Replies

1. 
   Knotscott | Mar 28, 2006 12:28pm | #1

   Hi Jeff - There are differing philosophies about whether to use dedicated blades for a specific task or a general purpose blade for most cuts.  Everyone is a bit different and their cutting needs are different.  I've always used a top shelf general purpose blade for most cuts and get good results. The two most recent wwing articles I've read about blades suggested a good 40T blade (Am. WWer & Wood).  Not all 40 tooth blades are equal, but if you get a top quality blade like a Freud F410, DeWalt 7657, Forrest WWII, or Ridge Carbide TS2000, a 40T should handle the majority of your cuts satisfactorily. I do use a 24T FTG ripping blade for heavy stock > ~ 1.5", but I use the 40T for crosscuts. I've tried some good 60T blades for crosscutting...DW7646, Leitz 60T, and Freud LU82, but none cut quite as well as my Forrest, so I primarily use that and don't have to bother changing the blade often.  If I switched to a 60-80T blade of the same caliber as my Forrest, I'm sure it would make cleaner crosscuts, but it's hard to complain about the results I get, and it's definitely the path of least resistence when I'm making progress on a project.   A good general purpose blade is just convenient to have anyway.

   If I were to use dedicated purpose blades, I'd probably look into a high quality 80T like a Freud LU85 or comparable.

   
   

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   Edited 3/28/2006 6:34 am ET by scotty

2. 
   terrylee86 | Mar 29, 2006 05:52pm | #2

   I own every blade known to man, it seems like.  I bought a Forrest Woodwoker II about 2 years ago and have never used any of my so called specialty blades.  I even ripped 3" hard maple without burning it.  I went to woodworker show last fall and Forrest was demonstrating their new grind on the WWII and of course I had to have it. I bought the blde stiffener with the new WWII and I can honestly say it is the best saw blade on the market. It cuts smoother than my specialty blades for that use( 80 tooth freud crosscut)  The guy from Forrest said not to buy the thinner version unless you have an underpowered saw.

3. 
   Lataxe | Mar 29, 2006 09:25pm | #3

   Jeff,

   My saw is a good quality Scheppach of 3.5 HP and a 10 ins blade.  I use 3 blades with it, all of which have a 3.2mm (1/8 in) kerf:

   1 The usual blade, for 80% of the time, is a 40 tooth Alternate Top Bevel (ATB) that will rip and cross cut very cleanly indeed with all woods up to 2 ins thick.  This blade is one of the new generation of "planer" blades that usually leaves little or nothing in the way of teeth marks.

   2 For heavy ripping, the Scheppach will take a blade of 18 teeth ATB with a very aggresive cut.  I use it to rip volume quickly; or to rip hard, thick stuff, accepting that the quality of cut will be rougher and require planing or sanding.

   3 My third blade is for use with surfaced boards: veneered plywood and blockboard, in my case.  It has 80 ATB teeth which are very point - 40 or 45 degrees by the look of them.  This cuts very cleanly in double surfaced boards with no breakout of the venneer on either side, even with cross cuts.  Worth having if you don't have a scoring blade on your saw and you use a lot of surfaced boards.

   I used to have a smaller saw of lesser power.  Although it was a precision tool, it's mere 1.6 HP needed thin kerf blades (I used blades with a 1.8 - 2.4 mm kerf) to cut timber that was hard or otherwise difficult.  A bigger saw with more power means I now do without thin kerf blades, which (especially with a 10 ins blade) means less risk of blade flex.

   Hope this helps.

   Lataxe

1. 
   Jumpman | Mar 29, 2006 11:03pm | #4

   Thanks Lataxe (and everybody else!).  I am waiting for delivery of a 5 HP cabinet saw, so I should have power to spare.  My main concern and prior difficulty has been ripping thick hard stock without burning it.  I have a number of 60 tooth finish blades, but they just don't work well for ripping.  Sound like if I buy a coarse tooth ripping blade for ripping, I can get away with using my fine tooth blades for everything else (cross cuts and plywood/mdf).  BTW, just for clarification, all blades discussed are carbide....

   Jeff

1. 
   Lataxe | Mar 30, 2006 11:01pm | #5

   Jeff,

   You're always going to burn wood, especially those with lots of sugars, pitch or gum in them, with a 10in blade having more than 40 teeth.  The wood can't be fed fast enough to overcome the resistance of all those teeth. 

   Any pitch build-up on the blade teeth worsens the problem, as it generates extra friction. If the fence is a bit tight (parallel to the blade or slightly toed in) this worsens the problem as the wood is nipped.

   The planer blades of 40 teeth or thereabouts generally seem to be the best compromise.  There's something about the grind on the side of the teeth that gives a smooth cut, which also reduces the overall friction, or so it seems.

   Lataxe