choosing a table saw blade

[brandt]

Doing some homework on table saw blades and need some advice with experience.

Most of my cutting on my table saw (10" blade) will be ripping

[Edwin Pawlowski]

[Leon]

I use the Forrest WWII. It does everything well.

[Doug Miller]

Tried cutting melamine with it yet? Freud's melamine/laminate-cutting blade does a *much* better job on melamine than the WWII does.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

For a copy of my TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter, send email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com

[Wes Stewart]

|I use the Forrest WWII. It does everything well.

I'd heard this stuff so often I figured I'd try one on my new Unisaw. After squandering $1500 on a saw, what's another $100, right?

I ordered one from Coastal Tool, paid extra for 3-day shipping and got the blade six days later.

What a disappointment. When I first turned the saw on after installing the WW-II I could have sworn that I forgot to tighten the arbor nut. I was wrong.

Elevated the blade through the zero-clearance insert and voila, a new, wider kerf. I had left the splitter/guard off the saw and had just screwed the rear attachment bolt partway in for safekeeping. The flat washer on the bolt was dancing a jig from the vibration and it sounded like a bearing was going out.

Remove WW-II, reinstall my 12-year old Freud LU84M. Smooth as silk. Measure static runout @ 0.001".

Reinstall WW-II. Whole lotta shakin' goin' on. Measure static runout @ 0.007" and mostly in one segment of blade between laser cuts.

Dismount blade and examine laser cuts. Looks like a lot of slag in the cuts and they are not uniform cut-to-cut. So much for stress relief.

Used up 30 minutes of the 30-day trial period. Return to sender.

[Swingman]

I have two that are rotated between sharpenings and can't fault them for

99/9% of the cuts I do. I know of three local cabinet shops that will use nothing else, and one of the most successful furniture/cabinet makers in this area buys five at a time annually at the woodworking show.

All belie your _atypical_ experience with the WWII.

[Ken in Canada]

Brandt...

I like the Freud thin kerfs especially on the saw I know you're thinking about.. I'd go with a dedicated rip blade plus an 80 tooth crosscut.. No one blade will do it all well. Also the Freus melamine blade is excellent for plywood.

Ken in Canada (eh!) Burlington, ON

[Wes Stewart]

I'm sure my experience was atypical---most of them are [g] If there is a bad one out there I'll buy it and if there's a bug in software, I'll find it. Happens every time.

The as supplied left extension wing on my new Uni was warped. Woodcraft ordered me another one. It was worse than the original so I took it back. I called Delta and they shipped another one. The box came apart during shipping and it had obviously been dropped since one corner was bent. So the saw has the original and I figure that's the best Delta can do. Life goes on.

Unless they come pick it up, I'm keeping the bent one. Maybe I'll mount my D4 to it, that ought to steady it up. [g]

Wes

[Leon]

Yes, and it did do quite well without chipping.. BUT..... It was a brand new sharp blade and went slowly. I am sure that over a short time that the Melamine/laminate -cutting blades will hold up better and not degrade as quickly. Again, for all around cutting I find that the WWII does everything well when "Sharp" but "NOT Perfectly" as would a blade made specifically for a particular cutting operation.

I was answering more to the question of the best "Do IT ALL Blade" that the OP was asking about.

[Leon]

Snip

I would find it hard to believe that every Forrest is perfect or arrives in perfect condition. I do not doubt at all that the blade may have had something wrong with it or that it could have been damaged during shipping. In my experience, the WWII reg kerf blade made a thin slot in the insert I was totally sold after putting it through its paces. Fortunately the second one also performs just as well.

[Swingman]

My sympathies ... and now your experience with the Leigh jig. You sound like that guy in the comic strips with the cloud following him around. :(

[B a r r y]

Are you related to B.A. Dave?

Barry

[Rob]

I love my Forrest Woodworker II.

When I first got it, I noticed a bit of tearout. Once I used it a bit the cuts became nearly perfect. I cut a lot of pine, oak, maple, etc. This blade also does an outstanding job with plywood.

I won't use anything else.

Rob

[Greg O]

Two?! I have three blades I use regularly, and a couple more saved for special purposes. There is a reason that blade manufacturers sell various blades, other than getting more money out of someones pocket! Greg

[Eric Anderson]

I had the same experience you had when I got my first WWII at a show. Called up Forrest and sent it back. The new one that was returned to me was just fine. I will say that I expected a little more concern from them when I called, and I had to call them to prompt them to send it back when the turnaround was over 2 weeks. I think the new blades from Freud and Dewalt are starting to give them competition.