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Thread: It's This One Again: Recommended Finish Table Saw Blade?

  1. #1

    It's This One Again: Recommended Finish Table Saw Blade?

    Well, I'm hoping some of you folks can cut through the confusion for me a bit.

    I've been reading about different saw blade types on here for a while but can't seem to settle; I'm a bit unclear on blade types. The first blade I bought was a Freud D1040X 40T ATB General Purpose. It does well with general cutting, but the finish definitely leaves something to be desired, even when the feed rate/pressure is babied.

    For an improvement, I originally settled on an 80T from Freud, but then saw many folks recommending the Forrest Woodworker II and a Forrest 80T. Do I need high tooth count for ripping, or is that for crosscutting? It seems "smooth" rippers have low tooth counts.

    I suppose I'm looking for two things:
    • A better general purpose blade (this D1040X seems a bit rough even for a combo/general purpose)
    • A better "finishing" blade (for jointing without a jointer and cleaning up edges of rough stock)


    I was hoping I could get by with one, but if it takes two blades to do these two tasks well, that's totally understandable.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    N.E, Ohio
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    For ripping you want a lower tooth count. The Freud Glue Line Rip blade is excellent.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  3. #3
    Clay, This is an excellent question. Lots of people get confused about blades. I can only speak from experience so don't take it as gospel.

    Higher teeth counts are for xcutting. The higher the teeth count the finer the cut.

    Ripping bladed are lower tooth count, usually 24-32 teeth. There are basically two rip grinds: flat top and a combo of flat top and finish teeth which is your glue line rip (eg. the Freud LU74R010) .

    To answer your specific questions, I don't recommend a "general purpose blade" such as a combo blade. Lots of guys use them, ok for ripping but IME I'm not satisfied with the xcuts.
    One the glue line rip, even though I use one, I never expect to get a final finish off a saw cut. I use a hand plane to tune the edge. I like to have both a 24 flat top and 32 glue line. When plowing grooves, or dados, the flat top tooth is best. When ripping or using a tenon jig, the glue line rip excels. I can change a blade in <60 seconds is not a big deal.

    Generally I've had very good experience with Freud blades. I really like CMT even better. I've also heard the Amana and Infinity blades are very good. I've never owned a Forrest but I will eventually just to see if the expense is worth it. In the mean time those blades do an excellent job for me.

    My recommendation to you is get a glue line rip and 60T Xcut. Hope this helps.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Southwestern CT
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    1,392
    My standard blade is an FS Tool 12" 60 tooth 4mm (thick) combination blade. I have several and when sharp they are exceptionally versatile. I find the cut on plywood and engineered woods to be good enough for face frame construction. Solid woods I joint and plane so while the cut finish is good having it perfect is less of an issue. The combo blade is definitely the most versatile and when performing to specification is really all I need. Biggest drawback is the large kerf.

    I also use a 12" 36 tooth glue line rip and a 12" 100 tooth engineered material blade (Forrest HiAT) which is fairly thin kerf for a 30mm arbor blade. But even super sharp, it creates significant resistance from all the teeth when cutting. Both are purpose designed blades and require replacement when needing to use the saw for any purpose for which they're not designed. Hence the attractiveness of the combo blade.

    There was a recent thread here on Kanefusa sawblades that you might find helpful.
    "the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    I've enjoyed my Forrest blades for a long time and haven't felt the urge to change to anything new. I actually just bought a 12" 48T WW-II blade for my slider to begin weaning myself off the older 10" blades that's I've had since about 2000. One reason that I stick to what I know is because the blade thickness is consistent and when I was researching 12" blades prior to this recent purchase, I kept coming up with kerf widths that just were not the "standard" .125" (1/8"). A mismatch would result in a hassle with my scoring blade as well as with the scales on the slider side of the blade.

    That said, there are many fine blades to choose from. My recent purchase was from Silvers Mill and their prices on Forrest are attractive.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    New England, in a town on the way to nowhere
    Posts
    537
    +1 on combination blades; I also machine most of my solid stock so having a glass smooth finish is not as important to me as having a blade that performs well across all operations. I hate having to change sawblades for a few cuts several times a day. I currently have a couple of ATB&R from Stehle that I really like- http://www.stehle-int.com/static/ste...werxpress.html,
    They're availible from most tooling dealers I think.
    I also have a few Forrest blades(very good) and keep STG's for ripping and some TCG for veneer ply and such.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    West Lafayette, IN
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    6,528
    Quote Originally Posted by George Bokros View Post
    The Freud Glue Line Rip blade is excellent.
    +1.0000000

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Moscow, Idaho
    Posts
    293
    I also use a Freud rip blade and 80-tooth crosscut blade that I use when cutting hardwoods. It's kind of a hassle to change between them, but less so if I plan ahead more so I can do all of my ripping first, and then do all of the crosscutting. I also have a cheap Ace Hardware combination blade that I use for cutting construction lumber and other things where the quality of the cut isn't very important.

    --Geoff

  9. #9
    I use a Freud glue line Rip for ripping as well as cross cutting. The quality of the finish diminishes as the wood get harder and thicker.

    I became much happier when I accepted that every surface off the table saw benefits from clean up. It takes less time to clean up than it does to switch to an optimized blade.
    I use the freud Gl rip for everything now.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    SoCal
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    Tablesaw blades get unusually personal responses. These are wear items. Expensive and preferably long-life wear items but, wear items just the same. There are definitely those who slap a 40 tooth Forrest Woodworker II on their saw and just run it till its dead. My standard compliment is a 24 or 30 tooth rip, a 40 or 50 tooth general purpose and a 60 or 80 tooth crosscut.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Wakefield, MA
    Posts
    509
    I use a 40-tooth WW II for crosscutting and ripping. For stock up to one inch thick, the ripped edges are smooth enough to glue up without any other preparation. For stock that is thicker, I use a 30-tooth WW II and get the same results. I have also used a Freud Fusion 40-tooth and a Ridge Carbide 40-tooth with similar results.

  12. #12
    I have about a half dozen good blades for the table saw, but for the most part, the Forrest Woodworker II 40 tooth stays on almost all the time. It crosscuts well, and the rip cut is normally good enough to not justify the time to switch to a dedicated rip blade. The finish is actually pretty good, and easier to sand out than the ripples of the jointer or planer. The only bad thing is that it can be hard to push in thicker/harder woods, and sometimes it has a tendency to burn woods with a higher sugar content like maple or oak, or especially cherry, if you stop to switch hands while ripping.

    I do have a thin kerf Irwin rip blade that I use for rough ripping or boards thicker than 1 1/2 inches. It doesn't leave as good of a finish as the Forrest, but it takes much less effort to push and doesn't burn.

  13. #13
    I have a couple rip blades that do an excellent job, main thing is to keep them clean. I replace far fewer blades, just clean them when they get a coating of pitch. Best crosscut blades I have are 80 tooth Tenryu blades, got them from Carbide Processors.com. Also clean them any time they look dirty. Tried the cleaner LA Awesome someone recommended from Dollar Tree store, one gallon cost 1$ and works fine along with a toothbrush, and rinsed with clean water and then dry.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Camillus, NY
    Posts
    356
    Checkout Ridge Carbide TS2000 series. I have two and one can start sanding the cut faces of ash, maple, cherry, walnut, mahogany .... with 150 grit orbital sander.
    Jerry

    "It is better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation" - Herman Melville

  15. #15
    I normally have a Freud LU84 blade or a DeWalt equivalent on my little Ryobi BT3100. I have lots of other blades. I do not find that thin kerf blades require noticably less power than full kerf blades. They tend to bind worse when the wood moves because the difference between tooth width and body width is less. The LU84 is a all around blade with 40 ATB teeth and 10 flat top ripping teeth. On my saw, it cannot rip material more than 1 inch think because it requires more power than the 15A universal motor can provide. Thick rips are done with a Freud 24 tooth ripping blade. I prefer the 1/8 width but also use a thin kerf version sometimes.
    I do not use my jointer much, I generally glue up using the surface from the table saw or track saw. I don&#39;t get perfect glue joints but they are pretty good. I do not think the very minor roughness from any of these blades makes much difference. If you are good with a hand plane or a jointer you could get a slightly better joint but I would probably mess it up worse (at least I have in the past).
    Alternate tip bevel blades are cross cut, regardless of tooth count. That doesn&#39;t mean they won&#39;t rip it just means they need more power to rip. Flat top blades are for ripping. That doesn&#39;t mean they can&#39;t cross cut but they tend to have more chip out. Sharpness and cleanliness count a lot too, however. When my full kerf 24 tooth ripping blade was new, I tried it on some luan plywood making drawer bottoms. I was being lazy and not swapping the blade. It did surprisingly well with minimal chip out. It wouldn&#39;t do that well right now because it is getting close to sharpening.
    Throw away blades like the Diablo are OK but if you get full kerf blades like the LU84 they will do more work before sharpening and they can be sharpened. With a Diablo, I think you throw it away when it gets dull.

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