SC3 slider blade

[scott lipscomb]

I picked up an older SC3 slider a few months ago and have taken it apart and put it back together a few times and I finally am beginning to understand the nuances of the slider mechanism. I thought maybe some of the parts were worn (which didn't make a lot of sense to me, as the machine appears to be pretty unused), but it turns out that everything just needed adjustment. I switched out all of the bearings (which were really cheap, BTW) and I have the machine really dialed in and I am happy.

Now, I am looking for a new blade. The machine is designed for a 12" blade, and has a 5/8" arbor. The choices that I see out there are Forrest and Ridge. The Woodworker II and the 2000 are their respective combo blades. I think that these would fit the bill, though I expect that I will use the machine more for crosscutting than for ripping. I still have a PM66 set up and I actually tend to rip on my bandsaw. In 25 years, Ive launched 2 pieces, and both were panels that were nearly square, but still, I like that the SC3 has a very nice riving knife. What I don't like is to have to remove the crosscut table to rip.

I am leaning towards the 48 tooth Forrest blade. It'll cost me nearly $200, though, so I am wondering if there are any other ideas out there. Is a bushing a bad idea, or a non-issue? Any other 12"/5/8" blades out there that my internet fu is not finding? I see Amana may have some offerings, but they all look like sheet good blades and are in the same ballpark. I'd happily buy a Feud, but it doesn't look like they offer anything.

[Erik Loza]

Regarding bushings, Amana makes them and I actually bought a packet of assorted ones from Harbor Freight that worked fine for the Italian machines. BTW, be prepared to dress the OD, ID, and possibly thickness of the bushings with some emery cloth or wet sanding paper. The bushings work fine but will require some "massaging" for perfect fit. Hope this helps.

Erik

[Jim Becker]

I've been standard on the WW-II Blades for almost two decades. I use the 48T WW-II 12 on my S315WS slider and it's the exact width of my scoring blade, too. You can get it for a decent price from Silvers Mill for $150. https://www.sliversmill.com/product_..._Offer_In.html

[Darcy Warner]

Everlast, fs tool, popular tools, etc.
Tons of way better commercial blades out there that are significantly cheaper and better than anything Forrest.

[Brian W Evans]

I have a slider and use a WWII almost exclusively. I originally bought blades bored for 1" arbors because they were cheaper and more readily available. I use a bushing with them. I'm pretty sure my bushings are Vermont-American, which is a pretty low-rent brand. I did have to do some sanding to get the bushings to fit right, but now they work great. I recently ordered another WWII and a dado set directly from Forrest with 5/8" arbor holes, which I think might have been a slight up-charge on one of the blades.

BTW, I used my scoring blade for the first time on Tuesday and the results were AMAZING. If you've never tried it, do so immediately!

[Patrick Kane]

I know a lot of people love the combo blades, particularly the WWII combo, but after having several different blades, it will always be dedicated blades for me. I would go as far as to say i would rather have two dedicated freud blades than a combo Forrest. 40 teeth on a 10" blade is way too many for ripping, and really not enough for crosscutting. I run two felder blades on my slider and a ridge carbide blade on my cabinet saw. After having the ridge carbide blade for a year, i severely question why i spent $150 on a top shelf ripping blade. I think Mark Bolton told me to get a cheapy last year, and i didnt listen. With the powermatic in place, id start with a great crosscutting blade on the SCM and see if you ever find yourself ripping on it.

[Mark Bolton]

Im with Darcy, we dont spend the money on the forrest. Freud industrials are some of our go-to blades and are running some Amana's now. I run bushings on 12" blades that are bored 1" on one saw that has 5/8" arbor and while I would say its fine, there is likely a tiny bit of increased vibration but Im no nickle tester.

Have a few high dollar blades but I honestly would never see the value in a 150-200 dollar blade for much of anything but I dont cut any fine/hardwood ply or anything like that on a saw. I go for the least expensive full kerf heavy carbide blades I can find (not cheap but least expensive) that can take multiple resharps.

You'd be pretty surprised at what a good quality heavy carbide full kerf (non glue line rip) blade will produce with a decent setup. Feeder puts it over the top, but even hand fed, and especially with a slider, my help has to look real hard to figure out which is the sawn edge. Plain jane hardwood glue ups come straight off a good sharp rip blade and into glue and clamps. Now if it were a 20K conference table,.. maybe a second step with a finer blade, but day to day work, no dice.

[Todd Solomon]

I've been standard on the WW-II Blades for almost two decades. I use the 48T WW-II 12 on my S315WS slider and it's the exact width of my scoring blade, too. You can get it for a decent price from Silvers Mill for $150. https://www.sliversmill.com/product_..._Offer_In.html

Thanks Jim, appreciate the lead. Do you use the WWII 48 tooth for most everything? I am about to buy for my slider, was thinking 40T. I'm lazy, hoping to leave the same blade on as much as is practical.

[Jim Becker]

Thanks Jim, appreciate the lead. Do you use the WWII 48 tooth for most everything? I am about to buy for my slider, was thinking 40T. I'm lazy, hoping to leave the same blade on as much as is practical.

Pretty much everything. I still have my older 20T WW-II 10" ripping blade if I need to do something gnarly. I own an 80T sheet goods blade that came with my saw, but I never bothered to get it sharpened and it just sits in my blade drawer system. I keep two of the Forrest blades; one on the saw and one "out for sharpening"...which reminds me...I need to send it out. There are so many good blades, for sure, but again, I have stuck with the brand because I prefer the consistent tooth width which is nailed to exactly .125" and matches my scoring blade. We all have our habits...

[scott lipscomb]

Thanks everyone for the help. I ordered a 48t Forrest Combo blade from Silversmill. Thanks Jim. Darcy-I checked out some industrial suppliers like you suggested, but I didn't see any combination blades, but, honestly, I didn't look that hard at them as it appears that one has to be pretty knowledgeable on the subject of saw blades to effectively navigate the choices, and, alas, I am too lazy to educate myself properly, and the Forrest seems like it fits the bill.

[Mark e Kessler]

I am using Freud industrials, 48 atb pretty much for everything, don’t know why anyone wants a “combination” blade must be marketing... If I hadn’t got the freuds for $25 each due to an amazon screwup probably would have gone with Tenryu, fs tool...

Im with Darcy, we dont spend the money on the forrest. Freud industrials are some of our go-to blades and are running some Amana's now. I run bushings on 12" blades that are bored 1" on one saw that has 5/8" arbor and while I would say its fine, there is likely a tiny bit of increased vibration but Im no nickle tester.

Have a few high dollar blades but I honestly would never see the value in a 150-200 dollar blade for much of anything but I dont cut any fine/hardwood ply or anything like that on a saw. I go for the least expensive full kerf heavy carbide blades I can find (not cheap but least expensive) that can take multiple resharps.

You'd be pretty surprised at what a good quality heavy carbide full kerf (non glue line rip) blade will produce with a decent setup. Feeder puts it over the top, but even hand fed, and especially with a slider, my help has to look real hard to figure out which is the sawn edge. Plain jane hardwood glue ups come straight off a good sharp rip blade and into glue and clamps. Now if it were a 20K conference table,.. maybe a second step with a finer blade, but day to day work, no dice.

[Jim Becker]

Mark, I use the "combination" blade (WW-II) because it's suitable for the majority of the cutting I do which bounces around constantly between cross cutting, ripping, working with sheet stock, etc. I'd go to a dedicated purpose blade if I was going to be doing a big job of something heavy, but for "general woodworking" switching blades is time consuming given how much variability there is in my work minute to minute. The other thing, which I previously have mentioned, is that my use of a "standard" blade for my work means my kerf is always exactly the same. There is unfortunately a large variation in kerf width across the various blade choices and brands.

[Erik Loza]

I've used a bunch of "Combo" blades over the years (Royce/Forrest/Tenryu, and some of the German and Italian rebranded ones, plus all the usual contractor brands) and honestly, they all seemed to work fine for general-purpose use. To Jim's point, for the weekend warrior like most of us, if you find one combo blade that works well, why over-think it? Where I see woodworkers running into issues is using totally the wrong blade for the task. Like using a fine-tooth laminate blade for crosscutting wet lumber or something along those lines. If I did a lot of a laminates, then I would definitely want a dedicated laminate cutting blade (and keep the scoring blade adjusted just for that) but for all-purpose use, I've never had a problem with good quality combo blades. Just my 2-cents.

Erik

[Todd Solomon]

Thanks everyone for the help. I ordered a 48t Forrest Combo blade from Silversmill. Thanks Jim. Darcy-I checked out some industrial suppliers like you suggested, but I didn't see any combination blades, but, honestly, I didn't look that hard at them as it appears that one has to be pretty knowledgeable on the subject of saw blades to effectively navigate the choices, and, alas, I am too lazy to educate myself properly, and the Forrest seems like it fits the bill.

I did too. I picked up a Forrest 10" 48T that I can use with my scoring blade, plus a 12" 30T for a bunch of thick rips that I will be doing on my next project. You will be very happy with the WWII, exceptional blades.

[Mark e Kessler]

Jim, Eric

Guess I never had the need for a combo blade as a well made ATB cuts well in all applications, the only time I swap blades is if I have a critical xcut and then I use a 120t ATB, or if i have a ton of ripping (8/4 and above) to do then a 28t ATB they all have the same kerf (for now anyways). if I cut laminate or melamine I would probably go with a neg hook TCB grind.

At one time when I had a cabinet saw I tried a combo blade and didn’t like it in fact I found myself switching more often then just sticking with an atb. However it wasn’t a forrest so maybe that was the issue. I did have a Forrest high atb and it cut melamine with virtually no tear out but it screamed, I couldn’t even use it it was so loud, i gave it away with the saw when I sold it.