Freud Fusion Combination Blade

[Brett Bobo]

For those of you that have the Freud Fusion combination blade, what are your experiences with it? I purchased one about two weeks ago to add another high quality blade into the mix, even though my number one choice is the Forrest Woodworker II. I'm in the middle of a project using cherry and from the beginning, I didn't have one rip cut that didn't require a pass at the jointer to clean up the burned edge.

I figured I'd give another blade a shot but I'm considering going another route, likely just another WWII. For what it's worth, this is a 12" full kerf blade and I'm certain it's not any of the traditional symptoms such as feed rate, HP, arbor runout, stock thickness, etc. My only guess is that it could be blade runout. As mentioned, I've always had great results with the WWII.

Thanks in advance,
Brett

[joseph dake]

I have two, i like them alot. I dont even own a real rip blade.

[Tom Jones III]

My experience is that I'm going to turn it into a wall clock, or maybe keep it around if I need to cut something nasty like treated lumber. YMMV but I never got nice cuts from it. I'm sticking with my Freud Glue Line Rip and Ultimate Crosscut blades.

[Bill Huber]

I have had very good luck with it on crosscuts but for ripping I use the Freud Glue Line rip.

[scott spencer]

The Fusion has a dual side grind that essentially puts more carbide edge on the work piece, creating a very highly polished edge. The same factors can also increase the chances of burning in woods that are more prone to burning...like cherry. You could try raising the blade higher to see if it helps. If not, there could be a problem with the blade, or it's highlighting a problem with the alignment.

[Brett Bobo]

Hi Scott,
That's a good point that I didn't mention. I did try raising the blade anywhere from ~1/16" above the material to having almost the bottom of the gullet exposed, with variations in between. Even still, I get similar results with burning the edge.

[Ethan Melad]

i've had good luck with mine, but also consistently get burns on cherry. just ripped walnut yesterday and had no problems. i'm in need of another combo blade though, and will be trying out a tenryu gold medal. the tenryu crosscut blade i have for the RAS is great.

[scott spencer]

Hi Scott,
That's a good point that I didn't mention. I did try raising the blade anywhere from ~1/16" above the material to having almost the bottom of the gullet exposed, with variations in between. Even still, I get similar results with burning the edge.

I'd try raising it even higher....maybe a little above having the whole gullet exposed. If that doesn't do it, double check alignments. Keeping the blade clean is key too.

[Bill Huber]

This is just a little follow up, I had to cut a little off of some 8/4 hard maple and thought I would post a picture of the scrap.
It is really hard to take a picture and see just how smooth the cut is but this is the best I could get.
This was cut on my Jet contractor table saw with a 10" Freud Premier Fusion blade.

272532

[Wade Lippman]

I just got one and ran about 50' of butternut. It was good, though hardly perfect; but much better than the blade that came with my Sawstop. I could have glued them up, but chose to joint them; how much work is that?

Just for fun, after seeing this thread, I cut up some cherry that was in my firewood bin. One piece even had burn marks from the old blade. It was pretty nearly perfect, no burning and only the smallest marks. So color me satisfied.