Thin Kerf Blades

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi All, Can anybody recommend a TK blade for a bench top table saw. I'll be cutting 3/4" plywood and some hardwood rips. So far I don't see any combo blades at HD or Lowes. Is there a decent TK combo blade available?

[scott spencer]

Assuming you mean 10", HD and Lowes should both carry Freud's entry level lines....Diablo, Ridgid Titanium, and the Avanti line. Even Sears had a Freud made line that looks identical to the Avanti line (#32808) ...all are TK . Either a 40T or 50T combo should do. Amazon will have the LU86R010 for ~ $35 shipped, or the LU83R010 from their Industrial line for ~ $45 shipped.

Holbren's got the Tenryu RS25540 for ~ $27 shipped...it's got a 0.118" kerf...more "mid kerf" than TK.

[Matt Ocel]

I had good luck with the thin curf blade that came with my Dewalt T.S..

[Rob Will]

As Scott suggested, I think you can find a Freud TK blade that will do the trick. Freud has a good website where you can see the blade and get the part number. Then, I would Google "Freud xxxxxxx"

Good luck,

Rob

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks guys. I'll check at the Freud site as suggested and then check out the borgs again. Sometimes the blade doesn't say "thin kerf" on it, I think. It's confusing in the store but I'll try again.

[Robert Waddell]

Allan,
HD should have the TK Ridgid Titanium 50T combination blade for $39.99 or so. It is a "cut" above the others in the price range because it has the laser cuts in it more like the Freud LU series blades.
Rob

[Peter Quinn]

I've had good luck with a Freud LU83R008 in a Makita portable TS, does a decent job in PW when sharp and rips pretty well if the stock isn't too thick. I had good luck last summer with a rigid combo blade from the Borg bought as a disposable for a single job, did the job well and kept on going. They had thin kerf models (look for kerf thickness around .083") but didn't specify thin kerf on the packaging. Full kerf is @ .125", thin kerf is listed as .083-.091".

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Allan,
HD should have the TK Ridgid Titanium 50T combination blade for $39.99 or so. It is a "cut" above the others in the price range because it has the laser cuts in it more like the Freud LU series blades.
Rob

Thanks Robert, I can't tell if that's a thin kerf or not.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I've had good luck with a Freud LU83R008 in a Makita portable TS, does a decent job in PW when sharp and rips pretty well if the stock isn't too thick. I had good luck last summer with a rigid combo blade from the Borg bought as a disposable for a single job, did the job well and kept on going. They had thin kerf models (look for kerf thickness around .083") but didn't specify thin kerf on the packaging. Full kerf is @ .125", thin kerf is listed as .083-.091".

Peter, Thanks for that info. It's hard to tell TK from full kerf. Thanks to your info. I can tell now when I'm at the Borg.

[J. Z. Guest]

I got my Freud General Purpose thin kerf at Home Depot for $40. I'm quite happy with it. General Purpose blades are different than combo blades. Combo blades seem to be going out of style a bit.

The difference is that combo blades have their teeth in groups that either begin or end with a flat tooth profile. (so they rip acceptably well) But they don't crosscut as well as a general purpose blade, in my experience.

I leave my Freud general pupose blade on my jobsite saw most of the time. (Ridgid TS2400) It does burn when I'm ripping thicker than 5/4 hardwood, but that isn't a surprise. I either accept it as the penalty for my laziness or change to the rip blade that came with the saw. (which is outstanding, by the way. Don't overlook Ridgid blades)

One thing we jobsite saw owners give up to the 3 hp cabinet saw folks is that since we have less power to spare, we can't get away with being lazy as much. We can just feed it faster to lessen the burning, because the saw just doesn't have the power.

For what its worth, every time I find that I'm getting burning, it is either that the wood is too thick to rip with a GP blade, or the splitter is slightly out of alignment. My fence is always in alignment when I check, but the splitter being off just a bit... it really screws things up.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi Jeremy, Looking at Freud's site, it looks like they give a "fair" rating for plywood cutting with the LU86 and a "good" rating for the LU83. I'll be cutting plywood so I'm leaning toward the LU83. What's your experience on this?

[scott spencer]

Hi Alan - You can get into the LU88 (http://www.epinions.com/reviews/Freud_60T_Crosscut_Table_Saw_Blade_LU88R010) for about the same price as the LU83, and it'll do an even better job in plywood and still rips nicely to ~ 6/4" material. It's from their Industrial line and is listed as a crosscut blade, but it's positive hook makes it a darn good general purpose blade too. Of the dozens I've tried, the LU88 remains one of my favorites. Food for thought...

http://freudtools.com/p-19-thin-kerf-fine-finish-crosscutbr-nbsp.aspx

[glenn bradley]

You've gotten good advice here. I've used quite a few different TK blades. The Avanti's are nice for the money and can take a few sharpenings. Inexpensive GP blades are going to work OK for your BORG plywood and such.

The advice that I would give is that after you have your GP blade (I think we all need one for the now and then cuts) if you want better cut quality buy a decent 24T rip and a decent 80T crosscut blade and use them accordingly.

I used to view blades as expensive but, getting better cuts saves material and . . . wood IS expensive ;-) Take 60 seconds and swap blades for the job at hand. That's much less time than it takes to fix a poor cut by sanding or whatever.

The preceding blah, blah, supporting task specific blades is purely my opinion and works well for me. IMHO they will invent the one blade that "does it all" immediately after they come up with that pill that REALLY does "make you lose weight" without exercise or changing your lifestyle ;-)

P.s. I'm home sick today so I apologize if I seem a little cranky.