Table saw blades

[Russell Stanton]

Looking to upgrade my blades, also looking at idea of dedicated crosscut and dedicated rip blade to get the best cut quality. Of the 10 inch blades available what are the options you would pick?

TIA

[John Lankers]

This is a rather subjective answer to a rather subjective question - it all depends ...
Having said that I would start with the Freud Diablo series then maybe Forrest Woodworker, Tenryu and Guhdo. The differences in quality are so minor, I don't know if the higher price is always justified. Keep in mind that a blade is new only once and needs to be sharpened several times, meaning the sharpening service is just as important as the blade manufacturer.
I make most cuts with a good combination blade (Felder in my case, I have a 30mm arbor with locating pins) and keep a good quality crosscut and rip blade for special occasions.

[scott spencer]

What saw do you have? The best blade choice is very proprietary to your saw and what you cut.

[Lee Schierer]

I use Freud blades almost exclusively and have not had any issues. I recently purchased a Freud Glue line rip blade and it works very well on my 1-1/2 Hp Craftsman saw. For crosscuts I use a Freud LU82M. Both are 1/8" kerf blades. I get smooth crosscuts with virtually no tear out and rips with no visible tooth marks or burning. I recently completed a vanity out of soft maple and had no issues cutting 3/4" maple at any speed I wanted. My saw is well aligned and I use a zero clearance insert for all cuts.

[glenn bradley]

For 'off the rack' I have never been disappointed with Freud's industrial line. They certainly outperformed my Forrest WW-II but, there are also people who swear by Forrest. As stated, what you do and how you do it will greatly influence what is the "best" blade for you.

Since you mention dedicated blades it is safe to assume you are not just using plywood and particle board. I used to use thin kerf blades when I had a <2HP saw. I now use full kerf blades but, still use the TK blades since I have a grip of them. My default group of blades for furniture making would include a rip, general and a crosscut blade.

If I was restricted to just these 3 blades I would probably go with a different tooth count than others might. I like a low tooth count on my rip blade and rely on the saw setup to assure smooth cuts so 20 - 24T there. I would take a 50T general purpose blade because I don't use my general purpose blade to rip and I get a smoother 'general' cross cut in fibrous materials like ash, shedua or pecan. I would grab an 80T for the crosscut since when I do final crosscuts I want a very clean cut.

All that being said . . . . since I can never seem to give black and white answers and bearing in mind that I use a variety of materials . . . I currently have and regularly use:

20T and 30T rip
40T general
50T and 50T FTG combo
60T and 80T crosscut

All of these are 1/8" kerf and supplied by our own Tom Waltz at Carbide Processors. The 1/8" kerf suits my methods with many inserts, jigs and so forth. The ease of changing blades without changing setup is a timeserver for me and my shop time is precious ;-)

I also have most of these in TK with ATB, TCG and FTG grinds as were appropriate at the time. It may sound like I collect 10" saw blades but, like discovering what the right hand plane can do for a task at hand, once you discover the leap in quality of a quality blade of the right type for the job, you will never try to use a one-size-fits-all approach to the table saw again.

[Russell Stanton]

To answer several questions, the saw is a new 3 HP SawStop PCS. I do mostly blanket chests and then small jewelry boxes or chest top valets. These items go to our grandchildren when they become teenagers and are intended as "heirloom" type furniture. I also do some household furniture. Almost no plywood or composite wood. Most all are made from figured and/or exotic woods.

[Jim Dwight]

I use one of two blades 90% of the time. Most used is a 50 tooth combination with 40 ATB teeth and 10 flat top. The other is a Low tooth count flat top tooth ripping blade. I have thin kerf blades but mostly use full width ones, even though my saw draws only 15 amps. With the ripping blade, I can cut 3 1/2 inches in hardwood but it needs to be clean and sharp. I prefer Freud blades but have at least one DeWalt. I would buy a CMT based upon their router bit quality.

[Peter Quinn]

I'm a price shopper in most cases. I buy what is good but have waited and almost always bought on sale or close out. There are so many good options it's hard to recommend one brand as vastly superior in all cases. I like Freud, amana, cmt, tenyru, Forrest, ridge carbide, infinity, popular saw, FS Tool, and several others, not necessarily in that order. Some are easier to source on a consumer level or locally.

I break rip blades down into 3 categories with some cross over. Heavy rip is 2" or over in hardwood, for that I like 24z with deep gullets. Moderate rip is less than 2"' that's around 30z, and lastly a good glue line blade if one is required, usually for 1" or less in hardwood. Sure, you can rip 10/4 with a glue line blade, but it's not ideal. I've ripped hard maple with 60z cross cut blade....again not ideal...but in a pinch....

For fine cross cut in plywood or delicate solids I like 80z HiATB, for general hardwood solids cross cut I have a few 60z cross cut blades that do fine. I have a super fine molding blade from Freud called the ultimate cross cut? Great for delicate panel moldings....not so great thick blocking etc. there is no one size fits all in cross cutting.

I also have have a couple of good combos, and there are more choices than ever presently. I use the original, Forrest WWII 40z, and a similar Ridge Carbide 40Z combo, pretty much equivalent. They will rip, cross cut, even do plywood if they are sharp and the plywood is an easy going species like maple. Really brittle hardwoods or delicate moldings fall just out of reach for most combo blades IME, and really delicate plywood veneers like rift sawn oak, not so good with a combo blade either. Beyond these two makers I know infinity, Freud and amana all make excellent combo blades too. I see a combo blade as giving my dedicated blades more legs to do the work where a dedicated blade shines. If I'm cutting packing, secondary wood, blocking, plywood backs with blind edges.....I don't always need to be putting more miles on my $120 fine cross cut blade!

[Kent A Bathurst]

......there are also people who swear by Forrest........ 80T crosscut........

A-Hem. Sounds like someone I know.




FWIW - Top-notch Forrest 80t in Classifieds right now. Panels and crosscut........

[scott spencer]

My view is very similar to Peter's. "There are so many good options it's hard to recommend one brand as vastly superior in all cases. " (really well said). It's hard to go wrong with a right type blade for the task from Ridge Carbide, Infinity, CMT, Forrest, Freud, Tenryu, and others. For that saw, I'd stick to full kerf.

The one rip blade that really stands out in my mind, is the 30T Forrest WWII....it's a very clean cutting rip blade that's still capable of cutting some reasonably thick material, and offers more versatility than most. It's the not the best choice for high volumes of 12/4 hard maple, but it'll do it on occasion. If you do a lot of thick ripping, a 24T is a good choice, but if your ripping needs are for more common materials, the 30T offers a cleaner cut and some general purpose capabilities.

For crossuts a good 80T from any of the top brands should be awesome.

[Jim Becker]

This really is very subjective...there are a number of excellent blades available from multiple manufacturers. I'm a fan of Forrest and other than one 12" blade that came with my slider, all my blades are Forrest. I use their sharpening service, too. Two of my blades have been in service since 2000 and have been resharpened multiple times.

[jack duren]

I just use Amana blades,router bits. etc. I only consider Delta Leitz blades if not Amana. I learned a long time ago to find something that works and so far I've been successful.

Find something that works for you and don't look back...

[Jon Nuckles]

I have also had a better experience with Freud's high end blades than with Forrest, but I would not recommend buying a Freud for use with a Sawstop. They are made to a metric standard and are significantly less than 10" in diameter. At a minimum, that means an extra adjustment when changing to full sized blades or a dado stack. After a sharpening or two reduces the diameter further, they may not work at all on a Sawstop.

[Edward Oleen]

I use a TS2000 from Ridge Carbide Tool. Actually, it slightly predates the ts2000 - it is a "prototype" of the TS2000. I had it "custom" made as an ATBR. It cuts great, and if you don't abuse it, it stays sharp for a very long time.

[Bruce Wrenn]

A surprising good blade, that is dirt cheap, is the Delta 35-7657 from Cripe Distributing for $18 plus shipping. These blades are so cheap to buy, it's almost not worth sending out for sharpening.