Best Blade For Small Saw?

[Derek Arita]

I'm picking up a SS Jobsite Pro and I'm wondering about blades. Since it's a lower powered saw than my 3hp, I'm a bit lost. I have a 50 tooth thin kerf Woodworker II and a regular Woodworker II. I'm hoping for a general purpose blade. Suggestions?

[Michael Schuch]

I would expect the thin kerf WoodWorker II to be a very good general purpose blade for your new saw.

[Richard Coers]

The blade will be dependent on what you are cutting. I sure wouldn't want to rip 8/4 hard maple with those blades you have, but for plywood and 4/4 hardwood, either should do well.

[Derek Arita]

The blade will be dependent on what you are cutting. I sure wouldn't want to rip 8/4 hard maple with those blades you have, but for plywood and 4/4 hardwood, either should do well.

Then what blade would be a good general purpose blade? Or do I need different blades for ripping and cross cutting?

[Dave Sabo]

Freud Fusion Thin Kerf.

[Tom M King]

A 20 tooth thin rip blade is a good one to have.

[Lee Schierer]

I run Freud full kerf blades on my Craftsman 1 Hp saw with no issues. I can cross cut or rip 1-1/2" maple, red oak etc. with it. Yes it cuts slower than a 3 hp saw but it still does the job.

[Keegan Shields]

Generally, the lower power the saw, the more critical it is to use the correct blade. I can get away with ripping 8/4 stock on my 5 hp slider using a combination 50T Infinity blade. The cut quality isn’t as great but the motor doesn’t bog down.

But when I had a Dewalt jobsite saw, I had to use a thin kerf rip blade for ripping given the much smaller motor. Even cutting 3/4” BB was much easier with a 24T rip blade on that job site saw.

Like much of woodworking, it all depends… in this case on what you are cutting. I would have a thin kerf 24T rip and thin kerf 60T cross cut blade on hand. That should cover everything.

[Jim Becker]

Derek, my suggestion would be to work with the two blades you have now for a short period of time so you can actually experience/test the differences in cutting between the thin kerf and the regular kerf blades. But in the end, I suspect you will be best served by a thin kerf on the smaller machine and the "regular" WW-II can either remain as a spare or easily be sold to another woodworker. The 50T probably isn't the best for ripping, at least for thicker material, so you do have the option of either going separates or getting another general purpose that is more in the 30-40T range to cover all bases reasonably without changing blades. I personally use Woodworker II blades for all cutting other than extremely thick or gnarly material when I do pull out a very aggressive 20T 10" WW-II ripping blade.

[Jim Dwight]

I think I have a Freud Fusion, thin kerf, on my 1.75hp PCS right now. It or a thin kerf 50 tooth Freud with 40 ATB teeth and 10 flat top ripping teeth are what I mainly use. Full kerf blades generally work fine but if the wood pinches the blade or for really deep rips - at or near 3 inches - a thin kerf works better. But for most cuts, including generally 8/4 hardwoods, the all around blades work fine.

[Greg Parrish]

I've got a Freud Fusion full kerf 40 tooth blade on my PCS 1.75hp right now. Haven't had the saw long but only bogged it down once pushing a 1-1/4" butcher block top of Havea wood through it too quickly. While the Jobsite Pro is a universal motor, it still claims to be a 1.5hp belt drive motor I think. As Jim said above, I'd try the nice blades you already have. No sense dropping $100 on a thin kerf Fusion blade without trying yours first.

I looked initially at the Jobsite Pro to save space and almost went that route before ending up ultimately with the 1.75hp PCS. I would have bought the same blades I did now and just used a slower feed rate. I did the Fusion mentioned above for day to day use, a Freud 24 tooth rip blade, and a Freud 80 tooth laminate blade. All full kerf. I mean if you plan on also using a Dado stack and stuff like finger joint blades, which do all fit on the Jobsite Pro, why not use full kerf saw blades and just control your feed rate.

I went full kerf because that's what Sawstop recommends on their website and because I didn't want any issues with riving knife thickness vs blade thickness. I do realize the thin kerf are in use everywhere without issue, but I still stuck to their recommendation. https://www.sawstop.com/why-sawstop/faqs/

[Andrew Hughes]

When I had a Bosch job site saw I kept a full 1/8 Forrest blade most of the time. The only time I felt the need to run the thin kerf blade was to save wood.
2 rips with a full blade is a 1/4 inch of wood it starts to add up fast. Ripping on my bandsaw put thing in perspective.
Must save wood must not get dead.
Good Luck

[Warren Lake]

dont have much interest in on site but time I have dont like thin kerf. In the worm drive they will wander more. In the battery they will wander even more and one small saw electric maybe4 5.5 you can almost cut circles. My view they are a thing made for under powered equipment more than saving wood.

[Andrew Hughes]

dont have much interest in on site but time I have dont like thin kerf. In the worm drive they will wander more. In the battery they will wander even more and one small saw electric maybe4 5.5 you can almost cut circles. My view they are a thing made for under powered equipment more than saving wood.

Im surprised you found such poor results from thin kerf blade Warren. Are sure the teeth were pointing in the right direction? :p

[Warren Lake]

yes blade was on the right way. I checked the internet first. I did have to watch a you tube for a 90.00 drone that could throw flames first though.

On a table saw is one thing as the fence is a guide. On the saw you will have some amount of tension release on solid and with no riving knife or anything those blades can wander a bit more.

In the worm drive its a human guiding and at my advanced age and eye sight not close to a bald eagle I may wander a bit depending on my speed. If I can see really well im pretty accurate. When I do any correcting that is where i find the flex. Figure I grew up on regular blades so had no exposure to thin kerf for many years, you just get used to stuff. You probably wont believe this but I actually have high speed steel knives in some machines.

That little saw is a porter cable thing I saw once at home depot and thought it is so small it will be good to trim some rafter tails. They only brought three in and decided they cost too much. I had no battery stuff at the time. Its a really well made decent saw but the blades are so so thin they are terrible. Maybe there is something thicker for them. Only used it once for that one job then got a cordless.

So after that ramble I just dont put thin kerf on the cabinet saws and likely not on the slider.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I like Freud Diablo blades from Home Depot. In general I follow the intended use guidelines. On portable table saws I tend to run small diameter blades. My job site saw is very minimal but it works great with a 7 1/4 or 8 1/4 inch blade.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I just ripped a few country miles of 3/4" Red Oak on my Ridgid TS3660 contractor saw. I used a full kerf Ridgid 40 tooth combination blade I bought on a Black Friday sale years ago.
It worked just fine. No bogging down and no smoke/burning.
I usually run a Freud Glue Line Rip blade for that stuff, but, the 40 tooth was on the saw & I was feeling lazy that day.


I do have a Freud thin kerf ripping blade in the shop closet that I'd use if I ever had the need. Since I bought this saw 10 years ago, I haven't had the need yet.

[Michael Schuch]

Then what blade would be a good general purpose blade? Or do I need different blades for ripping and cross cutting?

I keep a Freud glue line rip blade on my 10 Powermatic cabinet saw which is where I do all my ripping.

I keep a 15" Freud ultimate cut off blade on my 16" Radial arm saw which is where I do all of my crosscutting.

I have never been a one combination blade for everything person. I believe I am in the minority of woodworkers as most other woodworkers I know prefer a combination blade in their table saw which is where they do their cross cutting and ripping.

Like Jim mentioned above, start with the two blades you have and go from there. If the combination blade works well for you stay with it. If you find you have to do a lot of post cutting clean up to get good glue lines then you will probably want to look at options for individual blades.

[Roger Feeley]

dont have much interest in on site but time I have dont like thin kerf. In the worm drive they will wander more. In the battery they will wander even more and one small saw electric maybe4 5.5 you can almost cut circles. My view they are a thing made for under powered equipment more than saving wood.
Warren, I’ve had very good luck with a thin kerf Freud on my SS ICS. I only use it when I’m ripping lots of thin strips to save wood. So I’ve never tried to power through anything big or hard.

[Curt Harms]

I like Freud Diablo blades from Home Depot. In general I follow the intended use guidelines. On portable table saws I tend to run small diameter blades. My job site saw is very minimal but it works great with a 7 1/4 or 8 1/4 inch blade.

They also work well on full sized saws when cutting small or thin stock like trim and molding. I find 10" 40 tooth blades too aggressive for that purpose, a 40 tooth 7 1/4" blade on a table saw works very well.

[Randy Heinemann]

I have used the Sawstop blade that came with the saw since bought it when the saw first came out. It may not be a perfect blade but I have found it rips and crosscuts smoothest. I use it for ripping unless I’m ripping something like 8/4 maple or oak. Even the. It will work but it’s a little slow going. I’d try that blade first. I also own Freud combination blades which will work. After using the saw for 6 years I still feel a full kerf blade works better on that saw than thin kerf.

[Dave Sabo]

I have used the Sawstop blade that came with the saw since bought it when the saw first came out. It may not be a perfect blade but I have found it rips and crosscuts smoothest. I use it for ripping unless I’m ripping something like 8/4 maple or oak. Even the. It will work but it’s a little slow going. I’d try that blade first. I also own Freud combination blades which will work. After using the saw for 6 years I still feel a full kerf blade works better on that saw than thin kerf.


Do you have a SS jobsite saw or a PCS/ICS ?

The latter will dramatically increase performance and perception of any blade over a “jobsite” saw with an induction motor.