Newbie Requesting Saw Blade Buying Advice

Hey Guys- Sorry if this one's been covered 1000 times.

After years of outdoor projects (deck building, etc.) and framing/finishing basements in two houses, I've recently decided to try some furniture/woodworking. After 1 weekend, I'm suddenly unhappy with wood chipping/splintering during cuts (never a concern with my former projects). Anyhow, it's pretty obvious that BOTH my 10" Miter Saw and 7 1/4" circular saw could use new blades (ohhh- you're actually supposed to REPLACE those things :).

I know the basics of Crosscutting vs. Ripping, etc.- but I can't see alot of home hobbyists changing out blades between cuts. What I'm looking for is a some general advice on some all-purpose blades for my 2 tools (teeth/brand/type, etc.) Some internet research has shown me that there are some generally accepted VERY good blades out there (Forrest?), but is putting a $125 blade on a $160 Craftsman miter saw (or $70 blade on a $70 circular saw) going to make my life easier, or is this a waste of $$$?

As for the projects I am working on (and planning), I expect to be cutting alot of 3/4" birch & oak faced plywood (some bookcases), moldings, etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice- I'd like to buy/order some blades early this week to have in time for next weekend.

Reply to
Matt
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Maybe, maybe not.

If you're getting splintering, burning, etc... A good blade wil probably help you. If the cuts aren't straight, ex:// the cut is curved from top to bottom, you're dealing with runout. Good blades won't help shaft runout or bad bearings.

Make sure your miter saw has a zero clearance fence and insert, and that your putting the good side of the work where the blade is entering the cut before buying a new blade.

That said, many stock miter saw and circular saw blades are crap.

The Chopmaster most likely WILL help the miter saw. Can you buy it with a satisfaction guarantee?

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y

B a r r y wrote in news:fW04e.28973$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com:

If I may add a little bit to what Barry said:

A zero clearance fence and insert isn't some thing you need to buy. You can make them from good 1/2" plywood or MDF. The idea is to support the lower, or opposite face of the material being cut, right up as the blade cuts the surface.

You can buy a Forrest, but you can also buy decent blades from Freud, or DeWalt, at most home centers. I buy mine from the sharpening service in town, because they almost always have what I need, even if I could only verbalize the problem when I walked in there. The product is usually a lesser known brand, with excellent quality, and virtually no consumer marketing budget, which gets sold to pro shops for heavier use and lots of resharpenings. It has always been a better value than the home center or the woodworkers' specialty store. But they close at 5:30 pm, and don't work most weekends.

Look to make a sawguide for that circular saw, and maybe budget $100 for a new one as part of the project. And maybe pick up some rigid insulation to put under the circular saw while you're doing your cutting.

On the other hand, cabinet saws start at about $1250. No? Well, budget for some decent pipe clamps at least.

$50 should buy you all the chop saw blade you need, and $20 should buy you a very good circular saw blade, if you don't spring for a new saw. (The HD brand Ridgid circ saw is supposed to be at least OK.)

Take pictures. Take notes. Continue to ask questions. Have fun. Repeat.

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

Sometimes we do.

Putting a good blade on a saw is never a waste of money. You don't need to buy a Forrest, but for the miter saw a good fine tooth crosscut blade will give you much cleaner cuts. Freud has some good ones, as does Ridge Carbide and Forrest. Figure about $50 and up.

For my purposes, I use a Freud Diablo 80T crosscut blade for plywood and I get excellent results. I've also done some ripping with it but it is slower that using a combo or rip blade. My "normal" blade is a Ridge Carbide combination blade, but I will change it out for the Freud sometimes. Ed

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I mostly end up with two blades on my TS, both from Systematic. One is a

24 tooth rip blade that leaves a glue-ready finish, and the other is an 80 tooth plywood specialty blade that never, ever chips the edges of ply. I sometimes have to crosscut on the TS and then I use a combo blade, but that is rare. Crosscutting mostly happens on the Hitachi SCMS that still has the original blade, though it would benefit greatly from an upgrade.

The dedicated rip blade, although cheap, does the job very well and is fast too. It's what is on the saw 80% of the time.

Roger

Reply to
Roger

Check out Freud and Freud Diablo blades. I've bought them at big box home centers for very reasonable prices. These are good blades and they are made in Italy where people are paid a living wage for their labor.

Reply to
Hax Planks

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