Tenru Gm25540 VS WWII

[Larry Crim]

I recently ordered a tenru gold blade due to the posts I've read recently, I bought it to use as a second blade to my WWII that has been my primary blade for 2 years now (sharpened 3 times) and have been very happy with but wanted a blade to use when I send off the WWII for sharpening.
I must say I am very happy with the cut the Tenyru provides I inspected it and installed it them made a test cut crosscutting a 1.5" stick of walnut and I could hardly even feel the wood hit the blade like a hot knife through butter and very smooth. Then ripped a same thickness Rock maple board same results with a edge much cleaner than I have ever got with the WWII, I am interested to see how long the blade will last before getting dull but from what I have seen so far after using it last night to cut up some stock for glue ups I think it will be my primary blade for awhile and use the WWII as a backup.
Pat

[Ted Baca]

Larry keep us posted. I am along time fan of the Forrest Blades and a local dealer is always telling me to buy the Tenyru as he claims it is superior to Forrest. However he does not sell Forrest and I have learned through the years that if he doesn't sell it, it's no good. So I would love to hear a real world experience.

[Larry Crim]

Ted I can say without a doubt that it is a lot sharper out of the box and has cleaner cuts than my WWII was as for the ability to stay sharp I should know soon I have a lot of ripping to do in the next few weeks.
Larry

[Philip Glover]

I have both blades and the Tenryu GM is a superior performing blade in all situations. I have found Tenryu blades to consistantly exceed my expectations, while Forrest always fall far short. If you need the Forrest resharpened there are better sources than Forrest; such as Specialty Saw.

[Larry Crim]

Thanks philip do you recall what they charge for a sharpening?
Larry

[Mark Carlson]

I have a WWII and a Tenyru Gold. Both are good but I prefer the cut from the Tenyru and thats whats currently on my saw. To be fair the WWII is older and might need resharpening.

~mark

[scott spencer]

I've got a WWII and had the privelege of having a Gold Medal here for a couple of weeks. My "visit" with the GM was a little short, but IMO both blades are pretty impressive....both are excellent general purpose blades and deserve mention in the elite pack of 40T GP blades along with the Ridge Carbide, DW7657 and others, but neither will outperform a top notch dedicated rip or crosscut blade in their intend task region. When you do side by side comparison cuts between the WWII and GM, it's just about impossible to tell which blade made which cut....at least in my case. They're close enough that I don't believe one offers a significant capability improvement over the other....they'll accomplish pretty much the same tasks in pretty much the same manner....glue ready cuts on a wide range of materials and types of cuts.

That said, the WWII offers the 40T version in thin or full kerf, whereas the GM is only available in full kerf in that configuration, which means on smaller saws it'll strain more on rips. The WWII is made in the US, the GM is made in Japan AFAIK. Considering that in the grand scheme they're fairly comparable, I think the WWII offers some advantages for Americans and for owners of saws < 3hp, as does the Ridge Carbide.

[Mac Cambra]

Since we are discussing performance what dedicate rip or x-cut saw blades would you recommend? I own the WWII and a chopmaster blade and frankly I thought they we alright but not remarkably better than the cheaper Freud blades they replaced. Maybe based on all of the hype those blades get my expectations were too high.

[Gregg Feldstone]

What the best and cheapest place to buy the Tenrya GM from?

[CPeter James]

I have Forrest WWII blades, both thin kerf and regular and they are good, but I like my Ridge Carbide better and I think that when it comes to sharpening, Ridge does a better job. My Ridge comes back even sharper than when it was new. The Forrest is good when sharpened by Forrest, but not like new. John at Ridge is a sharpening expert and does an excellent job.

CPeter

[scott spencer]

Since we are discussing performance what dedicate rip or x-cut saw blades would you recommend? I own the WWII and a chopmaster blade and frankly I thought they we alright but not remarkably better than the cheaper Freud blades they replaced. Maybe based on all of the hype those blades get my expectations were too high.

The Chopmaster should leave a noteably cleaner cut than your WWII, and it should be difficult to find a crosscut blade significantly better than the Chopmaster unless there's something wrong with the blade, it's dull/dirty, or something's off on the saw. You'll give up alot of versatility for that improved cut quality though. Other crosscut blades that you might try are the Freud LU85, Freud LU80 (F810), WWI, or maybe the DW3218 or DW7647. I'd also consider a Ridge Carbide or Infinity.

Rip blades don't cut as cleanly, but definitely hog through the heavy wood faster. Any of the 20-24T blades from the better names should be fine. Freud LM72, DeWalt DW7124, Infinity, CMT, Forrest 20T if you use full kerf, or an LU87, Infinity, CMT, or DW7124TK are good blades.

[Robert Mahon]

Any suggested web sites for these blades?
I have been using less expensive blades on my contractor's saw but now that I have a new JET Cabinet saw, would like to try better blades.

Any help will be appreciated.

[scott spencer]

Any suggested web sites for these blades?
I have been using less expensive blades on my contractor's saw but now that I have a new JET Cabinet saw, would like to try better blades.

Any help will be appreciated.

Holbren, Amazon, Rockler, Woodcraft....

[Dick Bringhurst]

Scott, I'm not sure I understand your comment that the Tenryu only comes in full kerf, My 40 tooth GM is 0.110 the 80 tooth GM is 0.118 and the Rapid cut is 0.079. I believe standard kerf is 0.125. One item that has not been mentioned is how quiet the Tenryu's are. Dick B.

[scott spencer]

Scott, I'm not sure I understand your comment that the Tenryu only comes in full kerf, My 40 tooth GM is 0.110 the 80 tooth GM is 0.118 and the Rapid cut is 0.079. I believe standard kerf is 0.125. One item that has not been mentioned is how quiet the Tenryu's are. Dick B.

The WWII and the Ridge Carbide are available in two kerf widths for that same model and tooth configuration...3/32" and 1/8". I guess .110" would make the Gold Medal more of a mid kerf. Don't know if there are any true guidelines, but common TK width is usually 0.94" (3/32"), but you're correct the common full kerf is typically considered 0.125" (1/8").

The .111" kerf of the GM might explain why some feel it rips better than their WWII, if their WWII is 0.125".

[Cory Newman]

I just got back from the woodworking show here in DFW - after hands on with the old style WWII and the New style WWII and the Tenyru Gold Metal - I held off on all counts - going to go with the new Freud Fusion blade.

[scott spencer]

I just got back from the woodworking show here in DFW - after hands on with the old style WWII and the New style WWII and the Tenyru Gold Metal - I held off on all counts - going to go with the new Freud Fusion blade.

I saw the Fusion demoed at the Buffalo show. It wasn't available for purchase yet, but is one of the neater blade innovations I've seen in a while. It did a super job! It's a 40T Hi-ATB grind vs a standard ATB grind...most of the other parameters are similar to the WWII's and GM's. By design, the Hi-ATB grind is the cleanest cutting of all grinds, which should give this blade an advantage in cut quality over traditional 40T ATB blades, yet should still off similar versatility with rips and multiple materials due to the tooth count and hook angle. The downside to the Hi-ATB grind is that it tends to dull faster that traditional ATB grinds, so edge life is currently an unknown with the Fusion. Considering that I tend to get a couple of years out of most of my blades, I'd eagerly risk only getting a year between sharpenings for the benefit of improved cut quality. It's a really promising design IMO. I'd love to see more technical creativity in this industry, there sure are alot of "me too" designs out there.

[Robert Mahon]

Thank you Scott.
I just ordered a WWII 0.125 kerf blade from Amazon and was fortunate enough to get it for $80.00 total (the thin kerf blade was the same price).

I'm looking forward to trying it and hope I get the results many others have.

Thanks again.

[Brian Gumpper]

I would be curious to see how long the new Freud Fusion stays sharp being the HiATB grind will dull faster than a convention ATB blade. If shparening is important to you, that double side grind may take some life out of the blade as well. I'm sure it will perform well in magazine reviews which is probably what they're after.

I guess time will tell but the concept sounds good.

[Larry Crim]

I'm with brian on that account obviously good cut is important but I am holding the final verdict on my tenru till I see how it holds up over the long haul. I have not had the chance to cut too much with it recently due to the cold and I just don't want to get out in the shop when it's too cold but so far most of the wood I have cut has been fairly thick and the blade has held up well so I'll just have to wait and see.
Larry