The Best 10" Combination Blade?

[David Pascoe]

I bought two Woodworker II blades in 1998. Gad! that was 19 years ago and now they're both worn out beyond resharpening. I always felt that this blade was as good as it gets, but I've not kept up with developments. Price is down from the $150 I paid (per blade) back then to around $112.

Anyone think they know of anything better for the price?

[Cary Falk]

I have a WWII. I'm not all that impressed with it anymore. I have a stack of $20 Dewalt/Delta 7657/35-7657 combination blades that I run daily unless I am using a crosscut or ripping blade. For WWII money I would look at Freud.

[Mike Walsh]

I second the recommendation to try Freud. I have 2 Forrest blades that I'd used for years until trying a Freud combination in a class. Bought the thin kerf Freud more than a year ago now and have not been disappointed

[joe maday]

Over 35 years I have owned many brands. Lafayette($$), Luxite($$), Delta, Freud, Forrest, FS Tools etc. in the past a 48 tooth Luxite was my go-to blade. But for years now I always keep a 40t Ridge Carbide blade on the table saw. Long lasting carbide life. clean cuts and made in the USA.
When they need sharpening. I send them back to Ridge. The owner, John, usually answers the phone. Many years experience. They come back as new. They are a full service shop. I send them all my blades and shaper cutters. Always good service and fast turn around......and a nice Guy....I highly recommend both him and his blades.

[Jim Becker]

My WW-II blades are still going strong from purchase in the early 2000s. I still use them as my primary blade on my MM slider after I moved to it from a cabinet saw in 2004, even though I could be running 12" blades on the machine. When I can't sharpen them anymore, I'll likely replace with 12" versions. They are the "cheapest" premium blade for me because of the long life with more re-sharpenings possible than many other blades. IMHO. That said, there are quite a few really good blades available these days from many different names. They often get mentioned here...

[jared herbert]

Over 35 years I have owned many brands. Lafayette($$), Luxite($$), Delta, Freud, Forrest, FS Tools etc. in the past a 48 tooth Luxite was my go-to blade. But for years now I always keep a 40t Ridge Carbide blade on the table saw. Long lasting carbide life. clean cuts and made in the USA.
When they need sharpening. I send them back to Ridge. The owner, John, usually answers the phone. Many years experience. They come back as new. They are a full service shop. I send them all my blades and shaper cutters. Always good service and fast turn around......and a nice Guy....I highly recommend both him and his blades.


I was just looking at the ridge website. I am in need of a new blade and was just wondering exctly what ridge blade you use. Is it the full kerf blade that does not require the stabilizer? I always hesitate to drop a 100 bucks on something like that without getting a good recommendation from a current user. It sounds like you are a satisfied customer. I will probably send some of my current blades to them to sharpen. I assume they will work on any brand of blade. I have a couple of the freud thin kerf combination blades and do like them. Thanks in advance Jared

[scott spencer]

Being subjective, there is no single "best". Forrest still makes an excellent blade, but are among the more expensive options for a given level of performance, and they now have more legitimate competition than ever before. All the top contenders have their strengths and weaknesses, and many offer more for the money.

The Ridge Carbide TS2000 is extremely competitive with the 40T WWII, is made just down the road from Forrest, offers thicker carbide, 1200 grit sharpening, and costs 10-20% less....often $90-$100 delivered. I recall when I did my initial head to head comparison tests with the WWII....being a Forrest fan at the time, I wanted to the WWII to be clearly better, but in the end, it honestly wasn't. If was tough to tell the difference, and if anything, the TS2000 may have had a slight performance edge.

The Japanese made Tenryu Gold Medal is also a top shelf performer for less money. On par with the WWII and TS2000 ...often $90-$100 delivered.

The Delta 35-7657 is an extraordinary American made value in a classic full kerf 40T ATB general purpose blade with large C-4 micrograin carbide, laser cut top quality steel body, precision manufacturing, and excellent overall quality. Considering that all of the 40T or 50T general purpose/combo blades are designed to have performance compromises at both cutting extremes, for $30 to your door at closeout prices, this one makes more sense to me than any of them. The performance is within a gnat's eyelash of the most expensive 40T blades, and is as good as it needs to be for what this type of blade is intended for. If you want/need better performance, separate task specific blades are the way to go.

The Freud Premier Fusion and Infinity Super General offer a something a bit different from the standard ATB or ATB/R grind. Both have a Hi-ATB top grind which offers lower tearout for fine crosscutting and plywood cuts, plus both have a dual side grind with tight side geometry that provides a more polished edge for ripping. Their performance advantages are noticeable compared to the WWII, TS2000, Gold Medal, and 36-7657. The downside is a slight increase in their tendency to burn in thicker rips, and somewhat shorter edge life compared to more tyical 40T designs. An excellent choice for someone who is meticulous about saw setup, blade cleanliness, isn't ripping thick stock, and wants to use mainly one blade to get better cutting performance.

The Infinity Combomax is the best of the 50T ATB/R combo blades I've tried. It'll rival the overall performance of the best 40T blades, but with a slightly less polished edge and is a bit more forgiving with the setup than the premium 40T blades. A great all around set it and forget it type blade.

With that said, I'll re-state that none of these 40T or 50T blades will perform as well as good task specific blades in their respective intended cutting ranges. All purpose blades should be used for their convenience, not best possible performance....think of them like all season radial tires vs specialty racing slicks/mud/snow type tires.

[Jim Andrew]

I bought 3 Tenryu blades after purchasing my Hammer slider. Hardly use any but the 80 tooth solid wood crosscut blade. Found it works great for ripping, so don't often change it, but I do take it off and clean it occasionally. The Tenryu blades are far better than the WWII blade I have.

[lowell holmes]

I have a 10" WWII blade that has to be 12-15 years old. It is an excellent blade. It will be sent out for sharpening when it needs it.

[Frederick Skelly]

I get good performance from my WW2. But I agree there are a ton of other good choices. I have read good things about the blade that Carbide Processors makes - "World's Best Cermet". They run about $110 for a 10" blade (before you take the small discount for Creekers). I bought a couple other items from them and found they have tremendous customer service, too.

Surprisingly, I get pretty good performance from a BORG "Diablo" combo blade that I bought as a fill-in when I sent the WW2 back for sharpening. IIRC, Freud makes them.

Fred

[David Powell]

Another consideration is Carbide Processors' Worlds Best blades. Tom puts out a quality product and offers a discount to "creekers".

[Frederick Skelly]

Another consideration is Carbide Processors' Worlds Best blades. Tom puts out a quality product and offers a discount to "creekers".

Have you used it? How about telling us about your impressions.

[Jon Grider]

3 Tenryu Gold combo's have seen a lot of use in my shop over the last 6 or 7 years. I get a nice glue line when ripping, good crosscutting on solid stock and a level of tear out that's tolerable for me in most sheet goods. However, I think if I wanted to try a full kerf combo blade I'd like to try Ridge Carbide TS2000 based on most reviews.

[David Powell]

I recently replaced a Feud P410 general purpose blade with a Worlds Best general purpose blade and was surprised how smooth of a cut I got. Up to that point, I had been satisfied with the Freud.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Check out Dynamic Saw price for retipping your bodies. $1.60 a tip, plus sharpening. 40 X $1.60= $64 + $8.50 for sharpening. So for $72.50 you can have a new WWII, on your blank. FYI, a WWII isn't a combo blade, but a general purpose blade.

[Jack Lemley]

Woodworker II for 30 years or so. I have tried several other blades over the years, Tenyru, Freud, Infinity and a couple of others but got rid of all of them and have two WW II blades that are my go to blades most of the time. I also have a Freud thin kerf glue line blade this is hard to beat when you have a lot of ripping in thicker wood to do. I have the Woodworker rip blade and the Chopmaster on my Bosch radial axial (is that right?). anyway, you get the point. They are pricey but have only paid retail for one of my Forrest blades the others were bought off Sawmill and FOG.

Jack

[joe maday]

I can't disagree with Scott. Also I find that the sharpening is the key...all or most cut fine when new...it's when you sharpen them when things go wrong. first I used Luxite then I used Forrest for a long time (still have 3 blades), then they seemed to have gotten too big...... Good when Jim was there and for a while after........ but I moved on to Ridge Carbide because the sharpened blades came back cutting as good as new, I feel that they give a more personal service. To me that counts for something...to talk to the owner/sharpener...to be known by my name not an account number.........I use mostly Ridge's TS2000 40tooth 1/8 kerf blades. I do have some luxite blades as thin as .075, .080 and even with a stabilizer they will some times "wander". never had a power issue with the 1/8k on my PM66 3hp........I recently purchased Ridge's 48 tooth 1/8 kerf but as of yet I have not tired it.
Remember: it's in the quality of the sharpening and carbide life span that you see the benefit of a quality blade...blades are a long term investment.
Give Ridge Carbide a call, in the AM......try to talk to John. He will give you honest information and advice. Tell him "Mr Luxite" sent you.
Joe Maday

[glenn bradley]

Another consideration is Carbide Processors' Worlds Best blades. Tom puts out a quality product and offers a discount to "creekers".

I agree there's a number of quality products out there. Over time I have replaced all my cutters with Carbide Processors Cermet II blades. Much longer life between sharpenings in my experience and you can't beat the customer service.

[David Pascoe]

Holy smoke, I had no idea guys were so into saw blades like hand plane fanatics. When I asked, I figured a coiuple answers naming just a few, not a dozen or more.

I used to send my WWII back to Forrest until one was returning with half its carbide ground away. When I complained, they denied that they did it and claimed that was the way they received it. Adios Forrest Manufacturing - once is enough for that kind of treatment.

I should have mentioned that ripping is my main concern and that I work small. My stock may be thick at times but nothing over 12" except for cutting planks to working size. My other "thing" is that I hate changing blades. Most of my work is done with Matsushita 7-1/4" blades, mainly because I work with fingers danger-close to the blade and the work piece clears the blade so much faster than with a ten inch. The ultra thin kerf (0.060") is a big plus when working with $100/ft exotics. Thing is, I have to change back to a ten inch all too often as the small blade can't handle thicker stock so I end up just keeping the larger blade on a while longer than I want. Thus it need produce glue joint ready rips. I also use blades for machine cuts that most would probably do on a different machine.

[Chris Hachet]

I have a WWII. I'm not all that impressed with it anymore. I have a stack of $20 Dewalt/Delta 7657/35-7657 combination blades that I run daily unless I am using a crosscut or ripping blade. For WWII money I would look at Freud.







As a WWII owner, I would second this.

[David M Peters]

I feel like I'm talking up a Kia at a BWM car show but get very good results from my 10" Diablo 40T combo blade. Crosscut end grain is damn near perfect and rips only show the slightest hint of track marks. But I also have a good table saw (Grizz G0700) and make an effort to keep it well-calibrated so the blade has every opportunity to do a good job.