Saw Stop blades

[Harley Lewis]

I just got my new Saw Stop into the garage and I am reading the manual about do's and don'ts. One of the comments was you should not use a blade that has a coating. Does that mean a person cannot use Freud blades with the perma shield coating on a Saw Stop?

[Anthony Anderson]

Harley, I am using Freud blades on my SawStop with no problem. When I test the conductivity with my finger, when the blade is stopped, of course:), it still recognizes that something conductive has touched the blade. I also called SawStop on this, and they told me that Freud blades were okay to use on the SawStop. You can give them a call to re-verify. It would not hurt to take some 220 grit sandpaper, and sand the arbor opening on the Freud blade, just enough to remove the coating on the inside opening of the arbor hole. That would just ensure that the coating would not interfer with the conductivity signal. I may have done that, but I really cannot remember now. Still, it wouldn't hurt. Hope this helps. Regards, Bill

[James Phillips]

Honestly if you dropped that much coin for a saw get a WWII; you will not regret the extra $30-$40 expense

[Scott Myers]

I'll second James' WWII suggestion. I've got one on my SS and the cuts are baby smooth. On a rip on Oak, you practically don't even need to do more than a light scrape (if that ) to make it ready for finish. I was absolutely blown away by the finish that comes off the WWII blade. I'm sure that there are other blades that good, but I've not experienced it yet.

[Harley Lewis]

Thanks guys, I have a ridge, a wwII and a couple other good blades, but I was thinking I might want to try the new Frued that gets excellent ratings. I appreciate the input.

Harley

[Pete Kurki]

Soon after I bought my SawStop year and half ago I was wondering about the same. Then in a woodworking show I had a chance to ask about it from a Freud sales rep and he told me that the Freud saw blade coating is compatible with the SawStop because it is actually a conductor, not an insulator!

Pete

[Kevin Groenke]

Well, since blades have become somewhat sacrificial in our situation, I've opted to spend less on them.

I've using several Amana A.G.E's since shortly after we put the SSs into service.
http://www.agecuttingtools.com/

All perform as well as more expensive alternatives. The carbide tips are large enough for numerous re-sharpenings, and I haven't noticed that they chip easily or anything. They seem to stay sharp as long as Forrest, Freud, CMT, FS, Leitz and other blades I've used in the past. They offer a nice selection of configurations for various materials/operations. Though we use cheap thin kerf blades occassionally, they seem to "vibrate" somewhat in the SawStop. This is something that I observed with the included SS blade as well.

Here are some AGE prices from our local supplier, Eide Saw
$37 - MD10-400 - 40t ATB
$68 - MD10-803 - 80t HI-ATB for veneer plys
$60 - MD10-805 - 60t TCG non-ferrous (and acrylic)

Highland Woodworking, Bibb Tool and Timberline Tools (through Amazon) sell Amana AGE's on-line.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=7462
http://www.bibbtool.com/-c-21_37.html

Just my $.02.
-kg

[Harley Lewis]

Kevin, good logic! I ordered a couple of the Amana blades yesterday, two Amana blades for the price of one Forest is a good deal if they perform like the ones you have installed in your equipment.

Harley

[John Thompson]

Hard to imagine that the Ridge you have is not getting the job done, Harley. The only reason I would think it wouldn't is that is has dulled and may need a trip to the local sharpener as does WWII.. Freud.. Amana.. etc. No matter how good a blade is designed... when it's dull it's dull and quality engineering won't over-come that.

Good luck...

Sarge..