I just acquired a SawStop PTS. I’m looking at buying a new blade or blades, but want a better one than the $30 model from Home Depot. I’m a home hobbyist and work with a variety of woods…hardwoods, construction lumber, plywood (plywood the least) for building furniture and projects for home.
I found a 40t Forrest blade on Amazon for $180. This is pricey IMO, but for a quality blade that can be resharpened, it might be a bargain.
What do I need to consider? What blade or blades would be a good fit for my shop and give me the best bang for my buck?
Replies
I use Freud blades, a crosscut and rip blade. They are good quality for under $100 each. If you purchase the full 1/8 inch width carbide blades they can be sharpened several times.
I think every shop should have at least 3 blades. First, the workhorse. A 40T combination blade. I use both a Freud Fusion and a Forrest WWII. I have a tough time calling one better than the other. The Freud is about $99, the WWII is about $140.
For nice plywood cuts I keep an 80T Freud on hand. Makes smooth cuts with no tear out.
The third horse in the stable is a 24T ripping blade. I have a Freud Glue Line ripping blade. I am luke warm on it. I use it if I am going to do long (more than 18") rip cuts or a lot of rip cuts or rip cuts in wood thicker than 1.5". Feed speed seems critical and I rarely would call the edge glue ready. Almost always needs a pass over the jointer.
As an aside, I am not a big fan of thin kerf blades. I like the solid feel of full kerf blades. It just feels like less deflection and better cuts. If you switch back and forth, remember to adjust your measuring guides on the SawStop. Otherwise all of your cuts will be off by a little bit. It is a quick 20 sec. adjustment that will save lots of frustration.
The latest blog post on FWW confirms what Beasley7 just said. Definitely buy quality blades, you will have better cuts, plus the ability to resharpen will save you money in the long run.
If you really want the top in quality, go for industrial grade. I equipped my restored DeWalt Cross Cut with a Royce 100t blade and I slice through the toughest woods like butter without a sign of chipping on either side of the wood. For ripping a thin kerf is definitely an asset, we used them already in the 80's to rip a million board feet of hard maple a year when I was in the industry, and they were Royce and they won't cost more than the Freud or Forrest. They can be ordered at most sharpening services shops. Royce is Canadian, there is an equivalent manufacturer in the US, FS tool.
Everybody has a valid opinion. For a fine finish crosscut, I like the Diablo 90 TPI. One lives on my miter saw and another swaps with a Freud glue line rip blade on my table saw. But no machine can produce the finish available from sharp planes and scrapers.
For tablesaw, I've been using Forrest 40t WWII blades for many years now. Really extraordinary cut...could not recommend it more highly.. I use 1/8 kerf to minimize deflection. I've also used Ridge Carbide but didn't cut as well as Forrest by a fraction maybe. I would say also it's important to keep blade clean and lubed as well. I use Boeshield blade bit cleaner...and lubricate with either Boeshield T9 or Bostik Dricote.
Wow, I had no idea the WWII had doubled in price. Once you reach a certain tier there are many quality blades that outshine the usual home center stuff.
I'm not familiar with the PTS mnemonic; do you mean a PCS? First question is what is the horsepower of your saw? If it is below 3HP I would stay with thin kerf blades, otherwise go full kerf. The advantages are similar to using 1/2" shaft router bits versus the same profile with a 1/4" shaft.
My Freud Industrial blades outperformed my Forrest. I also had good results from Amana, Lietz and Carbide Processors. Others in this areana might be Ridge Carbide, Infinity, Tenryu, etc.
I landed on Carbide Processors and have rip, general, crosscut, plywood and specialty blades from them at this point in time. A 10", 40T blade from them is about $115 today. One reason I use them is the long life of the cermet II tips and the generous tip size that allows many sharpenings. Another reason is that I have them made to a .125" kerf. I do a lot of joinery on the tablesaw and use a lot of jigs for that. Having a consistent kerf across the cutter types removes measurement errors and speed things along.
PCS. I was thinking table not cabinet. Also it’s a 3HP
I'm not really a fan of the Forrest type general purpose blades. They're fine but not the best solution for me. Right now I cycle between a Freud 80 tooth crosscut, FTG rip blade and a glue line rip. A thin kerf is good for under 3hp. You may want other blades like dado or finger as well.
A quality, but less expensive than Forrest, purpose specific blade will give better results than a general purpose. Changing blades doesn't take that long.
Having saw blades specific to cross or rip cuts can be a advantage if this is you final cut. If not a general purpose will work ok. I only buy the blades that can be sharpened several times and do not buy the coated blades. No sharpening service that I know of will guarantee this coating to stay on when they process it.
While it's true that a general purpose blade does ok on most non-final cuts, so will a rip blade. A rip blade will handle thick stock, has fast feed rates and if you are using another blade, planer/jointer, etc. later anyhow, it doesn't matter much. It's also a lot cheaper.
If one is doing more diy work with mostly thinner stock/softwoods, a good general purpose is a good choice. If not, I'd spend my money on dedicated blades.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Ridge Carbide blades.
I have a WWII only because I bought it and a Dado King at an estate sale for $40.
I’ve used Freud blades a long time.
I started using CMT blades a few years ago and I have the impression they cut better and stand up to more sharpening.
I have the 1 3/4 hp pcs and use Freud thin kerf blades. I have a 3 combination blades and one each rip and crosscut blade. 90% of the time a combination blade is in the saw. I put a specialty blade in if I need a really good cut or a lot of heavy rips to do (it does cut better than the combination).
I dont know the thin kerf is needed but works for me.
High price blades do cut nicer, and are able to be sharpened. I so say a $100 blade will get 4 sharpenings (probably can do more) in at $15-20 each, so now the blade is compatible to a $40 blade of disposable quality and they cut much better than that.
Just throwing this out there since no one has mentioned it yet; the Tenryu Gold Medal is beast. Expensive, but not as expensive as Forrest, with no sacrifice in cut quality.
At this point, I've tried just about every blade out there looking for balance, cut quality, sharpness, and durability. Every blade in my shop is now a Tenryu. I've stopped looking.
I also like Ridge Carbide, 40T ATBR. Great quality cross cuts and rips. I have ripped 6/4 cherry with no problem, no burning.
My Sawstop books say that you must use full kerf blades. Start there.
I bought my first Forrest blade this summer and kick myself for not trying one earlier. That thing is amazing. It's a glue line cut every time. I can't imagine a better blade.
I have had a Forrest Woodworker II since I bought it in 2004 for my Craftsman contractors saw that I bought new in 1976. In 2007 when I upgraded to a SawStop I put the Forrest blade on it and have used it or a second one I bought in 2010 when the first one was damaged in a brake activation caused by me not making sure my miter gauge was set right. Both Forrest blades have suffered a SawStop brake activation and both have been repaired and sharpened by Forrest. I’m not sure there are any other companies offer such service. Whenever I can come up with money in my budget for a Forrest rip cut blade I plan to add one to my shop. While the combination blade does a great job and the cuts are smooth I think a rip blade will be even better.
I have been following this thread since the first post. But after reading post #18 I'm compelled to "chime-in". I'm old been at this a long time. Finally upgraded to a cabinet saw a few years ago. And then finally bit the bullet and bought a Forrest blade. There a few good blades on the market. There are more not so good blades on the market. The Forrest blades are top notch quality. And their customer service is outstanding. Forrest has repaired one of their blades that hit a couple of screws. They repaired a broken tool on a Freud blade. Forrest even sharpened a set of planer blades. May I suggest you consider using Forrest blades and service.
Sincerely,
I have SS PCS 3HP as well, upgraded from a Delta contractor saw. I used thin kerf blades on the Delta, but thin kerf is not needed with the SS 3HP PCS. For the SS, you can actually buy a thin kerf splitter (and you would absolutely need one!) if you were to use thin kerf blades - call SS customer service, they will sell you one. I ended up just getting a new full kerf blade given what the additional splitter would cost. Depending on what you build, thin kerf might make sense for you, it didn't for me. Based on my use, the Freud Fusion general purpose 40T - I had a thin kerf on the Delta and now have a full kerf on SS, is an amazing saw blade. I don't think you can go wrong at all with picking Forrest- I have a Forrest blade on my Miter Saw, a Forrest Finger Joint Set, and a Forrest Dado set, but the price difference of the Freud and its performance in "tool tests" swayed me to pick it over the Woodworker II. For substantial hardwood ripping, I have a Freud LM72R010. It is a flat top grind, so you can use it for grooves if you don't have Finger Joint blades. A Finger Joint set can serve well for dados, just have to do series of cuts. I found the FWW article by Bob Van Dyke on table saw blades to be hugely informative and helpful - in that article he gives different options and it helped me navigate.
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