I would like to hear from all the woodworkers out there what their preferences are regarding the best all purpose table saw blades. A blade that can be used for both rip and cross cuts ( but mainly rip cuts). The cost is an issue since I am a teacher and the money will have to come out of my pocket. The blades I currently use are probably from the early 80’s ( man someone bought a lot of the old steel blades, non-carbide…must have gotten a whale of a deal.) I have to change blades quite often and am curious if there is a good blade that will be durable and deliver performance. The guys from the maintenance department laugh at the blades we use but we have no money for supplies unless they are ordered though the district…which in todays climate is not happening. Please help me if you have any ideas or can make any recommendations.
Shamrock
Replies
Simple. Forrest WW II.
Jeff
Amen!
It'd be useful to know what size and type of saw you have in mind, and also what your realistic budget is.
All things being equal, a good dedicated crosscut blade and a dedicated rip blade will do a better job of the respective tasks than an all purpose blade. But with that said, if you grab a top shelf general purpose blade like a Forrest WWII, Freud P410 Fusion, DeWalt DW7657 (or Delta 36-7657), Ridge Carbide TS2000, Tenryu Gold Medal, or Infinity Super or Combomax, you're likely to still get really good results in a wide variety of materials on a wide variety of cuts. Most of the GP and "combo" blades have ATB or ATB/R teeth, which is a nice compromise of clean cut, efficiency, and longevity. The Fusion uses a Hi-ATB grind for the cleanest cut, but is less efficient and tends to dull the sharps points more quickly than other grinds. A blade with a triple chip grind will typically last the longest, but I don't think there are many GP blades with the TCG...possibly a 60T LU82M010. Some of those GP blades can run ~ $100, but can also withstand several sharpenings...particularly the Ridge Carbide..it's teeth are huge. Of those, the DW7657 usually represents the most bang for the buck....it's often in the $50 range and I've seen it as low as $32...top notch general purpose performance at a reasonable cost IMHO. Lowes now carries the DeWalt made Delta 36-7657 for $40...appears to be the same blade (made in the UK). http://www0.epinions.com/content_220309917316
The hot deals come and go. One of the best deals I've ever seen was a clearance deal thru a Leitz distributor. I'm not sure they're available anymore from him, but I did find one of the same blades on sale at Woodcraft...the brand name is Irwin which, which is not typically a top name in blades, but these are made by Leitz in Germany and are identical to the expensive HO Schumacher and Sohn blades....nice blade for $30. http://woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5333
Aside from that deal, the better DeWalt and better Freud Industrial lines are often on sale thru Amazon with free shipping and represent top notch performance IMO. Assuming you want full kerf, some of the better models for value/performance are the LU84R011 50T, DW7640, and the DW7657...which I mentioned previously about takes the cake IMO. Some of the better values in a TK are the LU86R010 and LU88R010....$35/$45 respectively. http://www0.epinions.com/content_227985493636
http://www0.epinions.com/content_226312687236
http://www0.epinions.com/content_147387551364
http://www0.epinions.com/content_145552674436
Holbren offers the Tenryu line with a nice discount and free shipping. He's currently got a nice deal on the RS25550 and the RS25540...$45 and $30 shipped respectively...both good blades, both excellent bang for the buck. http://www.holbren.com/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=5
Ebay can be a good source for deep discounts, but that can be hit and miss too...patience can pay off. If you're careful, as little as $30 can get your foot in the door of good performance. I'd highly recommend staying away from the big box type cheap blades if possible...things like the Marathon, Piranha, Skil, cheapie Oldham, DeWalt construction grade, etc., will dull quickly and become wasted money. I'd rather see you invest $50 wisely than to blow a $20.
Give us a little more info and I'm sure you'll get lots of help!
P.S.: Had you considered asking the parents for an optional donation for some new saw blades? You might even find someone willing to donate a decent blade or two.
Edited 3/23/2007 6:25 am ET by Knotscott
With carbide blades you can often pick up very good prices on Dewalt blades on e-bay. I have picked up some of the 40 series blades for less than 20.00 for new one. Anyway worth taking a look.
Troy
I think the best blade for the money is the new Premier Fusion blade from Freud. It is expensive but buts so smoothly you don't even have to use a jointer on the edges in order to glue up stock. And the end grain when crosscutting is as smooth as can be. I got one from http://www.toolsplus.com though I had to wait a while for it for about $82.
I have heard good things about that blade also. Troy
buy it. you'll love it.
If I ever ware out the blades I have I will consider that blade I just have so many blades that work well that I can't justiy buying another one yet. Although I guess I could look at them like hand planes and say that you can always use one more:)Troy
I saw one demoed at the wwing show and gotta admit I was pretty impressed with the cut. I have no doubt that the Fusion would meet his performance needs, but it's not likely to do overly well with his durability requirements.
If your main need is ripping, I'd suggest using the Diablo (by Freud) 24-tooth rip blades from Home Depot, and saving the more expensive blades for when they're really needed. There's no law that says you can't do an occasional crosscut with this rip blade, it just won't be quite as clean as a combo blade would be. For general use, I prefer the Freud LU84 combination blade. It rips and crosscuts very, very nicely. Personally, I think the Fusion blade is overkill for your purposes.
To save some money, you could get the Diablo version combination blade instead of the LU84. Who knows, Home Depot might give a school discount.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
About 4 years ago I bought an American Saw Signature Series 40T combo blade for about $40 at Sears. I've sharpened it twice and it cuts like a dream. Maybe I got lucky.
In order to know how best to recommend blades that will stretch your money, I need to know what kind of students are you teaching? If you are teaching teenagers where there a chance that careless accidents can happen that would damage the blades in spite of careful supervision, then I would NOT buy expensive blades like the Forest WWII. I would consider the less expensive carbide blades you can sometimes buy in bulk for the trades (usually in 5 pack or 10 pack). If the students are adults and careless accidents would be at a minimum, then I would recommend the Freud line of blades. I find them to be excellent quality blades and an excellent value 'for the money'. That's what I use in my shop and I buy the best blades I can without spending more money than I have to.
Jeff
Forrest WW II
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