Help please on table saw blades

[David Dalzell]

I just ordered my first table saw. A Powermatic PM2000 with the Baldor motor. It comes without a blade. I am looking for two blades to start. A general purpose blade for cross cuts and rips and a specialty blade with a flat top grind for miter key slots, grooves, and... First let me say that I am not doing large runs of anything, and most of my projects are small and sometimes delicate. I am not concerned about speed of cut. I am in no hurry. Jewelery boxes and small funiture is what I will be doing mostly. Thus I need blades that will give, hopefully, very smooth cuts and no chipout. Currently I am looking at Forrest blades. I have several questions that I hope someone can help me with.
1) What is the difference between Forrest I and Forrest II blades in terms of quality of cut?
2) There are Forrest II blades with 40 and 60 teeth. Any noticible difference in quality of cut between these two?
3) There is a Forrest II 40 teeth .125 kerf, with a "#1" grind. This is a flat top grind for miter key cuts, flat bottom grooves, etc. Has anyone used this blade and can speak to its cut quality?
4) Finally does anyone recommend some other brand of high quality blade?

Thank everyone for any help.

[Peter Quinn]

Forrest blades are excellent, I have a WWII with 40TH, more teeth gives a theoretically cleaner cross cut but more resistance when ripping particularly in thicker material. I think the WWI is primarily a cross cut blade, not a general purpose blade like the WWII, and is not meant for ripping as it does not have the series of deep gullets every 5 teeth or so to clear the volume of saw dust produced in a ripping cut. I have not used the #1 grind WWII.

Also look at Ridge Carbide's TS2000 blade.

http://www.ridgecarbidetool.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_32&products_id=33&osCsid=465b1694ae9fe3999b3c5f20c9fb31ef

I bought one at a show at a discount and it has proven to be every bit as good a performer as the forrest for a bit less money. It is an ATB-R, or alternative top bevel with Raker (flat top tooth) that produces a nearly flat bottom groove suitable for most joinery applications but perhaps a bit coarse for visible spline key cuts in jewelry boxes or other fine work.

Several other manufacturers (Freud, Amana, Infinity tool, CMT) now make well rated combo blades, some with the flat tooth configuration, and Freud makes an excellent box joint set that makes a truly flat groove for precise joinery with visible details, so look at those too. If you get into ripping thicker material consider getting a dedicated rip blade at that point as no combo blade is going to give you the safety and performance of a purpose made blade.

Enjoy that saw! I spin my blades on a PM66 (with a baldor motor incidently:rolleyes:) and I sure do enjoy the gold standard.

[Jeff Monson]

I stepped up from a contractors saw this last summer to a pm2000, you will be thrilled with this saw!!!! I always used the thin kerf freud blades on my contractor saw for more power. When I stepped up to a cabinet saw with more power I bought a 60t wwII from forest. I have taken it off only to clean the pith and when I make dado's otherwise its the only blade I use in this saw and its incredible. I've cut alot with this blade and it still cuts like the day it was new. When it does get dull I will surely replace it with another wwII and send in the old one for sharpening. No more blade shopping for me, I'm sold on forrest blades.

[Charlie Plesums]

I have three WW II blades (guess I must like them). The WW I has a pitch angle designed for RAS, the WW II is for table saws. I have gone to the 40 tooth #6 grind... that gives a raker (rip tooth) for every 5th tooth. Also gives a flatter bottom to the kerf. The WW II with the totally flat bottom will (according to Forrest) give more tear out at the edges.

You may find it easy to change blades between rip and cross-cut, but my blade changes slow me off too much, so I use the WWII 40 tooth for everything.

I use the full kerf for everything... I have plenty of power, and my riving knife assumes a 1/8 inch blade. If you go with thin kerf, be sure to get the Forrest stiffner (outside only)

[jerry nazard]

The Forrest blades are very nice and should cut flawlessly on your PM2000. For the past two years I have been using the Freud Premier Fusion as my all-purpose blade. I am well pleased with it.

[Curt Harms]

Flat tooth grind: http://freudtools.com/p-35-heavy-duty-ripbr-nbsp.aspx. I bought it primarily for the tooth configuration. I don't find the rip any cleaner than I get from the Freud F40 combo blade, at least on 3/4" thick stock. I do see that the recommended stock thickness is 3/4" and up so it may work better in thicker stock.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Creeker Scott Spencer took the time to make this great comparison chart:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=46517&highlight=chart

I use it often.
There's also an update to it on Woodzone.
I believe the TOS here disallows posting a direct link.
Just google scott spencer woodzone - and it comes up with the link.

[Robert Chapman]

I recommend the Forrest WW II with 40 teeth. It is an excellent blade which will give you glass smooth cuts [both ripping and cross cut] with very little tear out. For about $100 it is a great tool.

[scott spencer]

LOL, I googled "Scott Spencer Woodzone" and found a You Tube interview with "Spencer Scott" a 2007 Playmate! :D (she was fully dressed of course!)

There's is an update on SMC from July 2007 called "As the Saw Blade Turns (http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=61724)"

The Forrest WWI and WWII are both considered general purpose blades but the WWI is a 60T blade with a mild 5° hook angle and a steeper 30° "Hi-ATB" bevel that excels more at crosscuts than ripping. The WWII is available in both 30T and 40T, and both thin and full kerf, and has a more aggressive 20° hook angle to help with the feedrate, and a lower 15° ATB grind that makes it more efficient at ripping thicker materials.

I don't have much experience with a flat top grinds, most of which are available in a 24 tooth FTG ripping blade configuration like the Freud LM72, Infinity 010-024, Amana RB1020, DeWalt 7642/7124, CMT 201.024.10. Bosch makes a 60T TK FTG CB1060, but I haven't tried it, and there are some box joints sets that might fit the bill...Freud, Infinity, Oshlun, but all are thicker than the standard 1/8" AFAIK. I'm sure there are others I'm not aware of.

Forrest makes excellent blades. So does Infinity, Ridge Carbide, and Tenryu's Gold Medal is in that league IMO. The Infinity Super General (010-044) is similar to the Freud F410 Fusion 40T Hi-ATB configuration...both are unique within the world of 40T general purpose blades, and are outstanding at crosscuts, ply, veneers, melamine, etc. The Ridge Carbide TS2000 is more similar to the Forrest WWII 40T, with even thicker carbide, and the Infinity "General" (010-040) is also similar. The Gold Medal is also similar to the WWII, but is only available in one midrange kerf size of 0.111", which makes wood feed easier but also poses other considerations with your riving knife/splitter, along with the effect of blade thickness on your tape measure. I've also had some excellent experiences with DeWalt's top series 60 blades, specifically the DW7657 and 7640, but those are getting hard to find and have morphed into the Delta line as the 35-7657 and 35-7640.

50T combo blades are a possibility too...Infinity Combomax 010-050, DW7640, Freud LU84, Tenryu RS25550 are all good blades that leave a "flatter" kerf than the standard 40T ATB designs, and especially the 40T Hi-ATB designs. It really depends on what's most important to you.

Good luck!

[glenn bradley]

Lot's of good info here and do check out Scott's thread for more. Some folks use one blade for everything and get the results they are after. Others prefer the results of task specific blades like a 24T for rip and a 60 - 80T for crosscutting and maybe a 40T for a general 'make-em-smaller' blade.

You certainly won't do yourself a disservice by starting with a high quality 40T blade to see how you like it. Mine don't get used much but I am glad to have them. As to specific blades, lots of folks have favorites but most high end blades do well when used as designed. I run Freud, Forrest and Lietz primarily but others are in the rack too.


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