Combination saw blade

[c.demille]

I was just wondering what brands of combination saw blades are reputable. I saw a rigid brand blade with 50 teeth priced at just under $40 and I was wondering if it would be worthwhile. I am willing to go a little more money if necessary to get a better blade. I have also looked at Infinity, Freud, and Forrest blades. The Forrest blades seem like they are top of the line, but may be a little too expensive for me. I also read a review on an Infinity blade called the combo max which was highly rated. Any opinions would be appreciated. I am not sure if the generic brand saw blades are worth looking into.

[Joe C]

I have always had great results with Freud blades.

http://www.craftandwoodworking.com

[Don]

Hey, C. It really depends on what you expect to get from the blade. Generally, a cheaper, lighter weight saw will benefit from the most expensive blades you can afford, A heavier, more powerful saw can make a not so good blade work well. Since you are asking the question, this tells me that you don't have a lot of saw blades in your quiver, I would suggest a middle of the road blade for a first purchase, such as the one you describe. Then as time allows you can purchase a blades on either side of the ledger to make your own opinion. You are going to want to have cheap blades for crappy, used lumber and fine blades for your best work. Where you get your saw blades sharpened and how fine of a job they is a valuable part of the equation as well, a good saw shop can sometimes make a poor blade run well.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

dawjr

[jcclark]

Do yourself a favor and get two blades, it's cheaper in the long run.
Get a good finish blade for where you need a nice cut and only use it
for that. (Not one blade that is a compramise).
Then get a cheap fewer teeth rip blade,
Like the 12 to 15 dollar rip blades at Home Depot or Wal-mart,
they rip like butter - where the finish of the cut isn't important.
(Ripping is much faster and easier with a fewer tooth rip blade.)
So it'll save hundreds of feet of cutting off the good blade,
which is expensive to resharpen, and needs to stay sharper.

In my shop, ripping is 90% of cutting,
(when you figure lineal footage of actual cutting)
So why put all that wear on a good finish blade that cost more
to sharpen than a cheap rip blade can be replaced for.:cool:

[KC7CN]

I was just wondering what brands of combination saw blades are reputable. I saw a rigid brand blade with 50 teeth priced at just under $40 and I was wondering if it would be worthwhile. I am willing to go a little more money if necessary to get a better blade. I have also looked at Infinity, Freud, and Forrest blades. The Forrest blades seem like they are top of the line, but may be a little too expensive for me. I also read a review on an Infinity blade called the combo max which was highly rated. Any opinions would be appreciated. I am not sure if the generic brand saw blades are worth looking into.

Are you looking at full kerf (1/8") blades, or think kerf. Thin kerf blades cost less, and offer a few advantages; require less power and remove remove less material.

I recently had need of a blade capable of cross-cutting Oak veneer. I purchased the 80T Freud Avanti from Lowe's for about $50. http://www.amazon.com/Freud-TK706-10-Inch-Non-Ferrous-Cutting/dp/B00006407O/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1197991035&sr=1-17

It really works good, but I'm still on the fence about the thin kerf because all my inserts, splitters, sleds, etc. are setup for full kerf. However, my chop saw is set up for think kerf, and I really like it there too!

-Don

[c.demille]

I haven't decided whether to use a think kerf or not. I am purchasing the Rigid TS3650 table saw and I assume the guard is set up for a 1/8" kerf. I'm also a little weary about cheap blades because I built an entertainment center a while back with maple. When I ripped the maple molding, it left saw marks and occasional burn marks. I think it was a combination of a cheap blade and a weak table saw, but it took forever to remove the saw marks. Now that I will have a table saw with more power, this may not be an issue.

[Terry Mac]

Irwin thin kerf combination blade is cheap, and it does the job (at times). When it gets dull, just go buy another one. I think they're around $17.00 bucks.

But, I do like the freud blades, just never wanted to spend the money for one.

[jcclark]

I have a couple of cut samples in the shop I show people that tell me
how great a Forrest blade cuts.
The samples were cut with a $30.00 blade and I challenge them
to show me a better cut made with their Forrest blade at 3 times the cost.
Don't get me wrong, Forrest is a great blade, but this just prooves
how the saw set-up is as important as the blade.
You don't have to buy the most expensive blade to get that super
great finish cut. There are plenty of really good blades out there,
like Freud for a lot less money.

[bogydave]

I have a Loews near buy & just bought a pack of 3 - 10" for $26.
2 combos & one finish. I know they are throw aways but getting them sharpened in Alaska gets expensive. I had a local saw sharpener sharpen my High dollar 60 tooth carbon blade 10 years ago & it worked worse than when it was dull. Saving it but don't know why. I do have 2 good Freuds, but like most of the guys. I use it when working with good wood for good projects.

[c.demille]

I think I am going to end up purchasing some cheaper blades to begin with, as advised and go from there. I saw a craftsman 3 pack and one of the blades was just a steel blade. Are steel blades worthless or do they serve a purpose?

[bogydave]

I have a steel blade. Came with the 10 saw when I bought it 25+ years ago. Now, I cut real dirty junk wood with it. Stuff that needs thrown out or burned. I can touch it up with a file to keep it working ok (small ok). My Dad's old saw mill had a blade, before carbon tip & replacable teeth(48" or so) that we sharpened with a file.

[Don]

Hey, c.demille. Yes, a steel blade should be in your quiver, you will end up collecting a few over the years. As bogy said, for cutting crap is a good use. But, I have used them for years when rough cutting white hardwoods such as rock and soft maple, birch. Steel blades can be sharpened "sharper" than carbide can. Most often carbide "scraps" shavings from the wood where a sharp steel blade can actually "cut." This gives it an advantage in some cases. I use steel blade exclusively when cutting butcher blocks to size. They'll go through them like butter, of course they need to be sharp. And of course plywood, painted wood and all composite woods are out for steel blades, the adhesives are the killers there. Solid lumber only. As bogy allows, carbide is a relatively new addition to woodworking.

All the best, Don

[bogydave]

Radial Arm Saw blades.
Third time I chimed in on this topic. Today I took several of my blades 7 saw blades, a jointer set & a planer set to get them sharpened. The saw sharpener man had me throw out 3 of my 7 saw blades. One had chipped & missing teeth. One was to big, thick & heavy for my radial arm saw (RAS). That's when I learned that not all 10" saw blades are for any 10" saw. The 3rd one was one of the cheaper blades but not enough carbide tip on it to have enough to sharpen properly. He laughed at my old steel blade & said "got the life out of that one, eh" (so I brought it home). He asked questions like for what saw, hp rating, what I was cutting, ripping crosscut or combo grind. After about a hour of talking saw blades I left more confused than ever. Thanks to the internet I was able to clear the water just a little. Most 10" saw blades work in a table saw (not all, some are specific for miter saws only) and some work in all saws but fewer work on RAS. None of the "Burns" & few "Tenryu" brand are for RAS. most of the Freud & Amana blades work for RAS (the Amana Cmbo 40 tooth, Prestig series NOT recommended for RAS). Some of the thin blades require (recommend) a blade stiffener at least 1/3 the Diameter of the blade for stability. There are at least 7 grades of carbide teeth on the blades, flucuating between hardness & impact strength, this is partly why some blades stay sharper longer than others. Forrest mentions RAS on the WWI.
Any blade that fits the arbor will cut, but saw performance is hindered if the blade doesn't match the saw in type & hp rating. You 5 hp table sawer's are pretty safe but now I know to do a little research before I buy a new blade for my 2.5 hp RAS.
I had one of the Irwin blades from Loews with me so I asked about it. He asked "How'd ya like the cut it made" ? I said OK. He said "There you go" & walked into his shop with a hand full of work to do. http://burnstools.com has some good info when you get to the "carbide tipped saw blade"s pages.
Moral of the thread: IF you like the cut your blade makes "There you go"

Keep your blades sharp, Dave

[old_guy]

This DeWalt website has a good summary of information on saw blades.

http://www.dewalt.com/us/articles/article.asp?Site=woodworking&ID=353

For years I used cheapie combination blades on my table saw. About 5 years ago I kicked caution to the wind and paid about $70 for a Freud combo. As they always say, you get what you pay for. You can literally HEAR the difference.

[Don]

Hey, Bogy and guys. Your saw guy hit the nail on the head. If you like the cut, if you like the life of the blade, if you like the way your saw performs with it in place then; "there you go."

You will only really be able to appreciate any differences from your own experience. As old guy allows, you get what you pay for, and there is a difference. If you're a newbie, start with the cheap stuff then allow yourself a fine blade here and there to be used for special occasions and projects. The longer you are in woodworking, the more blades you will acquire and use for different purposes.

dawjr

[bogydave]

Thanks Old Guy,
For my next blade, I'll probably buy a Freud Fusion

[c.demille]

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up buying a combo pack of cheap carbide blades that contained 2 40 tooth blades and one 60 tooth blade. I also wanted to get one nice blade, so I purchased a thin kerf ripping blade made by Freud (LU87R010) off of amazon. It was a great deal, it normally retails for around $45 or so after shipping. I got it from Amazon for about $5.00 with free shipping and $30 off with an application for an amazon credit card. I will just cancel the card when I get it, HA! I just got done putting my saw together last night. I can't wait to start using it.

[bogydave]

New saw blade test (RE-test)
Explain why retested:
http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/story.jsp?storyid=/templatedata/wood/story/data/1197909616100.xml
Test results:
http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/pdf/WOOD-Saw-Blades-II-The-Retest.pdf

[old_guy]

Thanks Old Guy,
For my next blade, I'll probably buy a Freud Fusion

Bogy

For what it's worth. Was talking to a friend recently, who makes her living doing woodworking. She bought a Freud Fusion and decided she didn't like it as well the the Forrest Woodworker II that she has been using for years. The Forrest is usually rated as "one of the best", and is only about $10 more than the Fusion.

[bogydave]

Wonder what was her reason or why was the WWII better?
I noticed they scored close on the woodworking magazine test. WWII was the top one though.The WWII isn't for a Radial arm where I think the fusion is. The WWI works on a radial arm. I'm thinking about a new table saw so other blades may be on my wish list.