New WWII 48 tooth blade. How much better?

[Don Morris]

My WWII with lots of wear needs resharpening. I thought I had saved a decent blade to use in the interim when I sold my contractor saw and bought my cabinet saw. My memory failed me again. Went to my storage area for the spare blade and the Forrest box (empty) was the one this blade came in. So I went to the Forrest site and they now have a "new" 48 tooth blade. More $$$. How much better could it be? Anybody have any experience? I need one spare and I'm really happy with the WWII and have to think about paying the extra, but just can't imagine how it could be that much better. Would it last longer having 8 more teeth, cut that much better? Why did they come out with a blade that has just 8 more teeth???. Opinions please.

[scott spencer]

Hi Don - I haven't tried the new Forrest yet, but "better" really depends on how you define the term. Adding more teeth and changing the bevel angle of the top grind will change the performance to some degree. There's never a free lunch though. If all else is equal, more teeth will equate to a cleaner cut, but also equates to slower feedrate and more friction, thus more potential for burning in thicker materials and materials that are prone to burning. The steeper top bevel should have less tearout on crosscuts and ply. Whether or not that's an improvement to you is a matter of opinion depends on what you were trying to achieve. 8 more teeth is a 20% increase, and the new bevel angle is 25° vs the standard 15° (IIRC), which is a 66% increase...all significant changes on a percentage basis.

I suspect that the new Forrest blade is aimed at the newish Freud Fusion and Infinity Super General blades, which have both been reviewed as having lower tear out in sheetgood and crosscut applications, and more polished edge cuts compared to the standard WWII due to their Hi-ATB grinds with 30° top bevels and dual surface side grinds which puts more surface to the edge of the work piece (similar to having more teeth). If you're looking for cleaner crosscuts, better ply performance, or a more polished edge on your rip cuts, one of these 3 blades should suit your needs well. If you're looking for more efficiency in thick ripping, then I suspect your original WWII is the right choice.

[Don Morris]

Thanks Scott, I was actually hoping you would review this. Always appreciate your well reasoned evals. Seems I do a lot of ply cutting as parts of furniture, and only occasionally real thick hardwoods. One of each might be nice to have, then I can compare and use whichever I want if I get real picky.

[Van Huskey]

I bought a couple to add to my arsenal, much less of a combo and much more of a crosscut blade. Beautiful finish on hardwood crosscuts but not sure it is demonstrably better than the Infinity Super General and the Frued P410 (the latter is my go-to favorite blade). The feedrate ripping needs to be slow, bordering on too slow. I buy my blades in pairs for sharpening purposes but will probably sell my second one as although it is a great blade it is redundant and really doesn't fill a niche I don't already have covered. But then again with 50+ blades I have a lot of redundancy already so maybe I will just keep it. I think I have a problem, my blades cost twice what my PM did new...

[Rod Upfold]

But then again with 50+ blades I have a lot of redundancy already so maybe I will just keep it. I think I have a problem, my blades cost twice what my PM did new...


Hanging my head sheeplishly ... I have only 3



Rod

[Van Huskey]

Hanging my head sheeplishly ... I have only 3



Rod

I could do with three easily, a Frued P410 and glue line rip and a Forrest or Tenryu plywood blade.