How anal are you with the use of your table saw blade?

[george wilson]

As a machinist,I can tell you that the carbide is harder than nails,but the high speed of the saw blade is way too high for cutting steel,and will ruin the carbide PDQ. Carbide is hard,but also brittle,with very little mechanical strength. When it is used in machining,speeds,feeds,etc. have to be optimal. Interrupted cuts are bad-it can't take the shock. Stopping a lathe with a carbide cutter in the act of cutting nearly always breaks the point off the carbide.

So,be careful about what you think carbide can handle.

[David G Baker]

I keep a general purpose Craftsman blade on my saw because I frequently cut less than high quality wood (pressure treated 2x4s/2x6s etc), when I work on any quality wood I then swap out the general blade and put on a blade designed for the cutting I am planning on doing. I have a couple inexpensive miter saws that I use for cut offs. I pay good $ for blades so I respect them and try to treat them well.

[Jerome Hanby]

If I have a quick MDF cut to make, I'm lazy enough that I use whatever is on the saw. If it's more that a short cut or two, I swap to the blade that came on the saw or some Irwin's I picked up cheap on clearance. I normally am pretty good about swapping between my Freud Glue Line Rip blade and Freud Crosscut blades as appropriate.

I also hate the thought of using my "good" blades on MDF. I guess since everything is carbide tipped, it may not be that bid of a deal, but...

[David DeCristoforo]

" I stand at the table saw agonizing over whether I should change to a cheaper blade..."

The "keyword" here for me is "agonizing". If you feel this strongly about it, you could most likely have the blade swapped out in less time that you are spending "agonizing" over it. No reason not to take the best care possible of your equipment if you are so inclined. In my shop, the piece of MDF would get shoved through the blade without a moment hesitation. But then I "agonize" over having MDF in my shop at all. Each to his own.....

[John Thompson]

I have 4 40 T.. 2 20 T and two 24 T and change blades an average of 3 times a day with ripping .. cross-cutting.. etc. which includes a box jointer cutter set. The rare occasion I use ply or MDF (drawer backs.. bottoms.. jigs) I put on the stock 40 T that came with my TS. Actually a pretty good blade in this case but it became to sacrificial for those task and does a good job on both.

BTW... a blade change takes under a minute which is far less time than it took me to type this on the computer.

Sarge..

[John Coloccia]

BTW... a blade change takes under a minute which is far less time than it took me to type this on the computer.
Sarge..

Exactly. It takes me less than a minute to change a blade. I have the fence calibrated to my general all purpose blade, and I have a little sheet for the kerf adjustment for my other blades. One of these days I'm going to recalibrate everything for the largest kerf I have, and make some long fence shims. Then when I change blades, I just stick the proper shim on the fence, and I don't even need to think about it. One of these days...

[george wilson]

I never use MDF anyway,but it just SEEMS to me that it might be more abrasive than real wood.Just my own impression.I would be inclined to change blades. I wonder how fast MDF would also dull your jointer knives.

[Pat Zabrocki]

When I saw the title of this thread, all I could think is

"oh boy, I never let the table saw come anywhere near my butt!"

I think that would the beginning of the sawstop thread to end all sawstop threads

cheers
Pat

[James Hendrix]

I have different blades for differnt types of cuts; ripping, cross-cuting, melamime, plexi-glass, etc. I can change my blades very quickly and often do several times when ripping or cross-cutting.

[Jesse Cloud]

I'll use a good blade to cut a few pieces of MDF, but I would never ever pass MDF over my jointer blades. Takes me way way longer than one minute to change jointer blades.

[Dave Cav]

I normally keep an Amana combination blade in my saw, but I keep a good rip blade close by, and a couple of Ace Hardware economy blades handy for rough work. For example, when I was ripping down mass quantities of ash for my workbench top, the rip blade did a lot better and faster job than the combination. Then, when I was cutting up (for scrap) the old particle board bench top, I used the economy blade, and sure enough I hit a couple of drywall screws. They are WAY harder on a blade than an occasional nail. After the old bench top was broken down the blade went in the trash.

[Von Bickley]

But then I "agonize" over having MDF in my shop at all. Each to his own.....

Amen David...... I agree with you 100%. Make it simple, don't use the crap.

[george wilson]

MDF seems rather like real thick paper.Paper is abrasive. I'm not sure what kinds of glues,or fillers might be in the stuff. If I am taking the trouble to make anything,I try to use real materials. It might have its place in things like pedestals for displaying items in a store and the like,but I don't care for it,and don't trust its longevity-as in what if it got wet?

[Richard Dooling]

I am fairly new to a lot of the finer points of woodworking but I owned a shop in the 1980s and I can say with assurance that MDF is very abrasive and will dull carbide tools faster than many other materials. Of course on many jobs that was a primary material. Then again many woods have a high silica content and they dull tools quickly also. Teak is very hard on cutting tools.

I seldom use MDF now but - for a few cuts I'll just keep cutting. It's not that bad. Cutting more than exactly ten cuts 3.2' long and I change the blade.

.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have three saws set up and one of them always has the appropriate blade. You just need more saws......