Freud Perma-SHIELD® coating or Silver ICE™

[Drew Sanderson]

On freud blades do you choose Perma-SHIELD® coating or Silver ICE™ and why?

[Mark Godlesky]

Good question. I've wondered why there were two different coatings as well.

Have you asked Freud CS what the differences are?

[Van Huskey]

I always choose PS since they put it on their most expensive blades, maybe the incorrect approach but I haven't bothered to try to figure it out.

[glenn bradley]

I've had good luck with both so I didn't vote.

[Paul McGaha]

I voted for Perma Shield as I have some blades with that coating and they seem to be ok. Not familar with the other one.

PHM

[Mark Ashmeade]

I'm going to buck the trend here. I had a Diablo blade with the Perma shield, and for two reasons, when I recently ordered another Freud blade I went with the Silver ICE.

Firstly, Simple Green does a great job of removing the pitch from blades. It also dissolves the red coating a little! Secondly, I lost a tooth from the Diablo, and it might make the repair easier without the red coating.

High end blades from other manufacturers don't seem to use coatings, so I am wondering if it provides much benefit that a little wax wouldn't.

The Silver ICE blade cuts like a dream, but then again it is new, and specifically designed for the RAS it is mounted in.

[Jim O'Dell]

Infinity uses a "Nickel Armor" coating. So far it looks much better than my blades with no coating. The "Silver Ice" may be something similar. I have the "Perma Shield" coating on a circular saw. So far ok, but it does seem to get marred some. Can't say it's actually a scratch. Jim.

[Will Overton]

Secondly, I lost a tooth from the Diablo, and it might make the repair easier without the red coating.


Why? :confused:

[Jay Allen]

The blade shop would have to remove at least part of the coating around the tooth to braze a new one on. Not that is would be that hard to do, but then you would of course be missing that part of the coating.

I have one of the 80 tooth cross-cut "Avanti" blade with the silver ice and I really like it. I don't know that it is the coating that make it though, it may just be the tooth shape?
But I was under the impression that Frued killed-off the Avanti line? I'm sure that there is a bunch of them in stock somewhere though.

[Drew Sanderson]

With such a low level of strong opinion, one has to wonder why they offer both.

[Will Overton]

The blade shop would have to remove at least part of the coating around the tooth to braze a new one on.

Wouldn't they also have to do that with the Silver Ice. It's not red, but it's still a coating. Still :confused:

[scott spencer]

If I had to pay a premium for a coating, I guess I'd rather have the Permashield...it's easier to find in the rack! :D But, there are a lot of good blades without a coating at all, so I don't put much emphasis on it.

[Jay Allen]

Wouldn't the also have to do that with the Silver Ice. It's not red, but it's still a coating. Still :confused:


Not necessarily, the Perma-Shield is a "Teflon" type "coating" and fairly thick. The Silver-Ice is more of a "plating". I don't know whether that would have any effect on the brazing?
I have blades with both, but never had to replace a tooth on any of them.

[Bill Huber]

I get the PS, why because it's Red and I like red.

I do think my blades clean up better that have the PS on them.

[Rod Sheridan]

I don't own any coated blades for a simple reason, I find the FS Tools blades have performed better for me, and they don't offer any coatings on their tooling.

Makes me think they don't need any since FS isn't exactly the bargain line..........Regards, Rod.

[Brian Gumpper]

I don't own any coated blades for a simple reason, I find the FS Tools blades have performed better for me, and they don't offer any coatings on their tooling.

Makes me think they don't need any since FS isn't exactly the bargain line..........Regards, Rod.

FS is a saw shop line sold mostly to businesses.

All I'll say on the matter is you won't find coatings in many cabinet shops. Doesn't mean they aren't better, just stating my observations.

[Jamie Buxton]

I can't see any reason why teflon-coating a blade should improve its performance. The part of the blade that sees high friction are the teeth. The blade's body just spins in a sawdust cloud, which offers tiny friction compared to what the teeth are seeing. It seems to me that the teflon is Freud's attempt to differentiate themselves from competitors' blades that are made with exactly the same materials in exactly the same pattern -- whether or not it actually makes a performance improvement.

[Drew Sanderson]

I just got off the telephone with Technical Support and the person said that the ICE coating is newer and that perma-shield is being phased out. He did not seem like the most informed person but was a second level support person so maybe he is. Guess I will not worry about it and save a few bucks. I always like to buy the best which usually means more expensive. I guess that is not really the case in this instance.

[Van Huskey]

I just got off the telephone with Technical Support and the person said that the ICE coating is newer and that perma-shield is being phased out. .


I am dubious of this info. The newest blades in their line are only available with PS (P410T and LM75) as well as the Fusion line. I am not saying it is incorrect info, it just seems off considering they are still introducing blades (in the last couple of months) with PS.

[Larry Frank]

I have tried blades with both coatings and other than the color that I prefer, I do not notice the difference. I have wondered about the coating as I get very little or no buildup on that part of the blade. The buildup happens on or just near the teeth and the coating makes little difference.

[Justin M Rovang]

Put a freud on my CMS and cut a miter, rubbed off the red on the cut off on my first miter. Didn't figure out what made it red right off the bat; so I did a finger check. Scared the crap out of me for a split second. I can't figure out WHY they'd make it red ... I was one of the ICE votes because my Avanti (Italy) has it and was much easier to clean off. The teflon seems easier to 'cake'.