Hi,
Need some Help choosing a Freud (Ripping blade) Don’t think I’ll bother with a crosscut or combination blade. I do a lot more ripping than crosscutting on the table saw.
I own a contractor style 2 hp King Table saw… 5/8″ arbor
If you had to choose between the following blades which one would you pick.
1. LM72R Industrial coated heavy duty rip blade
2. LU87R industrial Coated think kerf rip saw blade
3. LM71M Thick stock rip blade
and then there is the Diablo Construction series to consider…
Diablo Ripping blade 10″ 24 teeth .. how does the Diablo series stack up?
Time to make a trip to home Depot to check out the cost of these blades. I don’t need the top of the line.. somewhere in between the entry level and middle of the road.
wendy
Replies
Wendy
What materials are you ripping and at what thickness? Do you do any cross cuts and do you cut any plywood or MDF?
Grits
Hi Grits,
Yes, I do some crosscutting on the table saw. I usually work with spruce 2/X4 and pine 3/4 inch thick. I haven't cut anything thicker than 1 1/2 inches on the tablesaw. At least not yet.
I've cut hardboard, MDF , pine and spruce and plywood sheets on the tablesaw. I've never cut Melamine.
Wendy
Wendy
In my opinion, a twenty-four tooth rip blade would not be suitable for cross cutting pine or spruce. Tear out on plywood would be pretty rough. I am not familiar with all the model numbers, but one of the Freud fifty-tooth combination blades or a Freud forty tooth general purpose blade would be good. If you are working with pine and spruce, one of the coated blades may be easier to clean. My first choice would be the Freud fifty-tooth combination blades. Freud's website probably has a comparison chart for their blades describing the quality of cuts in various applications.
I have all the blades mentioned above in some shape, form or fashion. Also, you may consider a thin kerf blade with a two-horse saw. I have never used a thin kerf blade on my table saw so I will let someone else comment on that.
Good Luck
Grits
Hi Grits,
Sorry about the confusion. But I had no intention of using a rip blade to crosscut. I'm looking for a good quality blade that will easily rip through a 1/1/2 inch board. I already have a decent 60 tooth Delta 10" combo blade. Something that will give me a swirl free finish. anything to cut down on sanding.
Might just pick up one of the coated rip blades. Nothing worse than having to clean saw blades. I'd do anything to avoid that dreaded chore.
Wendy
Wendy,Pitch/tar on the sawblade, like sawdust in the air, is an unavoidable consequence of cutting wood. Especially softwoods. It builds up faster for some than for others.There are as many ways to clean it as there are people who post with their methods. I use alcohol, every so often. It only takes a few minutes.Now if you REALLY want to see junk on a blade - look at my chop saw blade. I cut several houses worth of plastic baseboard and molding on it. It's really not an issue as the melted-on plastic residue is on the blade plate and the carbide teeth, which are wider than the plate are unaffected. But if anyone has a method of removing that stuff - ugh - let me know.Rich
"Tell me more about the link belt. Does LeeValley carry those." I would assume they do -- just about all of the major WWing catalog do. Yes! they're are quite superior to a regular belt. I can't remember what kind of saw you have, but assuming it's a contractor saw, you will get less vibration, smoother running and more power with a link belt. All of which is very helpful when ripping. :-)
"How easy are they to install????" Incredibly easy. Just make sure you have the correct side facing the pulleys. You just remove links until you get the correct length and on it goes.
"Nothing worse than having to clean saw blades." Oh dear, we have to work on that! Here's the easy-clean approach. Get thee the following items:
a pizza pan that will hold a 10" blade
a can/bottle of Simple Green or its Canadian equivalent
a toothbrush
a couple of paper towels
When you notice a little bit of pitch building up on the teeth of your sawblade, it's time to think about cleaning. Next chance it's convenient, take off the blade, lay it in the pizza pan and apply Simple Green (I use the spray foam that's for BBQ grills, but liquid is fine too). 2 or 3 minutes later, brush the pitch off, flip over the blade and brush the other side. Wipe dry, and voila! you're done.
It's quick, easy, and will prolong the life of your blades and give you cleaner cuts. If your blades are really dirty right now, you may have to resort to kerosene or the nasty oven cleaner treatment, but then stick with a household cleaner as described and take of them blades!
"a decent Delta combo blade." When you have a few extra $$ to spend, pick up the Freud LU84M or LU84R. It'll actually give you swirl free rip cuts (and lots more!) -- but I still like your idea to get a dedicated rip blade.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" .... :>)
What is wrong with you guys? You stick the saw blade in the dishwasher and run it thru its cycles.
For pine, the "R" series coated blade is more helpful than it is for some other wood because it helps to prevent pitch buildup that can lead to overheating and dulling of the blade. I'd agree that a combination blade is a good idea if you want to be able to make cuts other than rips: a rip blade demands less of the saw while ripping than does a combo blade, and might cut a bit faster, but a combo blade crosscuts just fine and a rip blade doesn't. If you get a combo blade, you can always get a rip blade as well if your saw seems to be straining, or the blade dulls too quickly. Thin kerf makes less difference than does the type of blade, or whether it's sharp.I'm using the LU83R10 thin kerf combo, and am quite happy with it on my 1.5 horse older contractor's saw. It is supposed to be a step up from the TK and Diablo series, but is relatively inexpensive at $35-$50. The LU87R10 rip blade is a bit cheaper.
Wendy,
Don't try cross cutting with a rip blade. You will get very poor results.
I am not familiar with that saw. HP ratings are often inflated for motors on the "cheaper" contractor saws. In which case, you will really appreciate the thin kerf blade.
But if you are trying to accomplish everything with a single type of blade, get one of the "all purpose" types. All the manufacturers make several. Freud has their Diablo series which is a thin kerf. Home Depot carries Diablo. They also have carried Dewalt thin kerf blades. I've gotten equal service from both lines. A 40-60 tooth blade will give you chip-free cross cuts and glue line rips, especially in the softwoods you are cutting and also in hardwoods. They cost about $40 and will last a very long time if you treat them well.
Rich
"Don't try cross cutting with a rip blade. You will get very poor results." Not necessarily true Rich. I have the Freud Diable 24-tooth rip blade and will occasionally crosscut with it, just being lazy. It leaves a pretty darned good surface! Couldn't give you a scientific spiel about what thickness or type of wood but it's not the kind of thing where I'd go "Yuck, why'd I do that?"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" .... :>)
FG,Well, Freud must have found a rip tooth geometry very different from the ones that used to chew up any thing I ever tried to crosscut with a rip blade. The results were so uniformly bad that I haven't tried to use one for crosscutting in more than 2 decades. I have no intention of trying now.Before this thread goes too much further, the first choice for ripping is a rip blade made expressly for the purpose. But for the question asked here, which stated that softwood was the intended work, a modern combo carbide blade will work very well. Within the capacity of the saw to accept stock, I don't think that a dedicated rip blade will show much difference in the final result.On the other hand, if ripping is the majority of the work, use a rip blade and switch to a combo blade for the other work that the saw will be asked to do.Rich
I disagree that, for the type of work you do, a combo blade would be appropriate.** Go for the LM72R -- it'll cut better than the Diablo (which I have, and it's pretty darned nice!) and last longer too. There are many who would argue against a thin-kerf, but for a contractors saw they work great, give the motor some relief, and I've not had problems with mine. It is a good idea to be using a link belt on your saw rather than the standard belt that they come with.
I'm sure Charles-from-Freud will see this thread and respond tomorrow, if you want to wait for his input.
**I love my Freud combo blade, but it's not the blade of choice for ripping 2x stock!! Nothing wrong with having one of each, the best way to go IMHO.
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" .... :>)
Hello Forest Girl,
Tell me more about the link belt. Does LeeValley carry those. I'm sure I saw a link belt on their website. I must check the LeeValley catalog. Read up on them. How easy are they to install???? Are they that superior to the normal Belt>
Wendy
I bought link-belts for my tablesaw, the general contractors saw, and the belt is thinner than the link-belt, so the link belt couldn't be installed. Check the width of the belt on your saw before you buy the link-belt. I wound up putting the link belt on the jointer. I also have had good experiences with Freud's LM74R or LM72R thin-kerf ripping blade, I have a 2 HP contractors saw on 220 V and with the thin-kerf blade and it doesn't have much trouble even with 2" thick material. Best regards,Ted
wendy.
I own the twenty tooth rip blade for my 12 inch table saw.. It's far and away the best blade I've purchased for ripping! I rip mostly hardwods like white oak and black walnut..
I have used the same blade for cross cutting in my De Walt compond sliding mitre saw and it cross cuts quickly if a bit rough.. usually I switch to a 60 tooth blade for cross cutting... I've used a whole bunch of blades for that, from the Dewalt it came with to Systematic and others.. Right now I own 8 blades including a metal cutting one.
I have the LU72 model that is not coated and it has worked well on my jet contractor saw. For thick stock you might try there thin kerf rip blade if your saw is a bit under powered.
Good luck
Troy
Hi Wendy; For a good quality ripping blade I can recommend a 24T Dimar rip blade. I recently purchased one from Lee Valley, and it definitely outperforms my 24T Freud rip blade. Most Canadian tool suppliers carry them.
Cheers. Walker1
Can't help but wonder if you'd be best off with a Freud LM74M010 30T Glueline ripping blade. Clean rips and ok for crosscuts.
The LU87 at least has ATB teeth which are better for crosscuts than the LM72 and other flat top grinds, but the LM72 sure is great for ripping. The Diablo series is their contractor level...the LU87 is a step up.
Edited 10/17/2005 3:59 pm ET by scotty
Wendy, if your ripping consists mainly of boards 1" thick and less, get the Freud Glueline Rip blade,30 teeth in a 10" blade. This blade is by far the best I've used for ripping. I also have two of the 24 tooth freud rip blades. I use these blades for thick stock. Both blades do the job. The 30 tooth glueline rip does what it is advertised to do,your ready to glue up straight from the saw. I just finished a job that required glueing up 400 bf of 4/4 and 5/4 poplar.the glueline rip blade made this a breeze.
mike
Wendy, at 2hp you are still in the hp range that benifits highly from a think kerf blade. I would suggest you stick with the thin kerf blades for ripping and buy the LU87R. You will experience less load on your saw and less tendency to burn. Save the full 1/8" kerf blades for your cross cutting.
You might also look into investing in just one Forrest Woodworker II or a FS-Tool XL4000 series combination blade in thin kerf.
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