Choosing Table Saw Blades

[Magnusfarce]

I need to replace my old table saw blade, and so had a look at the ones offered at my local Home Depot. I do a light to moderate amount of cutting, and tend to be a bit lazy and just leave my 80 or so tooth carbide tipped crosscutting blade on the saw for most of my work, and this is the type of blade I will replace. At the store, I was surprised to see such blades offered for $50: a DeWalt and another I didn't recognize, made by Freud.

My questions are these (and thanks in advance for any comments):

I remember paying upwards of $90 bucks for a blade of this type ten years ago. Why are these new ones cheaper and/or are they as well made as my old one?

How good a blade is the Freud? As good as the DeWalt?

- Magnusfarce

[Edwin Pawlowski]

There are some good blades around at $50 and up. Freud makes a few good ones. I use one on my table saw.

When I bought the DeWalt miter saw I figured I'd have to replace the blade for a good one. I was surprised at how good it is and it will remain on the saw. Many people consider the Forrest WWII to be the best combination blade, but you won't find it at the big box stores. It is about $100.

You may want to check the Google Groups and do a search on rec.woodworking for more information. This subject comes up a lot over there and opinions are given freely. Ed [e-mail]

[Klm]

Since you do only light sawing I would replace it with a

[C G]

I've always had good luck with Freud. I have 4 or 5 for my table and miter saws. I don't change blades too often either, but I do have a couple "special" blades that I use when I want a particularly clean cut.

I've got nothing against HD, spent $500 there two days ago, but you might want to look at a few of the mail order places. They will give you many more models to choose from.

Chuck

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Why would you put a 7 1/4" blade in a table saw? Why limit the thickness you can cut? Ed

[Joe Bobst]

Unless your saw blades have missing teeth, it is often more cost effective to find a competent resharpening service. Maybe I got lucky, but I asked at the local lumberyard and they sent me to a chap that does part time resharpening of impeccable quality. Cost is $10-17 per blade, and the subjectively, it seems to me they cut smoother and faster than new. If you have that kind of person in your area, he would be a good source of info on blade quality, For 7 1/4" blades I exchange them for resharpened ones off the shelf at a contractor supply store. Even these seem to have a better edge than new. HTH

Joe

[John Hines]

Freud makes some good tooling. I have their knives in my jointer.

Get a good combo blade, which will work for most everything. A dedicated rip blade would be the next one you'd want, or one for specialty materials.

Freud has a couple of lines, they have industrial types of blades as well.

That said, I have a Forrest WWII in my saw.

[Bruce]

The Freud is probably better than the DeWalt. Freud makes excellent blades. If you aren't doing fine woodworking, get any old blade you want. I have a Forrest Woodworker II on my table saw. It will run you a bit over $100 but cuts like a dream and the edge is ready for glue when cut.

[William]

Last year or the year before, Fine Woodworking have an articles on all the saw blades and they rated Forest as the best and also the most expensive. However, they also rated a few as excellent to very good and one of them is Oldham, also market as US Saw, they cost less than many of the expensive saw.

I bought one last year, as I have a lot of problems with my TS, and it is excellent. I paid something like $47, for a Signature, combination 1040T. Very good for rip and crosscut it also came with a free damper/stabilizer and a free re-sharpening.

Get it from the Internet the "Signature" or "Premier" series. I found this site from Google..

PS: I have no link or benefiting from the sites or Oldham Saw, I am a only satisfy user.

[George E. Cawthon]

I agree. We have a good sharpening service, and my sharpened blades cut much better than out of a new package. I haven't had any sharpened in recent years, so don't know what the price is, but the cost was economical compared to new blades.

[C G]

Starts and stops faster? :-)

[Klm]

Most of my sawing is light thin stuff where I want a fine finished edge, a thin kerf and no binding of the blade. The 7 1/4 blade is good enough to saw 2 x 4 studs too. If I blunt this blade its cheap enough to just toss it out. It is still pretty sharp after two years use in cutting everything I put to it. If I need to do heavier work I have my regular multi toothed carbide saw blades. With the costlier

9 inch blades I was always reluctant to saw anything tough in case I blunt the teeth. Also the 9 inch blades are not that good for sawing plastics and plywood - too many chipped and overheated sections, and too much waste..

I have an old Rockwell 9 inch table saw with a heavy cast iron table and extensions that I find preferable to the newer stamped sheet metal types.