Table Saw Blade Recommendation

[randy street]

I'm going to be ripping and cross cutting some 8\4 Hickory, more ripping than cross cutting. Does anybody have a blade recommendation.

Thanks,

Randy

[Mike SoRelle]

I'm biased towards the Forrest woodworker II for both operations, but at the end of the day it's the motor that's likely to be the biggest player in this game, hopefully you've got at least a 3HP unit.

[Peter Quinn]

Some? If its a few boards then a good combo should prevail, I use a Forrest woodworker II, though others like Ridge Carbide, Infinity and Freud make excellent combo blades too. For 8/4 forrest's instructions indicate to raise the blade for ripping thick stock above the surface of the wood at least the full depth of the gullets to easier feeding, so there may be a safety/comfort issue depending on the thickness of your rips having that much blade exposed.

For a tough hardwood like hickory I would really consider getting a dedicated rip blade in the 20-30 tooth range. Its safer given the deep anti kick back gullets and much easier to feed the stock given the tooth geometry and count. If you haven't used a dedicated rip blade its hard to describe how much easier and smoother the feed is. Also if you aren't using a 3HP or better saw a dedicated thin kerf rip blade may be in order anyway to preserve your saw's motor.

[Mike Dauphinee]

I would really consider using a different blade for each type cut. If cost is an issue, you will save money in the long run by doing this. From an economic standpoint it is hard to beat the Freud 24t Glue Line Rip. Then get something in the 60-80t range for your cross cuts. In the end, you will be happier with the condition of your cuts and save on wood and blade life.

[John Pahl]

I would really consider using a different blade for each type cut. If cost is an issue, you will save money in the long run by doing this. From an economic standpoint it is hard to beat the Freud 24t Glue Line Rip. Then get something in the 60-80t range for your cross cuts. In the end, you will be happier with the condition of your cuts and save on wood and blade life.

I couldn't agree with Mike more. I don't think a combo blade is the right choice here. I use the Freud 24 tooth glue line rip blade for all ripping and a Forrest WW1 blade for all my cross cuts. Couldn't be happier with either cut and I almost never have to hit the jointer when ripping. Hope this helps.


John

[Jim Becker]

While I use my Forrest WW-II 40t blades most of the time, for 8/4 Hickory, I'd likely switch to my WW-II 20t ripping blade....tough stuff and a more aggressive dedicated ripping blade will be a better choice. Freud has some nice ripping blades that are affordable if you want to keep most of your blade investment toward a general purpose blade that you use most of the time as I do with the 40t blade.

[Lee Schierer]

I would really consider using a different blade for each type cut. If cost is an issue, you will save money in the long run by doing this. From an economic standpoint it is hard to beat the Freud 24t Glue Line Rip. Then get something in the 60-80t range for your cross cuts. In the end, you will be happier with the condition of your cuts and save on wood and blade life.

I also agree with this. Hickory is a hard dense wood. Unless you have a 3Hp or larger saw you will definitely want a 24 tooth ripping blade to get through this wood without burning. You may even want to consider a thin kerf blade if your saw is a contractor type saw. Hickory will burn as you cut it if your saw is not well aligned. Even though it smells pretty good, the burn marks are a pain to remove.

[Mike SoRelle]

For me it would really come down to how much I had to do, for just a few cuts I wouldn't want to bother with blade changes (which is probably why my WW2 spends the most time in the arbor) but I do have dedicated ripping, crosscutting, and laminate blades (mostly Freuds)

[randy street]

I'm looking into the WW II blades. I probably need a thin kerf since I have a Rigid saw. Sure wish I had a big boy saw, I have about 400 inches total to cut.

Randy

[scott spencer]

The 30T WWII is a better choice for ripping 8/4" hickory than the 40T IMO....it's better suited for the additional thickness, and the difference in cut quality between it and the 40T is barely even discernable. The TK is a good choice for your saw.

[randy street]

OK, how about this.

Frued 24-tooth LU87R010 Thin Kerf Ripping Saw Blade for the ripping.

Link - $36.09



Forrest 30-tooth WW10307125 Woodworker II 1/8-Inch Kerf for cross-cutting.

Link - $79.99



This would give me 2 blades that i should be able to use for other things. Am I thinking right?

Thanks for all the input.

Randy

[Lee Koepke]

I found a freud 'industrial' 24T rip blade on an auction site for roughly 36 delivered.

Its been a blessing. They call it a glue-line rip blade, and so far so good. If I had better technique, I would have consistent tight gluelines

[randy street]

They call it a glue-line rip blade

I looked at the glue-line rip blade but I thought it was only for upto 1" thick material. The one I showed says upto 2 3/4" think.

Randy

[scott spencer]

Randy - I think the two blades you're showing are really intended to handle a similar range of tasks, and I may have contributed to any confusion. Let's see if I can clarify without muddying things further. Those two blades are more a matter of one or the other, but not necessarily both. Both the LU87 and 30T WWII will rip thick stock reasonably well...the LU87 is a pure ripper and will rip thick material better than the 30T WWII. The 30T WWII is a low tooth count general purpose blade with good ripping ability and will crosscut better than the LU87, but is not recommended specifically to replace a purebred crosscut blade if going with separate task specific blades is what you want to do. Getting both of these blades has a fair amount of redundancy.

If you're looking to do both ripping and crosscuttings tasks with one blade, the WWII 30T "TK" is the better choice than the LU87 or the 40T WWII IMO. But if you're looking to get two task specific blades for the job....a pure bulk ripper, and a pure crosscutter, the LU87 is the stronger ripper, and then you'd want to choose a good 60T to 80T crosscut blade to compliment the 24T ripper.

Whether to use one all purpose blade or go with separates is to you. I've cut 8/4" hard maple with my 30T WWII with good results, but have never cut more than 1" hickory with it.

As a side note...the Freud LM74 30T "Glue Line Rippers" are intended for ripping materials up to ~ 1", and yields a highly polished edge, but I don't believe it's a good choice for ripping 2" hickory with a Ridgid saw.

HTH

[Steven Hardy]

I'm going to be ripping and cross cutting some 8\4 Hickory, more ripping than cross cutting. Does anybody have a blade recommendation.

Thanks,

Randy

AS you said blade...(not blades)......I have found this one to be an excellant combo with minimum compromise cutting lots of air dried red oak .It is full kerf tho .I havent had any burn ripping 9 foot 5/4 and 9/4. Hope you got some power!
http://www.woodcraft.com/InhancedIma...241&Size=Large