Table Saw Blades, do you need to spend a fortune?

[scott spencer]

Good blades can make a big difference on a saw, but you don't need to spend a fortune for top notch performance. Separate task specific blades ensure best performance for every task.

Forrest makes some great blades, but are among the most expensive options with nearly every example of a comparable grind type and tooth count. Infinity are some of the very best blades I've used, and I highly recommend them for hobby use. Ridge Carbide, Tenryu Gold Medal, Freud Industrial, Amana Tool, and CMT Industrial also makes some excellent blades.

[glenn bradley]

Could you elaborate a bit on the bad experiences you had with them?

Simon

I’ll chime in that my WWII never cut as good as my other blades. I had it resharpened and was still unimpressed. Many, many people love their WWII’s so there’s got to be something right about them. My experience just wasn’t the norm.

As mentioned, there are many quality blade manufactures readily available today. Better quality cutters have a longer lifespan and can be re-sharpened many times resulting in an actual lower cost over the life of the blade. Better quality cutters certainly elevated my woodworking. Other steps in assuring a quality cut for me (outside of a well aligned machine) were task specific blades, keeping your cutters clean and regular inspection to determine if any attention is required.

The benefit of this varies with what you use your tablesaw for. A blade suited for ripping thick stock is going to do better than your 40 tooth do-it-all cutter. A plywood specific blade does a better job at ply and a high tooth count crosscut blade will leave a clean surface and edge during cross cutting.

Lots of blade and bit cleaners are out there. I use L.A. Awesome from the Dollar Store. A one dollar bottle lasts me about a year and out performs products I've tried form CMT, Rockler and others. Extreme Simple Green also does a good job for a little ore money. Like L.A. Awesome it does not contain anything that bothers the brazing. On that heated discussion I have altered my views a bit reading a test performed by Carbide Processors here; I'll stick with what is working for me. The point is, find what works for you and clean your cutters .

Another benefit for me is that in ordering higher end cutters you can often specify some parameters without extra cost. My combo and higher tooth count blades all have .125" kerfs. This means that all my jigs, fence scale and other measurement sensitive functions on the tablesaw work for all those blades without adjusting for different blade tip widths. Nothing really comes straight off a machine and goes to assembly in my shop. Even still, I would like as clean and as accurate a cut as possible from my cutters. Do you need to move up a tier in your cutter selection? Only you can really answer that.

[Simon MacGowen]

I’ll chime in that my WWII never cut as good as my other blades. I had it resharpened and was still unimpressed. Many, many people love their WWII’s so there’s got to be something right about them. My experience just wasn’t the norm.
.

Among Freud (50t), SS Titanium, WWII and another blade (forgot its name) I have used in recent years, WWII gives me the finest finish (no to least burn marks). I wonder if my frequent cleaning of the blades may explain my trouble-free exp. with the WWII.

Simon

[Edwin Santos]

Yes, Forrest blades are a waste of money.
Never had one I ever liked.

Good blades last longer, can be sharpened for years, retoothed, etc. basically cheaper over the life span.

Darcy,
What blades do you like?

[Edwin Santos]

In my experience the Forrest blades are indeed very good, but I get the feeling the rest of the market has caught up with them. I have had good results with Tenryu blades, and I think the Freud full kerf heavy duty ripping blade is excellent but I haven't tried other Freud blades (yet). Both of the latter can be had for far less than Forrest and I have found good, reputable sellers on Ebay if you're inclined.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I own two Forest WWII's, but the blade I use everyday is a DeWalt/Delta 7657 (own several.) I also have a HO Shumacher blade that is made by Leitz that I use for veneer plywood.

[Jim Becker]

I've used Forrest blades pretty much from the beginning. In fact, I still have the two 10" WW-II 40t blades I bought in the early 2000s and they have been sharpened multiple times. I only recently stopped using them in favor of new 12" versions of the same since that's the optimal size for my slider, even though the 10" versions worked just fine. If I do the math...I roughly paid about $100 each and they were purchased in about 2000 or 2001...that's really not very expensive at all. The hard carbide lasts a long time and for more sharpenings than many less-expensive-at-initial-purchase blades. And I agree with the comment that you don't need multiple types of blades for most cuts. For ripping really thick material, a 20T or 30T blade is more efficient, but most folks are cutting .75-1" thick material most of the time. And no, I don't believe they are over-rated.

Silver's Mill has excellent prices for WW-II... currently on sale for $119 each for 10" 40T.

[Neil Gaskin]

I like Forrest. Their teeth seems to stay sharp a bit longer than say Freud. Our saws see daily prolonged use and I do not change them nearly as frequently as less expensive blades. I’ve recently tried two blades from ridge carbide in a couple of SCMS and so far I’m impressed.

[David Kumm]

When you compare Forrest to Freud, CMT, etc. Forrest seems top of the heap. When you compare to Leitz, Leuco, Nap Gladu, Royce Ayr, or FS Tool, Forrest just seems average. With industrial blades it is more about sharpening than any differences in the manufacturers. Joe Calhoon likes Kanefusa but I haven't used them. I've used most of the others I've mentioned. Dave

[Brian Nguyen]

I have one each of the Forrest WWII, a Freud, and a Dewalt construction combination blades, used them all in four different saws--a Ridgid Ridgid R4513 (the portable TS), Craftsman 113, Delta unisaw, and currently a new Grizzly 833P hybrid. Strangely, it feels like the Forrest is most dissapointing, the Freud is above average, and believe it or not the Dewalt seemed to perform the best. I don't think it's the high expectations due to high costs either, the Forrest just seem to struggle through ripping 6/4 boards with burns, whereas the Freud and the cheap Dewalt tears through it all. I'm only using the Forrest at the moment out of pure stubbornness but I'm finding that I am using the bandsaw to rip and clean up with a hand plane more and more as oppose to ripping on the TS and sighing afterward.

Not sure if I got a dud WWII or not.

[Andrew Hughes]

I like Forrest blades they cut good on my saw and seems quieter than some others I've tried.

[Nick Decker]

I have two WWIIs, one regular and one thin kerf. They work very well for me as combination blades, but as you would expect, you'll get better results with a rip blade for ripping. For that I have a thin kerf Freud and a full kerf Infinity.

Several people here pointed me toward Dynamic Saw for resharpening and both my WWII blades are there at the moment. I called the other day to give them my payment info and had a conversation with one of the owners about blades in general. Very enjoyable and informative. They also have a series of YouTube vids you can access from their website.

[lee cox]

I am a hobbyist but I am impressed with the Freud Industrial saw blades. I have the Freud Industrial Cabinetmakers 60T saw Blade and a Freud

Industrial 24T rip saw blade. I also have Forrest dado saw blade and a 8 inch with tight zero insert which I use for cutting veneer and thin plastics. The 8 inch blade is very thin. I have a Unisaw 3 hp.

I had a Freud saw blade in the past on a Delta contractor saw which I did not like. It made a weird noise when it spun.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I had a Freud saw blade in the past on a Delta contractor saw which I did not like. It made a weird noise when it spun.

If it was a 50 tooth combo blade, it makes the same high pitched whine that ALL 50 tooth combo blades do.

[lee cox]

I don't mind changing blades so I like having a rip blade and a crosscut blade. I probably will not use a combo blade anymore if they make that high pitched whine. It takes very little time to change blades.