Forest Woodworker II 40T vs Sawstop Titanium 40T

[John Sayen]

Hi all

Interested in hearing your opinions on which combination blade you would run on a PCS 3HP.

Looks like $135 for the Forrest and $70 for the sawstop. Not opposed to spending the extra money but figured I would ask for opinions before pressing the buy button.

Thank you.

[Guy Dotan]

I have the same saw and decided to go with: http://ridgecarbidetool.com/saw-blad...per-blade.html
It's priced in the middle, received great reviews and Ridge is fairly local for me for sharpening. I have been very happy with it. Call them for free shipping (for creekers?)

[scott spencer]

I suspect the Forrest is better, but I'd run neither of those - Ridge Carbide TS2000 or Tenryu Gold Medal are very similar in performance and overall quality, but both run ~ $100. I've run the WWII, TS2000 and Gold Medal in side by side comparisons, and find it very difficult to differentiate between them. FWIW, Ridge Carbide has more carbide is made in the USA just down the road from Forrest. Holbren.com has the TS2000 for $99.95 free shipping...it's simply a better buy.

If you really want an improvement in performance, buy separate rip and crosscut blades.

[Van Huskey]

I have never used the SS blades so I can't speak to them but own 6 or 7 Forrest blades and they are all great but I get just as high quality cuts (maybe better in cross cut) from the Freud Fusion blades and you can almost always pick them up on eBay for about $70 shipped for the full kerf. I bought all my Forrest blades when you could get the WWII 40t for under $100, for $135 I can't see it when I can get a Fusion for basically half as much. I have at least 4 Freud Fusion blades and can't see spending the money for another WWII at the current prices.

[jim mills]

+1 on the freud premier fusion, but I've always wondered if the "polished" appearance of cross cuts (due to the side grind of the saw teeth) is a good thing or bad. The blade needs to be kept clean (more than others), or they are prone to burning. I feel the need to scuff end grain cuts to open the pores for better glue penetration. I dont, but wonder if I should.

[Frank Pratt]

The Freud Premier Fusion is an outstanding blade. Very smooth crosscuts & very clean rips. I wouldn't rip 8/4 oak all day on it though. But it's by far the best combo blade I've ever used.

[Chris Hachet]

I have never used the SS blades so I can't speak to them but own 6 or 7 Forrest blades and they are all great but I get just as high quality cuts (maybe better in cross cut) from the Freud Fusion blades and you can almost always pick them up on eBay for about $70 shipped for the full kerf. I bought all my Forrest blades when you could get the WWII 40t for under $100, for $135 I can't see it when I can get a Fusion for basically half as much. I have at least 4 Freud Fusion blades and can't see spending the money for another WWII at the current prices.

Another vote for Freud, they work well in my shop.

[Chris Hachet]

If you really want an improvement in performance, buy separate rip and crosscut blades.

I would second this, it made a difference for me.

[mreza Salav]

I have had Freud Premier Fusion, the SS blade, and Forest WWII and I think they all give about the same quality of cut (which is acceptable but not perfect neither for cross-cut nor rip). I have one of these for most
situations, unless I do a lot of cross-cut (or a lot of ripping) in which case I swap to a dedicated specific blade.

[scott spencer]

+1 on the freud premier fusion, but I've always wondered if the "polished" appearance of cross cuts (due to the side grind of the saw teeth) is a good thing or bad. The blade needs to be kept clean (more than others), or they are prone to burning....

My experience with the Fusion and the very similar Infinity Super General is that there are pros and cons (with this design and all design parameters on any blade). With the Fusion and SG....you get very highly polished edges from the dual side grind and cleaner crosscuts from the Hi-ATb top grind, but are somewhat more prone to burning in thicker rips. Keeping them clean, the saw well aligned, the lumber flat and straight, and the blade height up all helps. Excellent choice for someone who's meticulous about setup and cleaning their blades, but they're somewhat less forgiving than the WWII, TS2000, or Gold Medal.

[Roger Feeley]

My SS came with one of their blades and I never used it. The stated purpose as described to me was that they wanted to provide a 'pretty good' blade that was better than super cheapies but not all that expensive. The idea was to keep the price of a brake fire down. I had a nice collection of better blades and that's what I've been using. I decided that I wasn't going to hobble myself with a lesser blade just because I might make a mistake and trip the brake and ruin the blade. I knew what I was getting into with the SS and I'm fully prepared to pay the price for the extra layer of safety. So far, I've had two brake fires and both were my fault.

1. I was using a stacked dado set to nibble away a half lap. I didn't realize that the aluminum extrusion on my miter gauge was loose and it was moving along with the wood. That was the end of the stacked dado set.
2. I cut some wet wood using an Amana combo blade. Totally pilot error. My sharpening guy was able to fix the blade and I still use it.

I keep both brakes around as a reminder.

[Ray Newman]

"If you really want an improvement in performance, buy separate rip and crosscut blades. " --Scott Spencer

Agreed! Nothing beats having the right tool for the job....

[Ben Rivel]

I had read that the upgraded SawStop Titanium blades were MUCH better than the low quality ones the saws come with, but after reading so so so many good things about Forrest Blades I decided to save my money and go with the tried and true. Never regretted it and now Forrest Blades are all I own for my table saw and miter saw.

[Jon Nuckles]

I cannot speak to the OP's question, but wanted to point out something in case the OP goes with the suggestions that he use a Freud blade. Freud uses a "metric 10 inch" blade size and it is significantly smaller diameter than 10 inches. If you switch back and forth between blades or a blade and dado set frequently, you'll spend more time adjusting the brake clearance on your Sawstop. I have a Freud fusion combination blade and I like the quality. Even when switching between it and a Freud 8" Super Dado set, however, there is a lot of adjustment. Not a big deal, obviously, but I would pay a bit of a premium to get full sized blades. In fact, I did buy separate rip and crosscut blades from Carbide Processors and don't use the Freud combination unless I am doing a lot of back and forth between ripping and crosscutting.

[Patrick Irish]

There are a lot of blades out there. Forrest and Freud get the nod often due to marketing. My used 1999 Unisaw came with an Everlast blade on it. Never heard of them. Took it to get sharpened the owner of the shop said it's a top notch 50t combo blade, will last a really long time.

Another brand that is good is Skarpaz. Brands like these sell to large cabinet and manufacturing companies, they don't need to advertise and sell at Woodcraft etc.

I have some apitong I need to rip and scores a new 24t Freud rip blade full kerf on Ebay. I'm slowly looking for deals and adding to my collection. So far, that Everlast combination is doing everything I need so far.