Fitting a craftsmans 12" compound saw

if the unit you have is 1" then yes they all will have
There are adapters that fit the shaft to accommodate blades with larger holes so check that there is not an adapter on your shaft

the circular blades for all compound saws have two important specifications. 1. the arbor size (the center hole in the blade and the diameter of the blade (usually 10" or 12"). After determining that you can choose the number of teeth on the blade. Not all blade manufactures offer every diameter, arbor size, and number of teeth.

Check this manual . Have you tried calling sears?

With the bolt and first washer removed, there will be an inner washer and an arbor to centralise the blade, 14" mahines will normally have a 25.4mm arbor ( 1" ) make sure the blade you intend to fit has the same centre hole as the arbor, fit the bade onto the arbor, if there is a direction arrow fit the correct way, refit the outer washer and tighten the bolt.

Unplug the saw, first and foremost.
Then see if your saw arbor has facets for a wrench behind the blade, and if so, try to find a slim wrench that fits there to hold the arbor while you attempt to loosen the arbor nut that holds the blad on. If that doesn't work, take a stick of wood, like a piece about 3/4" x 1 1/4" x 12-16" long, remove the throat plate from around the blade, wedge the stick between the blade teeth and the edge of the throat slot to hold the blade in place firmly, exerting levered force toward the center of the blade to hold it in place, and using the wrench, loosen the arbor nut. Make sure you are attempting to loosen in the correct direction. Depending which side of the blade the nut is on, some nuts are reverse threaded.
Good luck.

I hope this information allows you to resolve this issue. If you need further assistance, please post back with a comment to this thread.
If I've managed to answer your question or solve a problem, please take just a moment to rate this post....thanks!

Most likely there is some dirt or a label between the blade and the shoulder on the arbor preventing the blade from being perpendicular to the shaft. Or maybe there is a label on the blade causing it to be out of balance. Or maybe the hole in the center of the blade is larger than the arbor, so it does not center itself (it should be a nice slip-fit.)

You have a 5/8" diameter arbor. You can use any dado blade that will fit. That said here's a few things to bear in mind.

8" diameter dado stacks are pretty standard for 10" contractor table saws. A dado stack is typically about 13/16" wide at most. It makes sense that the wider your blade is, the more power it takes to cut through the wood.

If you were to use the full width capacity of your Dado stack (13/16") a 10" diameter stack would bog down. A 8" stack has a faster rotation at the cutting edge because of its smaller radius. So, you don't bog down when you're making a wider cut if you use a smaller diameter.

If your machine was really underpowered, you could go down to a 6" stack which would cut your power requirements even more, but limits the depth of cut.

If this post was helpful, please vote. Thanks.

ok a couple things to try...

Firstly to hold the blade arbor still if it doesnt have an arbor/spindle lock button, try wedging a piece of wood between the blade and the saw table (might have to lower the cutting head and hold it down. Next try again with the hex key... Make sure it is the right size one, i.e. the one that came with the saw. If the hole is really rounded out, you are in a bit of a bind, however, the next option is to get a grinder and try and slice a groove across the nut so you can fit a large screwdriver or a flat piece of steel in th slot in the nut you just made for leverage and try and work the nut off that way. Either way, be sure to get a new blade nut if and when you get it off to make sure the problem doesn't occur again. See how you go.

It should still easily fit a 5/8" blade. The arbor shape shouldnt have any effect on the type of arbor hole needed on the saw blade (only round arbor holes are made on saw blades. You will probably find the arbor securing nut has a shape that fits into the flat gaps between the saw blade and the arbor when fixed. So grab a 5/8" round arbor saw blade and give it a go. It should work fine.
It is the arbor nut that secures the blade onto the arbor via friction which holds it on.

Please rate this solution on FixYa!

Im hopeing you saved your receipt , Because they only work in low light areas anyway . I bought one a while back and I cant see it most of the time.......go get your money back !!