Forest Woodworker II Blade Question/Recommendation

[Chris Wdowiak]

I have narrowed down my selection to the following two blades, Forrest WW10407125 WWII 10" 40 Tooth ATB .125 kerf or the Forest WW10401125 WW II #1 Grind 10" 40 Tooth. I like the idea of having a flush cut with the surface rather then the nitch that the ATB blades leaves. On a side note, I will be putting the blade on a Laguna Fusion 1 3/4HP 110 volt table saw.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be great.

[Ben Rivel]

If you plan to cut any boards with a laminate on them like say Melamine or plywood, youre going to want the ATB grind as the flat grind is more likely to chip out the edge as I understand it.

[Victor Robinson]

I believe the #1 grind from Forrest is only flat on every other or every third tooth, producing flat bottoms for your splines and joinery purposes but still giving the benefits of ATB for cutting chip-prone materials. I doubt there would be a significant performance drop on veneered materials or melamine, and if you were really cutting a lot of valuable veneered ply that needed perfect cuts, you'd probably be better off with a higher tooth dedicated blade anyways. I vote #1 grind.

Hopefully at some point scott spencer chimes in...

[Van Huskey]

The #1 grind is only useful with non-through cuts like joinery. I have the standard #7 grind and a #1 grind in that blade and I only use the #1 on rare occasions. If the primary purpose for the blade is joinery get the #1 if not get the #7 IMO.

[scott spencer]

The ATB will have notably less tear out on cross grain cuts. Get an FTG rip blade for the times you want a flat bottom cut, not to mention for ripping 2"+ material. The #6 grind is the ATB/R grind that combines both flat teeth and ATB, however it does not leave a perfectly flat bottom cut like the #1.

Also, 1/8" full kerf is 33% wider than the 3/32" thin kerf, which puts considerably more strain on the motor.

Here's some food for thought: A general purpose blade is a compromise by design made for convenience and versatility, not ultimate performance. If you really want top performance, get a good separate dedicated 60T to 80T crosscut blade to go with a dedicated rip blade.

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For another $30, you can still have a US made 40T ATB full kerf general purpose blade with large micrograin carbide, laser cut slots, quality steel, and precision manufacturing (the closeout offering of the Delta Industrial 35-7657, formerly the DeWalt series 60 industrial DW7657)....it's very, very good general purpose blade. It'll have the same compromises as other general purpose blade, but will come surprisingly close to the performance of a WWII for a fraction of the cost, but allows you to buy some excellent specialty blades with the savings. You'll be far better off with the set of 3 blades than just one WWII....they'll last longer, will cover a wider variety of cutting extremes, and will do so with the utmost cutting performance available for each type of cut. (If the budget is strict at $135, substitute the LM72 for a German made Delta 35-611 18T bulk ripper for < $30 shipped from Cripe Distribution...if ordered with the 35-7657 they'll combine shipping to cut costs further)

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[Victor Robinson]

The #1 grind is only useful with non-through cuts like joinery. I have the standard #7 grind and a #1 grind in that blade and I only use the #1 on rare occasions. If the primary purpose for the blade is joinery get the #1 if not get the #7 IMO.

Just to clarify Van, are you implying that the #1 is NOT useful for through cuts, or just that its benefits are not realized unless one is doing a lot of non-through cuts. Have you used your #1 for through cuts and felt like it was really giving you an inferior cut?

[Andrew Hughes]

Don't forget about the #6 grind. All the blades mentioned are great I've been very happy with this one it's a 12 inch.Not cheap but made in the USA.

[Van Huskey]

Just to clarify Van, are you implying that the #1 is NOT useful for through cuts, or just that its benefits are not realized unless one is doing a lot of non-through cuts. Have you used your #1 for through cuts and felt like it was really giving you an inferior cut?

No, sorry, the converse is not AS true. The #1 grind will work for through cuts it just doesn't leave quite as good a finish. My opinion is if you are paying for a WWII you expect a very high level of finish by using the #1 grind in a through cut you are bringing the cut quality down a level to the point that for the same money I would buy two lower cost blades. There just isn't a free lunch. That said with the current price of the WWII at around $130 I would get a Freud Fusion for ~70 on eBay and then a flat grind for joinery and have two blades. The Fusion is basically as good as the WWII in ripping and better in crosscut BUT is more likely to burn due to the tight clearance. In the end I have both grinds in the 40t WWII and will take off the #1 grind to make through cuts, the increase in quality is worth the effort to me. It seems the OP wants the #1 grind to be the do all grind for a do all blade and like every type of grind on every combination of tooth type and shape it can't do everything with top quality.

[Van Huskey]

Don't forget about the #6 grind. All the blades mentioned are great I've been very happy with this one it's a 12 inch.Not cheap but made in the USA.

The #6 sorta sits in between the #1 and #7 in terms of cut quality and flat bottoms, no?

[Andrew Hughes]

I'm not sure how to compare the bottom cut I focus on the side my saws mostly for ripping after the bandsaw.Very little cross cutting.Forrest all the way for me.

[Ben Zara]

Not sure if the Forrest #1 will leave a true flat bottom or mostly flat with score marks like a dado. Probably better off getting the Freud fusion thin kerf (for your Laguna saw) and a 1/8 inch kerf flat top rip blade for joinery. If you want to splurge you can get the Forrest version of the Freud fusion.