Trying To Decide On A Dedicated TS 10" Crosscut Blade

[Ben Rivel]

Building up my new table saw setup and I currently have the following:

• Sawstop 3HP PCS
• Forrest Woodworker II 40T
• Forrest Duraline Hi/AT 80T
• Forrest Dado King
• Incra 1000HD Miter Gauge
• Incra Miter Express

And I am pretty sure Ill be adding a Forrest Woodworker II 30T Ripping blade for rough ripping of thicker stock (if that matters).

I am thinking I would like to add a dedicated crosscutting blade to the setup to hopefully provide finer crosscuts than the Woodworker II 40T will and to not use the Duraline Hi/AT for anything other than laminates and thin veneers keeping it sharp for those tasks. I am considering the Forrest Duraline ATB in either 60T or 80T (LINK or LINK) for a dedicated crosscutting blade for use with the Inrca miter gauge with or without the Incra Miter Express. I MIGHT be convinced to try a Frued blade, but so far nothing has made me feel a need to leave the Forrest lineup. Is there a different Forrest blade I should be considering or perhaps another brand that just is just that much better? What do you guys suggest?

[Steve Wurster]

I have the Freud LU85R010, and the cuts it produces are just incredible. The blade says "glass smooth" on it, and that's just what I get.

I do not own any Forrest blades.

[Joe Spear]

There is the Forrest Woodworker I, which is for crosscutting. It is a very good blade. The Forrest Duraline is excellent for plywood and laminates.

[Bruce Page]

Another vote for the Freud LU85. It's an excellent cross cut blade.

[John TenEyck]

I have and like the Freud LU85, too, but the Popular Tools LM1080 cuts even smoother on my TS. It's no good on anything thicker than about 4/4 stock but that's its only limitation. Tear out free cuts on solid wood, veneer plywood and even Melamine. No experience with Forrest blades, however.

John

[Ron Kellison]

Ridge Carbide and Tenyru both make very good blades. I have a Ridge combo blade on my TS and a Forrest Chopmaster on my Hitachi slider. The cut is glass smooth from both blades. You won't go wrong with a Forrest blade but there are others worth considering.

[Myk Rian]

Freud crosscut for the reasons above.

[Kent Adams]

Forrest Plywood Veneer, if you're cutting sheet goods. I have all those blades you listed as well as this one. It's a great blade. I owned the Freud LU85 but prefer the cut and stability of the Forrest PV. You've not said what you're crosscutting though.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I use an FS Tools 60T ATB for crosscuts.

It's a great blade.............Regards, Rod.

[Bill Adamsen]

For general use I have a 300mm (12") 60 tooth combination which sports 12 sets of five teeth leading with a raker followed by ATB with a 4mm (.157") kerf. It s Canadian made but I'm not sure who actually makes it (Laguna AT00812060). From the specs, it looks like it could very well be that same blade Rod mentions above - but I'm not sure. I have five of these and they really cut well. I can cut most plywood without a scoring blade and it meets my standards ... paired with scoring it could cut virtually anything chip free to the most finicky inspection.

But, preferring not to adjust scoring, for engineered surface materials and finicky plywood have a Duraline AT 100 tooth (300mm/12") and it cuts beautifully. I suspect most blades in its class (HATB, ATBFR) work just as well. It is a 0.125" kerf which means all adjustments on the saw are out of whack when switching between the Laguna and Forrest. It would not work for a general purpose blade.

[Ben Rivel]

There is the Forrest Woodworker I, which is for crosscutting. It is a very good blade. The Forrest Duraline is excellent for plywood and laminates.

I had thought about the Woodworker I, but it seems Forrest only makes it in a thin kerf for the 10" size now and those are not recommended for use with a SawStop, so Ill be staying all 1/8" kerf.

And thanks guys, Ill check out the Freud LU85. I have heard a lot about it.

[Ben Rivel]

So looking a bit into the Freud LU85 Ultimate Cut-Off Blade (LINK) I see its not a 1/8" kerf blade. Ill have to check with SawStop to see what they think of that. Also I thought I remembered reading the red coating on Freud blades doesnt interfere with the SawStop sensing ability, but Ill double check with them on that too I guess.

[John TenEyck]

It has the same plate thickness as Freud's other full kerf blades.

John

[Ben Rivel]

It has the same plate thickness as Freud's other full kerf blades.

John

But wouldnt match my other Forrest blades that are 1/8" kerf. I wonder how close Freud's 10" diameter is to the Forrest blades 10" diameter. That difference might mean more brake to blade distance adjustments too.

Hmmm... More to think about.

[Jon Nuckles]

My Freud Industrial is significantly less than 10" and does require additional adjustment when changing blades. SawStop technical support is aware of the issue with Freud blades. Freud appears to make its blades to a metric standard and markets them as 10" blades in the U.S. Great blades, but I am going to use something else in the future on my SawStop PCS to avoid the extra adjustment.