Table Saw Blades Recommendations

[Buster]

Well it's done. I purchased a new General Table saw. It's currently in the back of my truch waiting for some friends to come over to help me unload. Pretty sweet.

As I said in my earlier post my first project will be some simple plywood cabinets for storage in my shop. I have not pruchased a blade for the machine, as I didn't think to ask for any recommendation before...

So: I am looking for recoomendations on 10" table saw blades. My first projects will be using lots of plywood, a little further down the load I will need a rip blade, and a crosscut blade.

For the time I was going to pick up a Frued General purpose type blade for the plywood work.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Infinity got some very good reviews.

I'm very happy with my Ridge Carbide.

Others like the Forrest WW II, I've also used a Freud Diablo 80T with excellent results on plywood.

[Upscale]

My recommendation would be to start of with a combination blade. Then after you start to concentrate on certain areas of construction, you can buy blades more dedicated to that task. Something along the lines of this one:

[BobS]

Buster,

Lot's of good blades out there but eventually you will want to rip down some very hard hardwoods that are quite thick, which will burn easily if everything is not aligned and you're not using a sharp blade.

I've settled on a 30 tooth Forest WW II for ripping and a 80 tooth Freud chrome blade for cross-cutting with a dead-on alignment. Those chrome blades are no longer available but there are others just as good or better by several manf.

I have ripped thru a 7' long section of hard maple at a slight bevel (5°) through almost 3" thickness and never burned a bit. Other blades can do that also - as long as you're TS is aligned properly. So spend a few dollars on a dial indicator setup so you can check blade runout and the alignment of everything critical to making good cuts.

Bob S.

[Patriarch]

"BobS" wrote in news:Snmve.38666$ [e-mail]:

Those friends that are coming over to help you unload the saw may have a dial indicator already. It's the sort of thing that's very useful, but not every day.

Those same friends will have favorite saw blades as well, and may know a good local resource for sharpening. If a buddy of mine were to just be buying a saw, there might be a 'extra' blade available for a starter.

Bob S,, there's a stack of those chrome Freud blades sitting on the discount table at the local (Northern California) Rockler store, 25% off or so. They can still be found some places...

Patriarch

[EvoDawg]

Freud Diablo 80T great blade for the money. Once you get into it more a forrest for fine cabinet work. No other blade on the market even comes close but your going to pay big bucks for it.

Rich

[Prometheus]

I've got a Freud 80-tooth Diablo, and a Freud 60-tooth industrial carbide blade (with the triple-chip style toothset), and they're both awfully nice. Both are general purpose, and both yield a cut that is good enough for glue-ups right off the saw. I've heard others are better, but until these wear out, I can't see much reason to change them.

[Bob G.]

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=================== Exact same combo that I keep on my saws... WW!! stays on the cabinet saw .but is used mostly for ripping...the Frued is mounted in my old Contractors saw that I use totally only for crosscutting...(with a sled)...

Bob G.

[BobS]

For those that are in that area - grab'em. They're an excellent blade and at 25% off will be a good deal. Blades originally sold for $80 when they came out and then settled at around $60 ish as I recall. So a blade like that for around $45 is a steal. I have 3 total, one on the miter saw, one for the TS and a spare.

I used to have the WW II combo blade also, thin-kerf, but when I got the 3hp Jet cabinet saw, I went with all 1/8" blades and found that this combination works well for me. I have several other blades that are of "lesser quality" and are used for when I'm reclaiming some used wood that may have hidden nails or I'm just rough cutting some stock to sticker for a project.

A good blade will make your hobby even more enjoyable but well aligned equipment makes it even better and helps keep it safe too. So purchase the best blade you can and keep the saw aligned.

Bob S.

[Hax Planx]

You can get started with some decent blades for very little money if you buy Freud or Freud Diablo. I've got combo blades for $30, rip blades for $25 and laminate blades for $50 at box stores. Don't know of availability in Canada or price, but I'd think it would be about the same as here.