Table Saw Blades

**crossgrain** · 03-10-2009, 08:27 PM

I use Freud Avanti saw baldes and love (lowes) them. I use a 10" 50t combo and an 80t cross cut. I also use a 12" 96t blade on my SCMS.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...807&lpage=none

Sonny Edmonds · 03-10-2009, 10:54 PM

I only use Systimatic blades.
I have industrial equipment, I'm not about to risk my tools, work, or life on lesser quality blades.
Besides, I've tried the run of the mill ones. I won't waste my money on them again.

**woodchuck1954** · 03-11-2009, 03:39 AM

On my Old Ryobi BT3000 I generally use a 7.5" Diablo 24 tooth blade. You won't find anything thinner, cuts faster, up to about two inch thick material and, at about ten bucks per blade, one lasts me about a year, it gets replaced instead of re-sharpened. On my Bosch 12"CMS, I use the Diablo 96 toother. At around $50 price tag, its very difficult to find a better value.

Personally, I believe that saw blade quality is over rated. Joining gluing edges after rips, pretty much makes the perfect rip blade obsolete. As for all other cuts, other than tear-out on thin veneers and so forth, most edges usually are finished with router profile or the least, sanded to finishing quality. I think the best blade to use is dependent on the style of work each individual does and more important, what kind of equipment that individual has. The Diablo blade on my saw is appropiate to such an under-powered machine. But I sure wouldn't waste my time using that same blade on a Powermatic 66. The opposite end is true, too. I can't see buying a "Woodworker 2"
for a $100 Harbor Freight tablesaw. Like selecting the right size Dado blade. A eight incher on any cabinet saw is a given. But bearing in mind of over-taxing any other type of non-commercial saw, six inches is plenty. I have never seen a cut made by a dado blade that required the difference in size, between the two.

**scottspencer** · 03-11-2009, 07:00 AM

I typically find that a good 30T to 60T general purpose ATB or Hi-ATB blade suits the majority of my needs, most of which involve hardwoods, and I tend to switch between those from project to project depending on what I'm cutting. I also have dedicated blades available that I use occasionally...I'm far more likely to use a 20T to 24T FTG ripper than an 80T crosscut or plywood blade, but YMMV depending what you cut.

Assuming high quality to start with, task specific blades will perform very well in a narrow operating range. A good general purpose blade will give good results in most applications but excel at none, but that doesn't mean they cut poorly....they don't. Both philosophies have merit depending on your situation, your preference, budget, and cutting objectives. A decent purebred 60-80 tooth crosscut blade will certainly make cleaner crosscuts than a 30, 40 or 50 tooth general purpose blade of comparable quality. Inversely, a 24 tooth bulk ripper will certainly be more efficient at ripping thick material than the “GP” style blade. But “better” performance characteristics in one aspect of cutting doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better choice overall.

Taking the approach of using task specific blades requires owning at least two blades that each excel in a limited region, and are typically unacceptable for tasks outside of their intended scope, which requires more blade changes for optimum results. Two task specific blades (typically a 24T ripper and an 80T crosscutter) will generally stay sharp longer than a single general purpose blade because they share the work load, but cost more upfront and will also cost more to resharpen when the time comes. A general purpose blade will neither rip as efficiently as a specialized rip blade nor crosscut as cleanly as a dedicated crosscut blade, but you may find that it’s more than acceptable at doing both tasks for most situations, if the objective is a glue ready cut with square edges and low tearout. A valid argument in favor of using one decent general purpose blade is that the GP blade leaves a cleaner edge than the rip blade, crosscuts faster than a crosscut blade, and does so with the convenience and cost of using one blade. How fast is fast enough, and how clean is clean enough, are matters of preference, which will depend in part on your cutting objectives and subjective judgement. You’ll find that none of these blades is ideal for all situations, and none is capable of leaving an exposed edge that’s ready to accept a finish without some additional cleanup from sanding, scraping, or planing. Sooner or later a decent general purpose type blade is going to be useful to most of us, so IMO it’s an excellent first blade purchase, even if you venture on to separate blades later. If you happen to do a lot of specialty cutting of fine veneered plywoods, veneers, melamine, MDF, plastics, etc., a blade made specifically for those materials is definitely recommended. If you tend to rip very thick dense materials regularly, then a dedicated ripping blade is obviously a wise choice for you.

I don't get too hung up on brand names. I've tried various blades from Infinity, Freud, Forrest, Tenryu, Ridge Carbide, Oshlun, CMT, Amana, Ridgid, Porter Cable, Blue Tornado, Craftsman, Bosch, DeWalt, Delta, Leitz, Systimatic, and Final Cut. Most of those are reputable brands, and performed quite well for me, but I do have my favorites (Infinity, Forrest, Ridge Carbide, DeWalt, Freud). It's difficult to buy a blade on brand name alone and be certain that you've got the right blade. Most manufacturers have many different models for different applications, and more importantly, some have multiple lines with different price points and quality objectives that are aimed at different markets, so there can be a large quality gap from an entry level line to a professional line. Learn as much as you can about a blade’s tooth configuration and geometry, and know what line the model comes from. It's also important to note that the blade is only one component in the cutting system. If you're saw's alignment isn't good, throat plate is sloppy, or arbor has excessive runout, a high precision blade's advantage will be lost in the saw's variability.