Tablesaw Blade recommendatiion

[Ptofimpact]

Hi again all, first allow me to say, Thanks to All who have replied to my posts full of questions. I am a novice woodworker, not in 'years' but in skill, so your patience and help is most appreciated.
I have acquired a new Craftsman 10 inch tablesaw , nothing fancy just the basics. Has a Riving Knive, Blade Guard, anti-kickback Pawls, left tilting blade. The first project on it will be a Sled.
Mostly I do smaller projects, keepsake boxes, shelving, basic repair things, kitchen pullouts, etc., use primarily dimensional lumber, and now have access to locally milled hardwoods. Have been looking at Diablo blades, for cost reasons, and would like a recommendation..... if I bought only one blade what would you all select?

Thanks again

 

[jlwest]

Forrest Woodworker II is a great blade.

 

[Canuck]

I have been using a thin kerf Freud Fusion blade for a couple of years now. It has performed very well. Look for it when it goes on sale.

http://www.rockler.com/10-inch-freud-premier-fusion-thin-kerf-saw-blade

+1 on the Forrest Woodworker II as well. (Although the Freud Fusion stays on my saw most of the time.)

For fine work (ie plywood, melamine etc.) I use the Freud Ultimate Plywood and Melamine blade.

http://www.rockler.com/freud-lu79r-thin-kerf-ultimate-plywood-melamine-saw-blades

Wayne

 

[Skymaster]

best overal blade cost vs performance go Freud. Forrest are great but to me not at almost double the price. Freud is what I run in my cabinet shop

 

[Gofor]

I have had good luck with Freud, although their Avanti line does not seem to stay sharp as long. A 50 tooth combo blade is a good choice for general purpose all around use. Have not used the Diablo, so can't comment on that one specifically.

Go

 

[kooshball]

Check out Oshlun blades on amazon, I have one on my track saw and it performs well beyond its price point.

FWIIW i also have a Forrest woodworker ii for my table saw and think that it performs below its selling price. I have used a cheap 40 tooth delta blade with acceptable results, as smooth no, but I clean up anything cut on the table saw with the jointer or hand planes anyway. The Forrest cuts smooth for a while but too smooth perhaps because it builds up pitch very quickly and before the end of a project it is burning the wood if not cleaned repeatedly...much more often then any other blade I own.

on a contractors saw I would consider an Oshlun or freud thin kerf blade, start with a cheap one and see how you like it and how it works for you....you may not ever need to "upgrade"

 

[FlyingRon]

I've pretty much been using Freud blades for the past 25 years. I currently have two of the thin kerfs (one combo, one fine tooth) that I use for just about everything.

 

[blakeyon2asd]

You won't find one blade that will do everything my vote is to get a freud 24 tooth for ripping or 40 tooth, and a 60 tooth or higher freud blade for finishing. If you want to test the water with what different tooth count blades will accomplish try some cheaper blades. About the closes you will come to an all around is the Freud Fusion like most have said above. But if you have enough table saws or don't mind changing blades go for a few different ones.

 

[SubGuy]

Freud, CMT, Forrest.....Good blade, good performance. Cheap blade, cheap performance. I personally have 3 CMTs. In that craftsman, I would go with the recommendation of 3 blades as above. 1 rip, 1 crosscut, 1 finish. Will do everything you need.

 

[CrealBilly]

I like freud but any good quality blade will do really. I do however stay clear of thin kerf blades because of flexing.

 

[Gotcha6]

As Jeff said, thin blades tend to flex, and ultimately you must look at what materials you will be working with. If you are using hardwoods this would be an issue, as they are more difficult to cut/rip. You would even have that problem if using particle board, melamine, plastic laminate, or MDF because of the high abrasive content in the bonding agents. Most cabinet shops I know use a thick carbide blade that can be resharpened for that reason, even in their portable table saws.

 

[chris_goris]

If I had to buy just one blade to do it all (solid wood and plywood only) it would definitely be a Forrest Woodworker II, hands down.

 

[blakeyon2asd]

If I had to buy just one blade to do it all (solid wood and plywood only) it would definitely be a Forrest Woodworker II, hands down.

Has anyone had good experience with that blade? I had the same problem as above where it tends to gum up and looses all of it cutting power. I figured it was just the fact that I cut a lot of stuff. I know almost any blade will do that at some point or another but for the price being almost double what the frued line up has to offer they aren't really hitting on much.

 

[jlwest]

As I stated earlier, the Woodworker II has worked great for me. All blades will gum up.

 

[McRabbet]

I echo the positive comments above on the Forrest Woodworker II blade -- I have had mine for 7 years and with 2-3 re-sharpenings to factory specs, it has performed flawlessly for almost all of my cuts on my Grizzly G1023slx 10" cabinet saw. I have not experienced much gum build up -- it is key to keep one's fence properly aligned. A great blade indeed. BTW, I have a 12" Freud 96 tooth Ultimate blade on my miter saw for short crosscuts. I also have 3 Leitz (made for Delta) blades that I use for special purposes on my table saw -- one is a 12 tooth rip blade that is amazing (and scary!)

 

[chris_goris]

Has anyone had good experience with that blade? I had the same problem as above where it tends to gum up and looses all of it cutting power. I figured it was just the fact that I cut a lot of stuff. I know almost any blade will do that at some point or another but for the price being almost double what the frued line up has to offer they aren't really hitting on much.

I have had one for about 10 years had it sharpened twice. Just picked up another at the woodcraft sale. Im wondering , when you cut "alot of stuff" , what do you mean and what is your blade height?

 

[junquecol]

Shoot over to Cripe Distributing's web site, and check out the pricing on the Delta 7657 (if they have any left.) While I own a couple WWII's, Freud LU84, some Oldham 40 toothers, the Delta stays on my saw except when cutting veneer ply (Birch, Maple, and Oak. It's my do everything blade.

 

[blakeyon2asd]

I'm running 4 different table saws in my shop right now 2 contractor saws (delta xl 10s ) they work good for direct drives plenty of power for ripping they stay around 2 or less inches off table height ( I use one for soft pine 2x4s that we use in our pet shelters and the other one I use for all the hard thicker hardwood), 1 for detailed work that has to be dead on my delta uni and another older delta/rockwell for dados. But my xl10 ripping saws are what gets used the most along with my dado. But I'd say on a normal day I rip down anywhere from 20-30 2x4s and up words of 90+ .5x5.25 rough cut pine boards that gets used as siding for the shelters, and then all of that gets run through the delta/rockwell and turned into siding. And we work pretty much everyday so the blades see a lot of use, we find that a typical 24 tooth frued blade on our ripping saws will last anywhere from 2-4 months just depending on the wood. But for the uni we run a few different blades just depending on what has to be cut so they normally last us a good while As for the dado blade it is an older 5 tooth wobble blade I have no clue the brand but I don't remember ever clean or sharpen it since getting it off craigslist about 2 years ago. Plus it makes really nice shavings that we give to local shelters. I have a few other cheap portable table saws but they don't really see any use unless a family member borrows them, and we bought an old delta/Rockwell homecraft 1952 model if I'm not mistaken about a month a go but it just doesn't get used it's in mint condition has table saw, jointer, drill press were just trying to find the sanding station attachment to go with it.

 

[thsb]

+1 on Oshlun being a good option.

i have a Forrest and Freud and the factory Festool blade for the Kapex. I thought the Forrest was clearly better the first few weeks i had it then didn't see a big difference with any of them.

But i also don't really like changing blades or cleaning them, so I think it depends on how you operate in terms of whether the more expensive blades are worth it.

 

[chris_goris]

I'm running 4 different table saws in my shop right now 2 contractor saws (delta xl 10s ) they work good for direct drives plenty of power for ripping they stay around 2 or less inches off table height ( I use one for soft pine 2x4s that we use in our pet shelters and the other one I use for all the hard thicker hardwood), 1 for detailed work that has to be dead on my delta uni and another older delta/rockwell for dados. But my xl10 ripping saws are what gets used the most along with my dado. But I'd say on a normal day I rip down anywhere from 20-30 2x4s and up words of 90+ .5x5.25 rough cut pine boards that gets used as siding for the shelters, and then all of that gets run through the delta/rockwell and turned into siding. And we work pretty much everyday so the blades see a lot of use, we find that a typical 24 tooth frued blade on our ripping saws will last anywhere from 2-4 months just depending on the wood. But for the uni we run a few different blades just depending on what has to be cut so they normally last us a good while As for the dado blade it is an older 5 tooth wobble blade I have no clue the brand but I don't remember ever clean or sharpen it since getting it off craigslist about 2 years ago. Plus it makes really nice shavings that we give to local shelters. I have a few other cheap portable table saws but they don't really see any use unless a family member borrows them, and we bought an old delta/Rockwell homecraft 1952 model if I'm not mistaken about a month a go but it just doesn't get used it's in mint condition has table saw, jointer, drill press were just trying to find the sanding station attachment to go with it.

Well as others here have eluded to, any blade will gum up, especially when you are ripping so much soft pine. One issue that you may be having is heat. If your blade while ripping is only 1/2 above the workpiece, its always in the workpiece and cant dissipate the heat. Ill bet you get alot of kickback as well. I know everyone here will villify me for this but I normally run my tablesaw blades at full height regardless of material thickness. This does 2 things, it allows the blade time to "breathe" above the workpiece, but more importantly, it keeps cutting forces down towards the table top and less back towards me as Im cutting.