I just noticed when I went to Lewis's blog on rolling pins that he had a frued blade.  I have heard much about all kinds of blades and want to buy a good one.  So I would like an idea on what to buy.

Arlin

Freud makes a number of different quality blades from the lowere end Diablos to upper ends for table saws. Their LU and LM series are top knotch and less expensive than most of the other premium blades. I use thin kerf blades only on my Jet contractor as they work better with the lower powered saws (1.5hp) with less burning. I use a Forrest Woodworker II crosscut blade and for ripping and I use the Freud thin kerf ripping blade and have been very pleased with them and they have been sharpened multiple times so far and still going strong. You really won't go wrong with any of the major brand premium blades.

I've been using Frued's better lines for quite some time and no complaints. I do prefer the thinner kerf cut blades too. I also have their dado blade setup which I am equally happy with.

 

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

Freuds full kerf are great as well. And I have the Freud Super Dado set and it is excellent.

There is a quality in cut difference with the use of different types of blades. it is best to rip with a ripping blade and cross cut with cross cut blade. But since you have an issue with doing blade changes, then a good quality combination or general purpose blade would do well. The 2 that you will find at both Rockler and Woodcraft are the Freud LU84R010 Combination 50 tooth blade and the Forrest Woodworker II General Purpose 40 tooth. On Rockler's site the Freud goes for $70 and the Forrest goes for $115. Both are full kerf and can be reshapened numerous times. The Forrest has a reputation for being more "beefy" than the Freud, but afting using both I have not seen a noticeable difference on my end.

 

Other higher end blades will be by Amana, Tenryu, CMT but I have only had experience with the Tenryu and it did very well and I still have it but I don't use it as it is an odd width in between a thing kerf and standard kerf. The most economical will be the Freud and I feel that it is the best bang for the buck from my experiece.

Onthe thin kerf blades, do you need or use a blade stiffener.

Thanks

Rich.

 

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I just keep hammering away.

No you do not as far as I know. I have had no issues with my thin kerf blades at all with flexing.

Richard Collins said:

Onthe thin kerf blades, do you need or use a blade stiffener.

Thanks

Rich.

 

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I just keep hammering away.

No, the only one you really have to worry about is when you are dealing with a compound sliding miter saw. The angle of the tooth grind has to be different so you have to use a blade specifically for a sliding compound miter saw and they are specifically noted on the baldes and packaging. Putting a regular table saw blade on a SCMS it could grab driving the blade towards you causing injury. The majority of the 10" and 12" blades are designed for table saw use in typical woods sheet material. Some specialty table saw blades will have a different tooth grind for specialy blades such as dealing with laminates and plywood exclusivly as they will reduce chipping and tear out because of the angle of the entry and exit on the cut. Coing with  combination blade will give good cuts overall, but in specifics (like ripping vs. cross cutting vs, laminates vs. finish grade plywood) the specialty blades will be superior and give a cleaner cut. I like to think of them as "Cross Training Athletic Shoes" as opposed to "Sport Specific Athletic Shoes". You can use both to play basketball in, but the basketball specific shoes will give better performance.

For  jig I would not worry about it, But if you were making something more substantial, then I would consider it. Melamine and laminate (laminate more so) are very hard on blades which is why they have specialty blades for those materials. To remedy the chipping issue using a piece of masking or painter's tape over the line you will be cutting will help considerably. The same goes for plywood.

Arlin Eastman said:

Allen

Thank You. I do have a 4x8 piece of melamine to cut and make a sled out of it. Should I buy another blade then the one that Grizzly sent?

Arlin

When you can noticably tell a differance in how the blade cuts or if it startes to burn the wood (check your alignment of the blade and fence first as those can cause burn issues) then it is time to sharpen. I am a lousy sharpener so I would never use a card to try and sharpen a saw blade, but others might be more knowledgable than I. I take mine into a local family owned blade sharpening shop and they do a real nice job for about $12.

 

My first "Premium" blade was a Forrest WWII, thin kerf. While it was a good blade I felt there were better blades out there. Dont mis-read this as a bash to Forrest but the thin kerf did leave a little to be desired. The cut quality was not what I expected from a $100 plus blade. I did use a stiffener and a zero clearance insert but still not perfect.

 

One day while crusing ebay I found the Freud P410 in 1/8" kerf. It was developed to be direct competition to the WWII and was priced accordingly. However, I found a seller offering it for $70!! I bought it with hopes of finding a good quality blade and it did not disappoint. I used it exclusively in my 2hp unisaw for over a year, until I sold the saw. It gave extremely clean cross cuts, good rips and miter cuts were also very good. In my opinion I feel the Freud blades are far superior to Forrest.

 

I will also be purchasing a 12" blade for my Oliver. I would go with 14" but I cannot use the riving knife with the larger blade.

 

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My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist

Arlin,

Just noticed this post. There was no particular reason for buying this blade other than it was on sale at Woodcraft. I was making a bunch of rolling pins and my old blade had been resharpened. I wanted to make sure the cuts were precise and I noticed the resharpened blade had also been ground on the sides of the carbide teeth. I was afraid the change in the tooth width would change the overall slot width.

I know folks talk about their preference of one blade over another and how some blades' cuts are superior to others. I have never had the money to spend on the really "good" blades so I can't advise you on what's best.

Lew

Arlin

I have made custom cabinets and a lot of other projects. I am actually at the point where I believe what blade works best for your needs is good.  A friend of mine had purchased one of the high end Forest Blades , we got together in his shop, then came to mine and made the same cuts with my frued and the was no noticeable difference. I can only tell you that I do buy the better blades and keep them clean and sharp. y blades for the most part are thin kerf cuts and have never had a problem. Both companies and a lot other make the standard 1/8" kerf cuts, I just prefer the thinner blades through my experience.

 

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

Hello Arlin

It really depends on what you want to cut. I have a number of Frued blades and find them excellent. They even have a blade for your circular saw that can cut metal and does a great job. They make a fine cut, for cutting wood, cross cut blade that also does a great job. The only thing I would say is that their blades tend to flex a lot and you have to be very careful not to twist the wood when sawing.

Roger