I’m starting a project cutting cherry ply and don’t want to fart around with blades. I have a Freud blade for ply ( forgot which #) and have had OK success especially. when it’s just sharpened. Any better out there? How about the Forrest blades. I don’t care about price especially if I screw up a sheet of cherry it will almost cost the same as a blade.
Thanks
Replies
How thick is your stock and which model Freud blade do you have? There's more than one.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
If the material is so expensive make a small test.
In your case I always start with newly sharped blade, if the result is not satisfactory I change blade type. I don't think the brand is that important.
Good luck
The blades that work best for veneers will have negative hook angle and most blade makers have something like this in their lineup. I have a Forrest Woodworker II and it does really well on veneered plywood, but I had sent it in for sharpening just before I used it last. It doesn't have negative hook but since it is as sharp as it is and the cuts weren't seen, it was less of a problem. There was no tearout, anyway.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
In addition to a good blade you need to have the blade properly lined up with the fence and the miter slot, the fence especially should be as close to dead on parallel to the blade as the saw will allow. If the machine's alignment is off, the best blade in the world won't work well. In my experience, getting a bad cut on plywood is more often caused by alignment problems than it is by a poorly cutting blade.
Also don't ever wedge a blade with a piece of wood to tighten the arbor nut, you can spring the blade out of flat which will downgrade the quality of the cut. The blade's maker will have a preferred blade height for the blade, but you will sometimes find that more or less than the recommended setting will give a better cut.
You will need to have adequate infeed and outfeed support. I prefer to cut the sheets a fraction oversize initially, followed by a second pass on all edges to get to the final dimension.
Hope this helps, John W.
JohnW ,
You say to never wedge a blade with a piece of wood to tighten the arbor nut. How should be done ? Just out of curiosity .
To Steveworks ,
A great veneer and a or melamine blade in a 10" is F.S. brand made in Canada , I use the 80 tooth negative hook . When sharp both sides of the cut piece may look the same . I use Freud 50 tooth combo blades for ripping hardwood and they last for many years .
dusty
Usually, the arbor flange has two flats cut into it so a wrench can be used on each side of the blade. I would like to see the saw manufacturers supply two good wrenches for loosening the nut, though.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Dusty,
Get the nut finger tight on the blade and then strike the free end of the wrench with a hardwood block or a wood mallet. Two or three moderate blows will get the nut plenty tight.
The inertia of the arbor shaft will keep the shaft from moving while the nut tightens, tightening or removing nuts on a shaft or wheel with an mechanics impact wrench works on the same principal.
To remove the nut, reverse the procedure. When the nut comes loose, the wrench handle will strike the edge of the blade opening, so I put a shop rag on the edge of the opening to avoid dinging the table.
John W.
i just got the duralin hi at forrest and am happy. very clean cuts on plywood.
j
Does anyone else get the feeling steve has disappeared?
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
No I'm still here, just went out to make a few $'s. All of the suggestions are great. I'm not sure which Freud blade i'm using , I think it's the LU98 Laminate blade or the "Ultimate cross cut". It's hard for me to tell as most of the lettering has rubbed off. I think in either case thse are not negative hook blades. Maybe I'll start fresh with a new Freud or see if I can cash in my discount coupon at Rokler and pick up a Forrest. Thanks again, I'd welcome any other ideas.Steve
Steve, you didn't mention what thickness plywood your trying to cut..... Some thoughts and comparisons on Freud blades:
The LU98 is designed for production applications. It has a 10* hook and is oriented toward fast cuts, long life and a "one side perfect" cut.
The LU85 also has a 10* hook. It is listed as "good" (not "excellent") for plywood, 1" max thickness. I have used it successfully on thin plywood but it's main purpose in life is to give nice, shiney-smooth crosscuts in solid wood.
The F810 is the one I've heard recommended for fine veneered plywood. It has a High ATB grind and a 2* hook. Minimum 1/4" stock, max 1-5/8" recommended.
For thick plywood (1"+) there's the LU92, 6* negative hook, modified triple chip grind.
The LU97 also has a negative hook (-3*), triple chip grind. 1/4" minimum and 1-5/8" maximum stock recommended. Only listed as "good" for plywood (excellent for double-sided laminates, melamines) but it seems it should do well in plys also.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Forestgirl and allThanks so much for the blade info. Finally someone could cut through ( no pun intended, but used) the descriptions and explain it well. Thanks. Now on to my next bit of procrastination, taxes :)
Any of the blades mentioned will give upi a good rip cut. Cross cutting is the issue.
I use a Freud F810 and have never had a problem. I also use blue tape on both sides of the cut when cross cutting. Peel it off with the grain.
Before you cut scratch your fingernails over the ply and listen for hollow sounds which means you have a void. Mark those places and try to cut around them. With the exception of "ProCore" ply, lots of veneer ply has really gone down in quality.
Tom, with careful blade selection, the tape technique is not needed. I learned about the F810 from a local woodworker who uses it working beautiful and expensive veneered plywood. To my knowledge, he does not pre-tape the cuts.
Not knocking the technique -- I use it too. Just noting that that step can be eliminated if preferred.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I cut a lot of Maple, Oak, and Cherry. The only ply that doesn't have a potential to splinter a little is the "ProCore" stuff. Just insurance against voids in the other ply.
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