Anyone try "Final-Cut" blades?

[travis howe]

These are the blades that have sand paper attached to them w/ the obvious intention of having sanded cuts. They have some reviews that put them head and shoulders above a ww2 and it seems they stay "sharp" for some time.

Anyone try them?


finalcutlbadestore dot com

[Bill Huber]

I have not tried them but I really don't see a need for it. I have Freud blades and they make a cut that just does not need to be sanded.

I have a glue line rip that cuts so good I don't even use the jointer on them to glue up a slab.

The other thing I wondered about was heat, there is a lot more going on with one of those blades then with a normal saw blade.

[Rick Lizek]

I've seen this type of blade come and go every 10 years or so over the past 35 years. Haven't tried one but the idea seems flawed. Abrasives dull the teeth I would think. Sounds like a bad idea. Waiting for the blade with teeth going in both directions to make a comeback. The idea was when it got dull you could reverse it and keep cutting. Not making it up. There was such a blade being marketed years ago.

[travis howe]

Bill,

I would agree outside of some burns here and there w/ my pm 64a w/ the ww2 blade. Was thinking it would be cool to have a consistent smoothness.

rt

[jerry nazard]

There is a brief "blurb" about the blade in this issue of FWW.

[Brian D Anderson]

I received a free 10" blade from the owner (he posts here from time to time). I was going to do a review for him here. I didn't because it didn't really work for me.

I'm not sure if my saw was slightly out of tune, but the sand paper wore out on mine very quickly. The first few cuts left very nice clean edges with no burns. But by the time I was done making 1 cutting board, the sand paper was destroyed . . . burned, falling off. The sand paper definitely made a difference on those first few cuts. I did a test where the sand paper only touched half of the wood. You could see a definite difference in smoothness.

So I don't know . . . inconclusive for me.

http://www.jfreitasphotography.com/Temp/IMG_6629.jpg

http://www.jfreitasphotography.com/Temp/IMG_6686.jpg

-Brian

[John Thompson]

I have a jointer that leaves a ripped edge smoother than a TS blade can.. think I will pass.

Sarge..

[Tom Walz]

We did some of the R&D work for this product.

The considerations mentioned above came up during the development process.

The Final Cut product was developed by a finish carpenter who does a lot of precise cutting. He is about 150 miles from the nearest saw sharpening facility. He uses inexpensive blades and throws them away.
If you can use a jointer or if you have an expensive blade on a stable, highly tuned saw and you have a high skill level then you don’t need the Final Cut.

To give you an idea of how it is designed to be used see the video at:

http://www.carbideprocessors.com/store/finalcut.html

tom

[Peter Scoma]

Dont the "back" teeth still mark the material when exiting the cut?

[scott spencer]

I received a free 10" blade from the owner (he posts here from time to time). I was going to do a review for him here. I didn't because it didn't really work for me.

I'm not sure if my saw was slightly out of tune, but the sand paper wore out on mine very quickly. The first few cuts left very nice clean edges with no burns. But by the time I was done making 1 cutting board, the sand paper was destroyed . . . burned, falling off. The sand paper definitely made a difference on those first few cuts. I did a test where the sand paper only touched half of the wood. You could see a definite difference in smoothness.

So I don't know . . . inconclusive for me.

http://www.jfreitasphotography.com/Temp/IMG_6629.jpg

http://www.jfreitasphotography.com/Temp/IMG_6686.jpg

-Brian

Brian - My experience is very similar to yours...how I acquired it, how it performed, how it wore and came off the blade, and skipping the review because of all that.

[Bob Wingard]

Many years ago I was taught by a very experienced Wood Shop teacher in High School that you should NEVER sand a surface that was to become part of a joint. He said you should always glue only a cut surface. He said the sawdust got embedded in the grain and weakened the joint. And, we were using hide glue back then (early 60's) so I don't know if this advise is still pertinent with the new glues, but I'll abide by it anyway .. .. can't hurt, even if it's not 100% required anymore.

[glenn bradley]

I agree it is a cure for a symptom as opposed to a cure for the problem. A properly aligned saw and a good blade will yield good results.

[Bob Hallowell]

I recieved a blade to test and review from Tom also, I never did the review for a different reason.

I have one of the higher end SCTW saws while I can detect no visible runout on the blade and I believe I have it tuned corectly I still can see visible teeth marks on the board both ripping and crosscuting. The final cut blade did sand these out but the test blade was very thin and made very poor quality cuts with lots of exiting tearout.

Tom was going to send me an amana combo blade to try with the final cut system on it but it never made it, thus no review.

Bob

[george wilson]

I do not like the idea of having abrasives on your blade.

[Larry Edgerton]

Tablesaws cost a lot of money so intentionally introducing abrasives to the mechanisms to promote wear just seems counter intuitive to me. I feel the same way about the sanding disks for table saws.

[Ellen Benkin]

For those of you who got a sample blade and then didn't write a review because it would be negative -- shame! How are the rest of us supposed to trust reviewers if the only ones they will publish are the positive ones? If it didn't work, then say it didn't work in a constructive way. A negative review doesn't have to be nasty, after all.

[Randal Stevenson]

For those of you who got a sample blade and then didn't write a review because it would be negative -- shame! How are the rest of us supposed to trust reviewers if the only ones they will publish are the positive ones? If it didn't work, then say it didn't work in a constructive way. A negative review doesn't have to be nasty, after all.


+1

This also allows others to avoid the product WHILE allowing the manufacturers to improve the product, and know what the future customers want!

[Dave Sharpe]

Got mine yesterday and they've already proved a disapointment. I bought two at the woodworking show in Seattle a week ago and was told they would be "drop-shipped" (the shipment hadn't arrived by the time the show opened) and I would have them by Tuesday or Wednesday. By Friday they hadn't arrived, so I called the company and was given a brush-off answer that all orders had been sent out on Monday by regular mail and that I should just be patient. They did arrive Friday evening and I mounted one on the table saw this am. Going through my woodscraps, I started ripping 7/8" strips for cutting boards and found that the first few cuts were great - smooth edges and no burning. But after cutting maybe 30' of straight rip cuts, I noticed a burning smell and found that the sandpaper on the fence side of the saw was burned. There is still plenty of untouched sandpaper left on the blade, but to reach it I'd have to raise the blade well above my cut, something that exposes me to way too much risk to do.
I will install the other blade on my chop saw and see if I get better results there - it seems the concept may be more effective with cross-cuts than ripping due to heat buildup.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Many years ago I was taught by a very experienced Wood Shop teacher in High School that you should NEVER sand a surface that was to become part of a joint.[


He was right then and he is still right today. I imagine he'll be right a decade from now.


He said you should always glue only a cut surface. He said the sawdust got embedded in the grain and weakened the joint.
and the chances of burnishing are high too especially with a blade/sanding disk that's spinning at 3 - 5 thousand RPM.

[Paul Ryan]

I got one of these blades to try from Tom as well. I never used it on my table saw. I did use it on my miter saw for some time. When the sand paper was good the blade worked well. But it didn't take long for the paper to wear and then I started getting poor cuts. Tear out was never a problem if I cut slow I had trouble with unclean cuts at the edge. I took the paper off and it has now become a junk blade for cutting 2x4's and stuff like that. I think they are a decent blade in a pinch but would never use one as a dedicated blade.

[Phil Thien]

So how good are the blades w/o the sandpaper? Can't you just remove the sandpaper and use it like a conventional blade?

[Greg Hines, MD]

I got a blade from Tom, and did publish a review here. I liked the blade, and it did leave a nice surface. I did have an issue with the paper, and it does not stay stuck to the blade as permanently as I would like. But all things considered, it was a decent blade.

Doc

[Greg Ware]

I watched a demo of this blade at the WW show in Salt Lake a few months back. It sounded like a good idea, until you stop to think about it. What I did not like was the paper is only on one side. I think that is what is causing the burning. One of the things that make good blades good is the way they handle the heat, most if not all have cuts in the blade that allow for the expansion caused by heat and for the diffusion (if that is the right word)of the heat. Wouldn't the paper act as an insulator allowing the heat to build up on one side and escaping from the other side causing the blade to "warp" or "cup". Maybe those here who have more experience with blades and metal working could correct me if I am off base. I just do not think it would work on anything other than on a quick cut on small pieces such as smaller molding or frames as they were using in the demo. For those who have seen the demo, didn't they make one cut, turn off the saw, talk for a few min, make another cut, turn off the saw, talk for a few min. It obviously worked in that situation. But for anything more I am not sold.

Greg

[Myk Rian]

I know a fellow that takes 7 1/2" blades and sticks his own sandpaper to them. Puts it in the TS and away he goes. He's been doing it for years.