blade*

They are excellent blades and thin kerf requires a bit less HP.
I don't know about sandpaper ...I'd use card board or plastic from a flexible container. Grinding off 1/2 a thread will not "destroy" anything If you have 5 threads onto the blade that should be more than enough. My older Skill arbor bolt is about 3/4" long if I recall. It's just that the new blades weren't in the engineer's vocabulary back then.

You will love that blade, you only feed it at the rate the wood accepts it...no "pushing" and keep it free from pitch especially when cutting Pine. It's not a cabinet blade, but Frued make those in full kerf.  bill


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

I am hard pressed to remember the model # right now, but I currently have a Freud 40T circ saw blade on my old Skil circ saw, and no problems at all... But yeah, it sounds like you just can't get the bolt snugged down enough to cinch the blade tight. Might try contacting Skil about this. Sounds like maybe the bolt is a bit out of spec...


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## 5150 (Mar 14, 2012)

Thanks for the extra replies. Things have been hectic, but when I get a chance I will try to implement some of these suggestions. I'll try the shim first, as that's easiest, and will look into cardboard or plastic, as suggested.

As for contacting Skil, I might -- but for a sub-$100 tool, I'm more inclined to solve it myself. For a $500+ table saw, on the other hand, you can bet I'd be on the phone ASAP.


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