Glue-Line Rip Cuts

[Gary Tenney]

-Which 10" table saw blade provides the absolute best glue ready finish when ripping 2" Walnut or similar for laminations?
-I know the WWII has great reviews, but is there a dedicated rip only blade that will get even cleaner results?
-Also, will a thin kerf blade get nastier results, and if so, would a blade stiffiner such as the one Forrest sells improve those results?

Thanks very much in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience in regards to these questions.

[Russ Massery]

I use a 20t WWII from Forrest for ripping stock over 1". I get excellent results from it highly recommend it.
I can't comment on the thin kerf issue I haven't used any from Forrest. I did see a demo from Forrest at my local Woodcraft. They did recommend using the stiffeners with all of there blades.

[Jim Becker]

The best "glue ready" surface isn't necessarily "super smooth"... ;) Like Russ, I use a 20T Forrest WW-II rip blade for thick stock.

Unless you have a very underpowered saw, a thin kerf blade isn't really necessary, although you might want one if your other blades are in that format just for convenience.

[Gary Tenney]

"Unless you have a very underpowered saw, a thin kerf blade isn't really necessary, although you might want one if your other blades are in that format just for convenience."


Jim,
I need to rip lots of 1/8" pieces for laminating rocking chair rockers. I was thinking I might get a better yeild with the thin kerf, I.E. less waste. Thanks!

[Lee Schierer]

Frued makes a blade specifically called a glue line rip blade. I've never tried it, but all the Freud blades I have give excellent results and extremely smooth cuts. I think any of them can be used for glue up even if you don't have a jointer.http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/64078a-md.jpg

No matter what blade you choose, the most important factor is having a well tuned saw.

[Dennis Peacock]

What Lee said....or try the Amana or Everlast Glueline rip blades.

Cut quality comes from fence/blade alignment as well as how consistant and steady the stock is held and fed through the spinning sawblade.

The blade is some of the magic....but it's not "all" the magic to smooth cuts. ;)

[Jamie Buxton]

Once I bought a thin-kerf blade for my cabinet saw. I found that it would deflect sideways if it hit a harder part in the wood, and I went back to standard-width blades. If I were trying to glue right off the saw without jointing, I would not try a thin-kerf.

One issue with cutting thin strips is that the thin strip is flexible enough to flutter sideways and contact the rear edge of the saw blade. That gives you divots in the wood. Make, or buy, a kerf-width splitter.

[mark page]

I personally use a Freud model LM74R010 30 tooth blade for ripping. It's rated as their glue-line ripping blade. I have had no problems to date with it and cuts are exceptional. No need to go to the jointer after this one, but I do suppose it depends on how good your saw is in adjustment, as with everything else.

[Tim Malyszko]

I personally use a Freud model LM74R010 30 tooth blade for ripping. It's rated as their glue-line ripping blade. I have had no problems to date with it and cuts are exceptional. No need to go to the jointer after this one, but I do suppose it depends on how good your saw is in adjustment, as with everything else.

I too use this blade for all final ripping, but I still take one pass over the jointer because there are still very slight marks on the wood from the blade. I could probably glue up with no issues, but I prefer taking an extra 1/32" off to be certain that I have a finely jointed surface. Either way, it sure beats the results I get from my 24 tooth Freud Ripping Blade.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I prefer Non-Ferrous-Metal Blades. I like an 80 or 100 tooth with a positive rake.

I just happened to throw one on my saw some many years ago because I needed a sharp blade and I had a couple of them lying around from an old machine shop app I ran prior.

The cut was flawless. Perfectly tool mark free and smooth.
I was converted to NFM blades right away and haven't looked back. I own a Ghudo and two Felder blades all ground for wood. They are very good and come close to the NFM for quality but I still prefer the NFM for general all 'round ripping and cross cutting.

I will however use a rip blade for coarse fast rips where finish isn't important to me. Or where there may be nails.

[Bob McGovern]

Even the best blade is prone to tearout on the bottom of the cut, which can become an issue if you want clean laminations viewable from both sides. Esp. an issue with thin-strip ripping, & with brittle woods like walnut, chechen, or maple. Some ideas for minimizing:

1) A well-tuned blade & fence; good pully alignment & belts minimizes flutter.

2) Zero-clearance throat plate.

3) Triple chip grind, which is designed to minimize chipout in melamine & solid surface materials. Watch yer rake angle, tho.

4) Keep the blade low -- exit angle shallower.

5) Edge joint your blank occassionaly, to give you a fresh, straight edge. even a wide board can distort as you rip thin strips off it. Then your cut quality goes down fast.

6) Might leave a sixteenth extra width, so you can joint off any tearout that occurs on the bottom of the laminations.

[Steve Schoene]

A well fitted joint has no glue line visible when a panel is glued up. One board stops and another starts with no line between. I don't think you can often achieve that directly off the table saw. In my experience, it takes some considerable fiddling on the jointer, or using the jointer plus a hand plane, to achieve it, at least if there is any sort of figure in the wood.

[Ryan Myers]

I have the Frued LM74R010 30 tooth Glue Line Rip Blade. My saw is tuned up to within .003. It leaves a nice edge on the board, but it does not appear glass smooth like it does after being run through the joiner. I got this blade a couple months back when Amazon was having one of their sales for $32 shipped to my door.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Last winter, for a job for local YMCA, I had to rip several hundred feet of 1/4" X 3/4" maple. I tried several blades, Freud Glue line rip, Forrest WWII, Freud LU84 combo blade, DeWalt 7657. The LU84 gave me the best results with the best feed rate. Forrest was too aggresive, with a lot of chatter. Glue Line was slower than LU84, and didn't produce as good edge. Just my opinion, remember, you can take my opinion and 55 cents and get a senior coffee at MacDonalds, just be sure to have 55 cents.

[Jake Helmboldt]

I have a Freud GLueline rip and honestly it doesn't produce a better cut than any of my combos (Freud, CMT, Amana). All leave at least some very fine swirls. I've adjusted my PM 64A repeatedly w/ a dial indicator to within a couple thou and have never gotten any better results.

I think it would glue up fine as is, but if it was a visible edge it would need a couple passes w/ a hand plane or across the jointer. The benefit is that it doesn't seem to burn as badly in maple and cherry as the combo blades.

[Allen Bookout]

I use the Ripper blade from Infinity Tool and think it is great (Infinitytools.com). I do not have the thin kerf model so I do not know about it.

[scott spencer]

The 30T WWII is on sale from Amazon for ~ $64 shipped after 20% promo. It's intended for fairly thick stock and is said to leave a glueable edge.

The Freud 30T GLR is intended for up to 1" stock, though I've heard of others ripping thicker materials with it.

I've had excellent results with the high end TK's...even without a stiffener....YMMV. I use TK's for the benefit of the increased feedrate...I suspect that the wood savings are insignificant. If you have a full 3hp+ cab saw, I'd go full kerf. I've never noticed the stiffener to make a difference....which is a fairly common observation from others who've tried them. Save your money on those and take your wife to lunch...if you buy one, the sales guy will take his wife to lunch! :D

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Even the best blade is prone to tearout on the bottom of the cut, which can become an issue if you want clean laminations viewable from both sides. Esp. an issue with thin-strip ripping, & with brittle woods like walnut, chechen, or maple. Some ideas for minimizing:

1) A well-tuned blade & fence; good pully alignment & belts minimizes flutter.

2) Zero-clearance throat plate.

3) Triple chip grind, which is designed to minimize chipout in melamine & solid surface materials. Watch yer rake angle, tho.

4) Keep the blade low -- exit angle shallower.

5) Edge joint your blank occassionaly, to give you a fresh, straight edge. even a wide board can distort as you rip thin strips off it. Then your cut quality goes down fast.

6) Might leave a sixteenth extra width, so you can joint off any tearout that occurs on the bottom of the laminations.

Yah All that And take your time on exiting the work. Speed is not your friend when exiting on a crosscut.