I've had good results with my Forest WW2....
Jerry
I have had Forest ww 2 blades on my saws for the last 20 years or more and leave it on for everything. Have the dado set too. I am sure there are other good blades but I am happy with them so look no further.
Phil
I was really looking for a single blade that will give excellent (I mean best possible) results in both ripping and cross cutting operations. Price not issue. But what I am hearing is that there is no such thing. Either I accept the limitation of a general purpose which is pretty good, but not the best possible, or I deal with two blades, which will give me the best possible performance, at the cost of enduring inconvenience of changing blades.
I really don't like changing blades much. So I guess I may have to go for all three. I will have a very good GP blade which will give me, in general, great results, and will stay on the saw by default. But occassionally when I need absolutely best results in ripping or cross cutting, then will have to temporarily switch to specific blade.
I guess that concludes this thread.
Hard to beat FREUD! Readily available at very competitive prices. 50T Combo is my all around fav! 80T ATB for very fine trim work.
[/SIGPIC]Necessisity is the Mother of Invention, But If it Ain't Broke don't Fix It !!
I'm currently using a CMT ITK 50T combo blade that I found at Lowes, at it cuts really nicely. I should mention that I'm mainly cutting ply at the moment, but this thing cuts way better than any other $40 blade I've used.
If you want 1 blade then either the Freud P410 (my favorite and they just released the thin kerf version), the Forrest WWII 40T combo, my second fav and third would be the Tenryu Gold Medal combo. All of these are great blades and quite close in quality and price.
My vote: a really sharp one.
I like Tenryu. I have a 40t combination that needs sharpening. Excellent quality, and amazingly quiet, but hard to find. You also can't go wrong with Forrest--I have a WWII that I'd say cuts as well as the Tenryu, but is not as quiet. It's the main blade I'm using now. When I need to do a lot of ripping, I use a Freud 24t rip blade, that I really need to send out for sharpening.
My Makita came with an 80t Tenryu blade, and it lasted me about 5 years. I replaced it with a Forrest 80t.
For dados, I have a Freud dado set--may upgrade that to a Forrest set at some point in the near future.
My go to blade is the Freud Fusion, for $99.00 it's a fantastic choice. Now if I'm going to match the blade to the job, I like Jeff favor the Tenryu blades. You won't be sorry if you purchase any of these blades.
Milind - There are strengths and weaknesses even within the subgroup of premium general purpose blades. Some are more efficient ripping, while others are stronger with fine crosscuts and ply work...efficient ripping and clean crosscutting are really opposing design objectives. The very characteristics that make the blade more efficient at ripping, make it have greater tearout on crosscuts and ply, and the characteristics that give some blades very low tearout tend to make them less efficient at ripping. Within this classication, the WWII, TS2000, and Gold Medal are all fairly similar ATB grinds that are stronger at ripping than fine crosscuts (the TS2000 and one of the optional WWII grinds includes a flat raker in the mix with the ATB grind). Inversely, the Super General and Fusion have dual side grinds and a Hi-ATB grind that excel at fine crosscuts/ply cuts and very smooth edges when ripping, but they're less efficient in thicker ripping operations. Within this class either type can be the best performer depending on the particular task, but none are best at both ends of the spectrum by virtue of the limitations of any given design.
The traditional choices for using separate blades are a 24T ripper, and an 80T crosscut/ply blade. Some folks add a general purpose/combo blade and/or a specialty ply blade to the same mix to ensure excellent performance in all tasks...obviously a more expensive choice that requires frequent blade changes.
It's possible to go with a 30T and a 60T blade set that spreads the range of excellence relative to single 40/50T GP/combo blade, yet they don't require the frequent blade changes of a 24T/80T scenario. The Forrest 30T WWII is nearly as clean cutting as the 40T, and is notably more efficient in thick ripping in thicknesses approaching full blade height. It'll come close to the efficiency of a standard 24T ripper, has a cleaner cut than a 24T ripper, and even offers acceptable crosscuts in many situations. It's obvious weakness is in fine crosscuts and ply, where even the 40T isn't overly strong. A good 60T blade like the Forrest WWI or Infinity 010-060 offer a Hi-ATB grind with a positive hook angle that offers excellent fine crossuts and ply cuts, and very clean rips up to ~ 5/4", which covers ripping of most commonly used thicknesses. Each is suitable for most common general purpose work, yet each also offers a taste of the purebred performance of the separates but with much greater range. They're an excellent complement to each other. Whichever blade is in the saw should be very suitable most of the time, but you'll still have really strong performance at each extreme if you switch them accordingly, which is likely to be the minority of cuts.
Food for thought...
Last edited by scott spencer; 03-21-2010 at 11:26 AM.
Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....
I like the $60 Freud LU84 50-tooth ATB&R combo blade.
If I'm doing a lot of ripping, I use a fairly cheap (at Lowe's) Irwin TK ripping blade and the rips are glue-line quality (not that that's saying all that much)...
I've been using Systematic blades for over 20 years; generally rip in the cabinet saw and 80t in the CMS. I buy them from my friend at the saw shop and keep them sharp at the same place; one on the tool and one in the shop.
I have a 40T Forrest WWII. If I had only 1 blade, that would be it. Overhyped maybe, but definetely one of the best blades out there IMO.
I also have Freud Glue line rip, 60T cross and 40T combo. Yes, the Glue line rips better and the 60 gives better cross cuts.
Scott, I completely agree with you (actually, you just put into words what I was thinking, well, OK, close to what I was thinking !).
I think I am going to choose a best general purpose blade (I am thinking of Forrest WWII 40T) which will cover most of my work and will be on the saw all the time. In addition, I will have a 24T for best ripping and a 80T or 96T for best cross cutting which will be reserved for rare "minority" supercuts.