saw blade advice needed

[David McCubrey]

Hey to all,
I am an amatuer drum builder making a stave drum kit. I need to buy a saw blade to go with my table saw to cut really , like glass smooth cuts. in order to make but joints that glue and are virtually seemless. one blade that was recommended to me was the "woodworker 2" . but any advice from all of you would be appreciated. thanks
David

[Tom Walz]

Perhaps you need a custom saw blade since you have a somewhat unusual application.

We work with a couple of our industrial customers to supply custom saw blades. Typically the way it works is that you would talk to an engineer, probably more than once. He would then design and have built a saw blade. Odds are very good that this saw blade would work for you. If it does not then we will have it. reworked or have a new one built until you get the cut you desire.

We use a couple of things to give you better cuts such as an advanced grade of saw tip that takes a sharper edge and has a higher lubricity than ordinary carbide as well as double tension, ultra flat plate. A big part of the secret, of course, is the attention paid to design and manufacture since these blades are made one at a time by a master saw filer.

The custom blades typically sell for a few dollars more than a Forrest blade of the same size.

There is no obligation for a quote or to talk to an engineer.

Tom Walz,
Carbide Processors

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Wow, can't get better than that. A reply from saw blade builders.:)

I was going to suggest a Freud glue line rip. I get glue ready joints. I'm guessing that since your making staves, they be all rips, and no crosscuts. Therefore a WWII would be a second choice for me. This of course depends on your table saw quality. You're not going to get nice cuts from a tabletop saw no matter what blade you buy.

[scott spencer]

The WWII is a good example of a 40T general purpose blade that's very versatile and does a good job of many tasks, but it's only area of expertise is versatility. There are many blades that offer smoother cuts than the WWII...primarily blades made with similar precision with higher tooth counts or special side grinds that polish the edges. There's a bit of fine line between highly polished edges and burned edges though. Since your edges are going to be glued, you might find that you don't need them to be "glass smooth" to be glue ready....you just need the joint to be as seamless as possible, which really goes beyond just the ability of the blade.

As Kyle points out, your scope should include your wood preparation, and table saw runout to ensure that there's not much fluctuation of the blade from the arbor. If those variables are well controlled, then there are many good blades that will give you a clean glue ready joint...Forrest, Freud, Infinity, CMT, Ridge Carbide, Tenryu, Amana Tool, etc.

[George Brown]

I use blades from Ridge Carbide Tool Company, fantastic blades, beautifully smooth cuts. RidgeCarbideTool dot com

[Ray Chalenski]

Ditto to Scott and Kyle.Even the best of blades are only as good as the proper alignment of your saw.I've had excellent results with Forrest and Ridge blades.

[David McCubrey]

thanks to all for the advice. to clarify my joints need to be glue ready , not necesserily smooth as glass. the joints just need to be perfect fitting together . seemless , so to speak. when you cut 20 staves , with each stave have 2 sides with angled cuts of 9 degrees , those 9 degrees need to be perfect . I have a rigid table saw. 300 pound beast . the fence is quite tight and smooth. I would just need to calibrate before cutting that it is at a good right angle , thus so make even cuts front to back of the stave. then its dry fitting time , then tape up. then slice one seem of tape , then lay flat out , glue up . rejoin and clamp . so in conclusion i want a blade that will make smooth consistant cuts. glue ready

[scott spencer]

David - Because of the extreme precision you need, I'd stick with a full kerf blade for the added stability...this might even be an application where blade stabilizeres are merited. Several blades from the companies mentioned above will work well. The 30T glue line rip blades could do well if your staves aren't over 1". I'd try to find a deal on something like the Infinity Super General or Combomax, Ridge Carbide TS2000, Forrest WWII 30T or 40T, Tenryu Gold Medal or RS25550, Freud P410 Fusion, LM74, or LU84, DeWalt series 60 DW7657 or DW7640, CMT 215.050.10 ....all very capable of excellent glue line joints.

[Craig Kalkman]

I've tried several different Freud and Tenryu models, and they are very good blades, but if I want the best cut I'll always go with the WWII with full kerf if the saw can handle the full kerf without bogging down. And most importantly....keep it sharp.

[Bill Huber]

From what it sounds like the blade is just part of the problem, the 9 degree cuts are the other part.

Just about any of the blades that have been talked about are really good blades. The Freud glue line is the one I have right now and it is a great blade and make very smooth cuts.

The 9 degree problem is going to be fixed with a good saw setup. The 9 degrees has to be 9 degree and they only way you will find out if its off is when you get all the parts together and find they done fit. So I would get a GOOD digital protractor and do a lot of test and setup before I cut the final wood parts.

I have a Wixey and it does a very good job but it can still be off by .1 degree and by the time you get all the parts cut it could add up to a bad fit. That is where you use the protractor and a lot of test cuts to get it set right.

Also a the best blade in the world and the best saw in the world will make a bad cut if the feed rate is to fast or to slow or the board is not held flat against the fence at all times. This is where a good feather board will come in handy, it will keep the wood against the fence.

[shane lyall]

I'm not sure which Rigid saw you have or if Rigid even makes a benchtop. You can bolt a great blade on a low end saw and still get poor results. Again, not knocking your saw. I tried, in vain I might add, to get better results by bolting a pretty good Frued blade to a Ryobi contractor saw. It didn't improve my work because of the poor fence and huge arbor run out. I put the same blade on my new Porter Cable hybrid and it is an amazing differance.

[David McCubrey]

i have the rigid ts3650 saw , it is in brand new condition. the fence seems stable and I am sure i could calibrate it to make sure the peices run smooth and true in order to make perfect angle cuts.

[Mark Duksta]

Hi David,

Lately I've been using a Freud Premier Fusion blade. While it is a general purpose blade, it makes smooth as glass cuts. Right now I'm liking it more than my Forrest blades.

Also. I've been dealing with angles quite a bit lately. I've found that the digital angle gauges were not accurate enough for what I was doing. I would suggest one of these from Grizzly:

http://cdn4.grizzly.com/pics/jpeg500/g/g9900.jpg

It's accurate to 1/12 of one degree.

Bye the way, a stave drum is on my project list. As well as a KoKo jig.

Mark

[Mike Schuch]

I use Freud Glue Line rip blades for ripping. I use Freud Ultimate cross cut blades for cross cutting. I don't believe in combination blades even with all the rave reviews I have read about the Forrest combination blades.

If the Freud Glue Line rip doesn't give you the finish you are looking for then your saw needs to be aligned. Even a cheap blade should give you excellent results if your saw is dialed in properly.

[Tom Walz]

Just a weird thought
I have seen applications where the cut was so smooth that it interfered with the bonding of the glue. Obviously this is highly dependent on the type of glue and the type of material being bonded.

If you're glue penetrates into the wood readily and well, then forget the whole thing. It not might not be a bad idea to run a little test to make sure that this is the case.

Just the thought of all that beautiful, precision work coming apart eventually has me a little concerned.

Tom Walz