Freud PRO blade kerf

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I used a Freud professional saw blade for the first time last year - after around 30 years as an amateur woodworker. I felt in love with them - way better than anything I had used in all previous years with my table saws. Now I have three of them: a 24-tooth ripping, a 40-tooth general purpose and a 80-tooth special purpose (man made materials) blades. All of them are a joy to use. I am plenty glad.

BTW I have a doubt. I have read these blades are 1/8-inch kerf but all cuts I have made I am with 3.5mm width, consistently (well, personally I prefer this round metric size than the crazy 1/8-inch converted to metric). Actually I did not measured the blade's tooth width but only the sawing results. It looks their kerf is slightly bigger than 1/8-inch. Could you also confirm that?

Thanks in advance for your input,

All the best,

[Mark Bolton]

For clarification if your saying with the 1/8" blade your getting cuts wider than 1/8 that would be completely understandable. Arbor runout, saw rigidity, how you feed, material thickness, and so on would all have an effect on the actual kerf.

[Lee Schierer]

What blade numbers are you using?

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Im confused. You say it looks like their kerf is slightly bigger than 1/8" (.1875) and you say your measuring 3.5mm (.138"). So your measuring about fifty thousands under 1/8".

I have honestly never measured the kerf. We run the Freud industrial full kerf blades a lot (the main blade we run in different configurations). We run them for the thicker plate and heavier carbide. I can only imagine the blades are made to metric spec's and branded to inch for sales purposes. Its never dawned on me to check. We just like heavier blades and the price is hard to beat especially on their rip blades.

1/8 inch = 0.125 inch = 3.175 mm
3.5 mm = 0.138 inch

[Osvaldo Cristo]

What blade numbers are you using?

If I have the correct notes here in the library, they are:

LP67M 002P (80-tooth finishing) - actually this one looks closer to 3 mm
LU84R011 (50-tooth combination)
LM72R010 (24-tooth ripping)

[Rick Potter]

My rip blade is 1/8", right on the money. As mentioned above, if your blade to table is off slightly, it will plow a bit larger on rips. Same with the fence if it's off.

Try cutting into a board about an inch and stop. This will give you a kerf that has not been through both sides of the blade. See if the measurement is different.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

By specs, all those blades are 3.2 mm or 0.126 inch (slightly bigger than 1/8 inch) kerf accordingly to Freud's site.

Measuring more precisely, my results at wood are 3.2 to 3.4 mm. Despite my saw looks very well adjusted, perhaps, like suggested previously, there is some wobble adding something up to 0.2 mm to the cut width. I think I can live with that...

Thank you very much for everyone that took his time to help me to stay more tranquil!

All the best,

[Mark Bolton]

1/8 inch = 0.125 inch = 3.175 mm
3.5 mm = 0.138 inch

Lol, brain fart. Had the 3 in my head and thinking 3/16. Old age setting in.

[Lee Schierer]

If I have the correct notes here in the library, they are:

LP67M 002P (80-tooth finishing) - actually this one looks closer to 3 mm
LU84R011 (50-tooth combination)
LM72R010 (24-tooth ripping)

I measured the teeth on several of my Freud industrial blades that have never been sharpened with a micrometer. Here is what I measured:
My LM74M with 60 teeth measure .1255
LU73M with 60 teeth measure .127
F80 with 80 teeth measure .128

I did not attempt to measure kerf widths as it really doesn't matter, because it is what it is and kerf widths will vary somewhat with the hardness of the wood and exact blade to miter slot alignment.

My saw is dialed in pretty close, but I'm sure I get an extra thousandth or two of kerf due to cutting pressure, blade deflection and alignment error.

This is woodworking, not precision metal working so a few thousandths of an inch or .025-.05 mm isn't going to make any difference in a woodworking project.

[Ed Edwards]

Lee,
Kinda hard sharpening a blade with a mic isn't?
"I measured the teeth on several of my Freud industrial blades that have never been sharpened with a micrometer."
Ed

[Lee Schierer]

Lee,
Kinda hard sharpening a blade with a mic isn't?
"I measured the teeth on several of my Freud industrial blades that have never been sharpened with a micrometer."
Ed

You don't know how well it works until you try it. Some folks advocate using 6,000 grit stones, I prefer the finish I get with a precision polished micrometer pad. I tried using dial calipers, but the dial just didn't improve the cut quality.