Has anyone had a chance to use the Freud glue line saw blade? The advertisements indicate that the cut is so good that you do not need to use a jointer. What is your experience with this blade. Thanks
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Replies
I have seen the demo on the freud truck. After Walter made a cut with the blade and put the two pieces together you could't tell there was a cut. IMO i think its a great saw blade for glue line joints.
http://www.freudtools.com/woodworkers/rep/sawblades/Industrial_Series/Ripping/html/Ripping_1.html
The blade does what it advertises, I recently had a job that required 10'-0" lengths of hardwood. My jointer is six inches with a 47" bed. Would have to joint by hand as the bed is too short.Bought the glueline blade, no jointing necessary.
mike
I bought one, used it, and burned most everything I ripped with it. I communicated this to Freud, and their very helpful representative made several suggestions as to what might be wrong with my saw. I checked this out, and the saw was in correct adjustment. I then sent the blade to Freud, in the event there was something wrong with it. It was pronounced to be in good working order, but Freud replaced it anyway. I still had the same problem. Ripping cherry, my favorite wood was impossible without almost continuous burning. Maple was almost as bad. I had no burning problems with my other blades, but they were all combo blades, and I thought I shoud have one rip blade.I finally put the glue-line rip away and have never used it again. Do I think Freud makes bad blades? Not on your life. A company doesn't acquire the reputation they have in the woodworking community without doing something right. I just wonder why I have this trouble.
Thanks for the input, I am planning on using cherry so I will reconsider.
Please note that I am not putting the Freud product down. I don't believe my experience with this sawblade is typical or there would have been numerous complaints on this and other forums. Anything else I can add to confuse the issue?
I'm simply curious as to what saw you were using it on, and how thick the stock was you were ripping. Oh, and where was Mars in relationship to Venus <g>.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) Do unto others as you tell them they should do unto you....
My saw is a ten year old Unisaw. It has needed virtually no adjustments since the initial ones. Other blades I use are a Forrest Woodworker II Thin Kerf, a Combination Freud, model # unknown since it long ago wore off, a Freud 80 tooth that I use for plywood, melamine, etc. I find that cherry burns on occasion unless I am careful with technique, but not continuously as with the Freud LM74. The problem exists regardless of the thickness of the wood. As to the relationship between Mars and Venus, I don't discuss personal issues on public forums. (Fora??)
Ed,The LM74 GLR blade is designed to lightly burnish the cut edge. To accomplish this there is very little side relief so burning is a slightly higher possibility than with many other blades. The causes of burning are feed rate too slow, too many teeth and material binding against the teeth. On a saw that is properly set up and with proper feed rate cutting stock less than 1-1/2" thick burning should not be a problem.
Charles M
Freud America, Inc.
I got the blade and love it. When it burns the cherry I just ran it through again and it removed the burn. Only have good experiences so far.
I had the same experience (burning wood) with my Freud 30T Glue line blade. Professional sharpening didn't help--previously I had used it on QS white oak, so I thought that it might have been dull (even though I hadn't cut all that many feet). I switched to an Amana 30T glue line and have been much happier with it.
I have a Freud blade on my RAS, and have been pleased with it. For the TS I have the Freud glue line, an Amana cross-cut, the Amana glue line, an Amana combo which gives an excellent cut, and an Amana dado-stack. Guess why I bought the Amana stack?
Recently I needed to plough some hard maple with a kerf-width by 3/32 inch deep cut. I grabbed the Freud glue line as it is .125 wide vs .140 for the Amana. Got a few small burn marks, which really surprised me. So, I guess maybe red isn't my color on the TS. I'm willing to blame my technique--the saw is dead on, but I seem to have better luck with the Amana blades.
Bob I have ripped 500'-0" LF of cherry in the past month with the glue line rip blade. I used a power feed, that is the trick with cherry.You need a constant feed rate or it will burn. As another post pointed out, the blade is meant for stock 1" thick and less.
Try it again with shorter stock that you handle without pausing to adjust hand position. A steady feed , not too fast or slow, just a normal speed. If this works for you, you will need a hand to rip long cherry boards, or spring for a power feed if you like.
mike
I agree with everything you say, but....... Freud says that ripping thicker stock with the LM74 only takes longer, and it shouldn't affect the burning problem. And yes, feed rate is important, but how come do you suppose my feed rate is OK with all my other blades, but not this one? Maybe, as Forest Girl implies, it's the relationship of Venus and Mars that does it.
"...but how come do you suppose my feed rate is OK with all my other blades...?" Not Mars and Venus, but that burnishing thing that Charles wrote about in #11 above. None of the other blades you use would have the same type of side profile that the LM74 does. Your feed rate would need to be higher with this blade, especially with a burn-prone wood such as cherry.
Why do I comment? Because I have the Freud Ultimate Cutoff Blade (LU85) which also has a side grind designed to polish the wood as it cuts, probably more so than the LM74 (Charles?) That difference in side grind compared to other regular blades is a very real and significant difference. I've burned end-grain when not being precise with my feed during a cross-cut!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) Do unto others as you tell them they should do unto you....
>> None of the other blades you use would have the same type of side profile that the LM74 does.
Actually Jamie, the shallow side clearence grind is what has been used on Forrest blades for years. It's what gives the blade is reputation for "glass smooth" cuts. Like the Freud Glueline, it slightly burnishes the board edge.
The burnishing action of these blades requires that the blade and fence be perfectly aligned to the miter gauge and that the splitter be perfectly in line with the kerf. It's also the reason that Forrest recommends kicking out the rear of the fence.
Howie.........
Edited 2/1/2006 11:12 am ET by HowardAcheson
I stand corrected (forget the Forrest was his other blade, should have gone back and checked!). Sounds like something's just a tad off, doesn't it?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) Do unto others as you tell them they should do unto you....
The other rip blades do not leave a burnished surface, the glueline rip does. When you rip with the other blades you have an edge to clean up. Read Charles last post, he explains it well.
mike
Freud specifies that th eglue line rip is to be used on less than 1" boards. Mine works very well on the thinner (3/4" & less) I tried it on. I had less success on 6 foot lengths of 1.25" vertical grain Doug Fir which I thought would cut pretty easily. Thus, if you are thinking about ripping & gluing thick planks for a table top it takes a little planing. All in all, I like the blade and use it for joints at times on long boards.
For my portable table saw I have a Freud glue line rip blade and I use it for damn near everything and it gives me great results.
Others have mentioned it, feed rate is important.
Doug
> On a saw that is properly set up and with proper feed rate cutting stock less than 1-1/2" thick burning should not be a problem <
That's my experience. I have 2 of these blades and just love them to bits. Most of my work is small pieces of wood, cut on my Euro slider (a MiniMax) and I use the Freiud blade as a planer alternative, glueing-up and fitting in place staright from the saw.
Its about technique. The blade does exactly what it was designed to do!
Malcolm
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