..and made a few test cuts on some oak, pine and walnut. It certainly is better than what I am used to but it doesn't seem lo live up to the expectations I had after all of the glowing posts here.
I guess I will have to recheck the setup on the saw before I make a final decision as to whether it was money well spent.
Chuck
WoodChuck wrote: : ..and made a few test cuts on some oak, pine and walnut. It certainly is : better than what I am used to but it doesn't seem lo live up to the : expectations I had after all of the glowing posts here.
Make very sure the blade and fence are both well aligned to the miter slot -- if they're off, you won't get top performance.
-- Andy Barss
I have a theory about the WWII. It has such a reputation that everyone who buys it immediately tunes their saw until they get perfect glue line rips and glass smooth crosscuts. Take any other decent quality, brand new combination blade on a perfectly tuned saw, and who's to say you wouldn't get the exact same results? But if you slap on a $30 Freud and get burning or blade marks, you're a lot more likely to curse the blade than adjust your rip fence or check your arbor runout.
It's the $100 price tag and the gold-plated reputation that makes the WW2 such a great blade. Nobody's going to be satisfied with mediocre results after shelling out a c-note for a saw blade.
That's my story and I'm sticking with it. At least until I scrape together a c-note for my very own Forrest.
Martin
WoodChuck wrote:
To correctly judge a WWII you have to understand that it is a _combination_ blade. My Forrest Chopmaster does a better job of crosscutting than the WWII, but the WWII does a better job of both crosscutting and ripping than any other combination blade TS blade I've owned.
Chuck, My first WWII amazed me. I got shiny smooth rips and burnished crosscuts. It cut this well until I bent it. I immediately bought a new one and it cut just as well... I sent the older bent one to Forrest for some polishing and body work and I believe it cuts as good or better than the new one.
Consider rotating the blade on the arbor 180 degrees and see if your cuts improve. No arbor and no blade is perfect. You may have a combination of imperfections with your current mounting.
Leon,
FWIW I use only the WWI on my RAS and I find it usually takes a few weeks use to achieve optimum cuts. From what I understand it actually takes a bit of time to break in a new blade, and this was from Jim Forrest.
I installed a WWII in my already well aligned ancient Craftsman saw a couple of days ago. I have never had a blade that works that well. Whether it's actually worth the price or not, is up to the individial user.
Rico
See:
nope i took of my 20t 1/8" kerf rip blade slapped on the 30t wwII and saw the difference in speed and quality of cut. end of story.
On Fri 22 Aug 2003 06:28:46p, Martin Frankel wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com:
At the last woodshow in Milwaukee I broke down and bought one at the show price. 94 bucks plus tax. The next day SWMBO asked me to trim down a shagbark hickory branch, about wrist thick, that she was working on. Crosscut. Just take off a quarter inch or so from the length so the end isn't rough. I put it on the crosscut sled, zero clearance insert, zipped it through, brought it back. She takes it, starts to say "thank you" and stops. She keeps rubbing her fingers over the cut. "What else did you do? It's like glass!" She was used to seeing the results of my first generic blade or the $50 Freud I bought later. "Nothin but that new WW2, honey."
She gets this impressed look on her face and says something like "Oh. Um, niiice blade."
I will admit to tuning the saw as much as my equipment and inexperience would allow, but that was after I bought the Freud, not the WWII. It's still off by a few thousandths here and there, but DAMN that's a nice blade.
Dan
Thanks Rumpy, that explanation seems to fit nicely in place.
If you are seeing tooth marks especially in cross cuts, either your TS setup is out or you could possibly have a bad blade. Take the blade back to the local WoodCraft and have them mount the blade on "their" saw and see how it cuts. If it does better, you will know to look more closely at your set up.
The WWII I installed a couple of days ago cross cut some
1.75 thick maple as well as advertised. Check your alignment and be optimistic.That said, I'm not sure I would buy one again. The cuts are too smooth for an optimum glue joint and a little sanding on exposed surfaces doesn't bother me.
I do get a kick out of a tool that works so well that I marvel at it.
Rico
I absolutely do not think you can get too smooth for any glue operation but my WWII does put my jointer to shame when it comes to a smooth edge.
Had some tile today to look at the setup of my saw. I was surprised how far out it was. The blade was not parallel to the miter slot and the fence was not parallel to either the blade or miter slot. After making adjustments I putting the old blade back on, made some cuts, followed by the WWII and some more cuts.
I have to admit, it does now seem to be quite impressive.
Thanks for your input.
Chuck
Check the blade for runout. I got one a few weeks ago that was .005" out. Took it back to LeeValley and got a new one that is *dead on*. Cuts Maple like butter and leaves a glass smooth crosscut that sandpaper would "dull".
Dave.
WoodChuck wrote:
Same way I did, IIRC ... cranked some tilt in without first removing the zero clearance insert. Most folks with a tilting arbor table saw will eventually do this at least once in their woodworking lives.
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