Soliciting 2 saw blade recommendations

[Todd Franks]

I'm sure this has been posted hundred's of time but I couldn't find anything specific to circular saw blades or rip blades in the archives. I was hoping all you experts could point this amateur in the right direction

The first blade I need advice for is a rip blade for my table saw. I currently have a WWII. I have a project coming up where I'll need to rip some 8/4 cherry, and I think it's about time for a dedicated rip blade. I like my Forrest blade, but it doesn't appear that they make a FT 20-24 tooth rip blade. I don't mind spending the bucks if it's a really good blade. Freud owners seem to like theirs. My local hardwood lumber supplier carries Amana but I've never really heard anyone mention them much. What other brands should I consider?

Second, I need advice on a circular saw blade. Someday I'll spring for the Festool but it's not in the budget now. Would a 7.25" WWII make sense for cutting mostly plywood? It tried a non-carbide teeth "plywood" blade and was rather unimpressed.

Thanks in advance,

Todd

[Cecil Arnold]

I also own a WWII and recently bought a Freud rip blade as it appeared to me to be the best for the bucks. Yes, it is a bit more pricy than some of the alternatives, but I was looking for a flat tooth blade, low tooth count, and some quality. It fit the bill. As to a 7 1/2" blade, I've not found anything I really liks so I'll keep watching this thread to see if someone else has managed to find a gem in the sea of so-so blades.

[Steven Wilson]

I use to use a CMT rip blade - worked well and fairly inexpensive. I'm using 12" Tenyru blades on my combo and the rip blade is very good also. As for your circular saw, Forrest makes a 7.25" WWI or WWII blade that works great in a circular saw. Forrest also makes the Woodworker II blade in 30 tooth and 20 tooth configurations. The 20 tooth blade is supposed to excel at ripping; go to http://forrest.woodmall.com/cuswoodii.html for more information.

[Chris Padilla]

CMT is all I put on my table saw, compound miter saw, and worm-drive Skil saw. The rip blade works great...leaves a nice glue line.

[Michael Perata]

Todd

Like Chris I was a CMT man. Then I bought a Freud Glue Line Rip blade.

Chris, want to buy my CMT's.

[Alan Turner]

I have both the WWII by Forrest, and the Freud gule line rip, and find that the WWII is a superior rip blade. Want my Freud? It is collecting dust.
Alan

[scott spencer]

Hi Todd - I'm pretty sure Forrest makes a 20T ripping blade for ~ $70. Jim Becker has one that he's recommended in the past. The Freud LM72 or CMT 24 tooth FTGs are both pretty well respected too.....Sears has the LM72 for $48.

Here's a review of the LM72:
http://www.epinions.com/content_145291447940

[Joseph N. Myers]

Todd,

1. As far as the rip saw blade goes, I second Alan Turner response (except I'm keeping my Freud):

"I have both the WWII by Forrest, and the Freud glue line rip, and find that the WWII is a superior rip blade. Want my Freud? It is collecting dust."

Last week, I was doing a lot of ripping using my Freud glue line rip blade and when it came time to do some cherry, I was getting a lot of "burning". I put on my WWII and even though it needed sharping, it was much better then the Freud in both the lack of burning and the easy of cutting.

On the ease of cutting, the WWII was way superior then the Freud in that area. Went through 1-3/4 teak and 6/4 hard maple (almost) like butter.

Oh, both were thin kerf blades (3/16"). There was a tread recently about that (Forrest Woodworker II) and as usual, there were many different opinions. I think the consensus was that if you had a less powerful saw, i.e., 2 hp or less, go with the 3/16 and if larger, go with the 1/4".

2. As far as a circular saw blade, I use a Freud 40 tooth thin kerf blade and seems to work well for both ripping and cross cutting in all types of wood. Yesterday, I ripped 6/4 oak with it and had no problem.

However, for plywood, why don't you check out Dino's (the "your carpenter friend" guy) EZ Smart System, www.eurekazone.com (http://www.eurekazone.com), Smart Base. Dino is the SMC member that had the raffle for 25 Smart Bases and the auction on 5 complete systems (base + guide + table + router thing + etc) benefiting the FPP. The base that attaches to the bottom of the circular saw with the zero insert eliminates splitering even with a cheap blade. There are pictures on the web site showing the differences between the normal cuts and ones done using the base. I have the system and using the base really does work.

Regards, Joe

[Gary Whitt]

Freud makes the best blades out there that I have used.
The LM72 is a great ripping blade.
http://www.freud-tools.com/freudinlulse.html

I use a WWII when working with plywood, but by far, Freud gets used more than any other blade for most of my cutting.
I use Freud on my chopsaw, also.

On my circular saw, I use a Freud http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000223NW/102-5707520-1312934?v=glance for plywood and crosscutting.
I use http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000223NU/102-5707520-1312934?v=glance for ripping.

The Freud Diablo series is a good all-purpose circular saw blade.
HD carries them.

Good luck.
I hope this helps.

[Lee Schierer]

I have the 24 tooth Freud ripping blade and use it all the time. The price was right and the cut is very good. With a properly aligned saw, you don't see any tooth marks on the sides of the cut. I have a Craftsman 1-1/2 Hp saw and can easily rip to the full height of the blade.

For cross cutting you want a 60 or more tooth blade. Using a 40 tooth blade will ge the job done, but the cuts will be cleaner with a 60+ tooth blade. My 60 tooth Freud has been resharpened once and it still cuts so smooth on end grain that you don't need to sand. It will also slice off oak so thin you cna see light through it. I also have a 72 tooth freud that I reserve for cutting moldings and picture frame material where chip out can't be tolerated.

I have a 60 tooth craftsman carbide blade that cuts okay now that it has been sharpened, but it makes a lot of noise compared to the Freud.

I wouldn't recommend any of the HSS blades I've tried to anyone except a rough carpenter for cutting framing.

[Rob Russell]

Todd,

Noone's really talked about the Amana blades. They are a top quality blade, they just sell more to the commercial end of the market. They advertise more in mags like Woodshop News and other commercial trade rags, not so much in the Wood, FWW, AWW type we'd normally see.

I've got a couple of Amana carbide router bits and they are good.

Rob

[Jim Becker]

I'm generally a Forrest fan and in addition to the WW-II 40t that inhabits my saw the majority of the time and my DadoKing, I bought the 20t WW-II ripping blade last year and cannot complain about anything. Very agressive, which is exactly what I wanted in a dedicated ripping blade. Some blades are "smoother", but they sometimes accomplish that with a modified ATBR tooth format which can reduce efficiency when ripping thick stock.

I've also used the top of the line Freud (untill I destroyed it by ripping a screw right down the middle by accident) as well as the Sytematic. Both are very nice blades.

[Steve King]

Todd,
I too have the Woodworker II and love it. The other day I was cutting some lumber for a neighbor and sparks started to fly. So I needed to find a blade to use while I sent the WWII to be sharpened. I was in the Porter-Cable service center looking for a 7 ½” plywood blade and saw the Porter-Cable Razor 7 ½” blade. I talked to the salesman about the new blade. It is an idea that has been used by sawmills for years and has worked its way down to circular, table and miter saws. I won’t try to explain how it works, click on the link. The salesman made me a deal, if I bought the 7 ½“ blade he would sell me the 10” for cost.
I installed the blade on my tablesaw, ripped plywood=no chip out, crosscut plywood=no chip out, ripped hardwood Maple=no burn marks. I can’t believe how well this blade performs. Now I am rethinking sending the WWII in to be sharpened.
Steve


Porter-Cable Razor (http://www.inside-woodworking.com/tools/porter-cable-saw-blades-ra.html)

[Clint deal]

I bought one of the Amana 50 tooth combo blades from my supplyer a while back and love it. I can even rip glue lines with it. Very quiet blade as well. been using Freud until now. The Amana is a great blade for the $50 it cost. I also have several Amana router bits with the same reults

Clint

[Kent Cori]

I did the same thing as Alan. I bought a 10" Freud 72M 24T glue line rip blade when I sent my Forrest WWII 40T out for sharpening. I bought it because I've been so happy with the Freud LU85R on my CMS. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

When the WWII came back, I did some comparison cuts with both on my Griz 1023SL. The Freud had only been used 4 or 5 times at that point and the WWII was a couple of years old but resharpened. The WWII consistently outperformed the Freud regardless of hardwood type or thickness. Maybe I have a bad one because it leaves teeth marks while the WWII does not. I'll happily sell you my Freud but you'd have to pry my WWII out of my cold, dead hand! :eek:

Stick with your Forrest and use the money for more wood!