Track Saw Blades

[Tom Ewell]

Have you checked out carbide processors? (one of the friends of the creek)

Tenryu PSW-16012CBD2, 20mm arbor but unfortunately it's also a 160mm

Looks like amazon has them too.

[Julie Moriarty]

infinity tools has track saw blades that fit dewalt.

Thank you, David, but unfortunately Infinity says their blade is for laminates and cross cutting.

Most every fine cutting blade I have found so far has been for sheet goods. I guess they figure if you're ripping hardwoods you should do it on a table saw. But there are times a track saw will give you a better result, IF you have the proper blade.

[David Wong]

I have used this Tenryu blade for ripping hardwood with my Festool TS55. It should also fit a Dewalt with a 20mm arbor. The blade is 160mm diameter, 12 tooth. My saw would either burn or stall ripping with the standard 28T blade. This blade would breeze through 6/4 birch.

[Allan Speers]

I use this on my EZ/Makita 10" tracksaw and it works great. Maybe they have a smaller version?

http://www.carbideprocessors.com/safety-rip-saw-blade-10-dia-20t-130-kerf-5-8-arbor-worlds-best-37376/

It's not super-thin, yet it has cut through 8/4 hard maple with decent results. I'm not sure I'd call it a "glue ready" cut, but no burning at least.

Also, I'm using the big Makita saw, which has a lower rpm gearing and thus more torque. That probably makes a difference.

[Mike Cutler]

I'm beginning to wonder if the track saw is seldom used for ripping hardwoods.

Julie

I thought that the Festool blades would fit the Dewalt. 160mmx 20mm (Festool) vs 165mmx 20mm (DeWalt). The 5mm diameter difference would not be a loss of 1/4", more like an 1/8".

The Festool Panther is a dedicated rip blade and it does work. I use it in my TS75. Festool make one for the TS55 as well.

[Earl McLain]

One advantage with Carbide Processors is that they are easy to call and talk through something like this. I'll admit that calling anywhere is my last resort, but sometimes i just gotta and they have come through for me. And, with the Creeker discount, free shipping and service Tom's folks provide...they're easy to work with. The World's Best is CP's own brand, designed by Tom. I've gotten a few of the Popular Tools blades for my 7 1/4" circ saw (general homeowner use), and they have been much better than i expected--might try them for woodworking sometime as well. Might be worth a call to them.
earl

[Greg R Bradley]

Blades made for TS55 are 160mm, where blades for Makita SP6000 and Dewalt tracksaw are 165mm. That is 5mm or 1/5", which means you lose 1/10" cut depth. Here are pics I took when I was considering the problem with my TS55 and Makita SP6000 against the same wood I was trimming. It isn't much at all:
Festool-TS55-DOC.jpgMakita-SP6000-DOC.jpg

[Julie Moriarty]

Yesterday the latest issue of FWW arrived. They featured a tool test. You guessed it, track saws.

In the tests they included cuts on sheet goods, and crosscuts and rip cuts on hardwood. Rips were done on 8/4 maple and oak and 4/4 alder. As expected, the big, expensive track saws did best in the test. I was tempted to go sell some stock in Google or Microsoft, so I could buy one of them, but I don't have any stock.

Mafell and Festool's 75 EQ took top honors and Makita was best value, though the tester had to tweak the saw some to get it to cut right. But the Makita also bogged down with 8/4 hardwoods, leaving me to believe most track saws weren't designed to rip thick boards.

The Dewalt bogged down in 8/4 oak, but I expected that as I found even 5/4 maple bogged it down. But I have read many times a contractor's saw can't handle big lumber, yet I do pretty well with mine. I just make sure I have the best blade for the wood I am ripping. So until proven otherwise, I am going to assume the right blade will make the saw perform better than I have seen to this point.

So far it looks like no one makes a clean cutting rip blade for the track saw. In 10" blades, Freud's Glue Line rip blade has 30 teeth. Their thin kerf rip blade has 24 teeth. The only true rip blade Freud makes for the track saw is their thin kerf rip which has 14 teeth. If you extrapolate that to what a glue line rip blade would be, that blade for a track saw should have 17-18 teeth. That's what Ill be keeping my eye out for in this search.

As far as diameter, the small difference between Festool-sized blades and the blade made for Dewalt isn't a deal breaker. But what may be a problem is the riving knife. It's set for a 6-1/2" (165mm) blade. So if you make anything other than thru-cuts, the riving knife may stop your progress. I will have to check that out before purchasing a 160mm diameter blade. The first cuts I made with the track saw were to create a rabbet. I'll also have to make sure the kerf on the blade is at least 0.087" (2.2mm) and the body thickness is not greater than 0.063 (1.6mm).

[Mel Fulks]

Julie, Since the saw was having a hard time you need the 14 tooth . I don't think a glue line cut is going to be possible on that saw on thick wood. A difference between 18 and 20 tooth 10 inch blades is noticible. And the faster 18 tooth produces more wavy drift, but no matter as the surface is going to need jointing.

[Eric Schmid]

I think you will pleasantly surprised at what that little saw will cut with ease with the correct blade for ripping. It's night and day from what you are experiencing with the 48T Dewalt blade. I have ripped hardwood with that blade in a pinch so I know what you're experiencing.

A couple of weeks ago I had a hundred feet or so of rough sawn Black Locust (1.5") that needed to be milled. Live edge on both sides, so the track saw was the perfect tool for establishing a straight edge. My 12T blade was at the sharpener so I used the 28T Festool. Not as fast or effortless as the 12T, but did not overload the saw and left a very clean cut.

I realize you want glue line ready edges right off the track saw. You won't get that with a low tooth count rip blade, but you might get it with the 28T Festool; or darn close. If the faces aren't joined before, it may not matter. Saw load will be lowest with the former.

As for the riving knife you should be fine. I make plunge cuts all the time with the Dewalt. Never had the knife prevent me from making non-through cuts. It's spring loaded and will retract and extend as the cut allows. Festool and other 160mm blades don't effect the saw except to reduce the depth of cut. There might be a limit, but I've never found it.

I have a 6" diamond blade that I've used to cut granite counter tops. These cuts are made in multiple passes so the knife is retracted until the final pass.

[Jim Dwight]

I haven't had any difficulty ripping yet but have cut very little hardwood with my DeWalt track saw so far. It cut a few solid exterior doors without difficulty with the stock blade but they were softwood. I have a Oshlun blade but I think it is also 48 tooth. Oshlun makes a 28 tooth 160mm track saw blade as does Freud. Freud also makes a 14 tooth as has been mentioned. The 28 tooth Freud is a LU86. Amazon has all these blades. Amazon learns what you like from your searches. To get to the Oshlun I had to click on the 48 and it then showed me the 28 as an option. The Oshlun 28 is less than $20. I like Freud better but the prices on the Oshlun make it tempting. I'd love it if they offered all these blades in 165mm but selection seems much more modest.

[Julie Moriarty]

Because I've been very happy with the Freud blades I have bought in the past, I went with Freud on this search. I bought both the 14T and 28T thin kerf blades. Because of the split shop layout I now have, I suspect I will be getting a lot of use out of the track saw.

One thing that's nice about the Dewalt track is it has the rubber guide on both sides of the track. I'll use the one side I have already trimmed for the Dewalt 48T and the other side will be for the Freud blades.

On another note, with all this searching I discovered Festool now makes this handy little cordless circular saw

When you pick up the saw, the track comes with it. Kinda cool! It's only sold in Europe but the charger is 120v.

I also saw a Festool distributor discounts Festools 20% and more. Does Festool allow discounts there but not here?

[Eric Schmid]

I like the price of the Freud blades. Looks like their half the price of the Festool blades. Let us know how they do on your project.

[Julie Moriarty]

I like the price of the Freud blades. Looks like their half the price of the Festool blades. Let us know how they do on your project.

Will do...

[Jim Dwight]

It might be worth drilling out a 6.5 inch blade (165.1mm). Bisco tool supply offers a 20mm drill bit.