Best blade for ripping 45 degree miter cuts?

[Mike Ontko]

I'm looking for recommendations based on your experiences even though the title of this posting seems like it's already answered the question--what's the best blade to use for ripping 45-degree miter cuts. Would the cuts be cleaner and easier to make with a dedicated rip blade, or could a decent combination blade do the job just as well if not better. As a point of reference, I'm going to be cutting these miters on both sides of 3/4" red oak boards (finished dimension), at 3-1/2" in width with varying lengths of 22" to 64". The work will be done on a 2-hp, 10" table saw.

I have a dedicated Oshlun SBW-100024 rip blade (24 tpi, ATB, .126" kerf) that does a decent job with 90-degree rips and a Forrest WWII (40 tpi, ATB, .125" kerf) that's typically been my go-to for different types of cuts like miters and coves. But would either of these be better suited to making the long miter rips at 45-degrees?

[Jim Becker]

The only time I pull out a dedicated rip blade (mine is a 10" 20T Forrest WW-II) is for very thick rips, especially when the material is "gnarly". Otherwise, I use my normal Forrest WW-II combination blades for all rips and cross-cuts, including those with miters.

[Ted Derryberry]

I don't think the blade cares what angle you set, it's just a matter of the effective thickness of the stock. If I wanted a truly smooth bevel I would do it on a shaper or router table. Maybe remove some material with the table saw first to make it easier on the router table.

[Mike Ontko]

I don't think the blade cares what angle you set, it's just a matter of the effective thickness of the stock. If I wanted a truly smooth bevel I would do it on a shaper or router table. Maybe remove some material with the table saw first to make it easier on the router table.

Ted, funny you should mention this because my original plan was to use a lock miter bit in my router table (uses a Bosch 1617EVS, 2-1/4 hp), but I'm concerned that I don't have enough power (the 2-1/4 hp) to ensure clean and accurate cuts over the length of all the boards I need to run. The table saw approach, combined with #0 or #10 biscuits seems like it would be the fastest and cleanest (and maybe safest) approach. The test cuts I've made so far with the lock miter bit (from Infinity), require a really slow feed and seem like they'd turn out best using solid support from feather boards or feed rollers (which I don't have).

[Rod Sheridan]

I don't think the blade cares what angle you set, it's just a matter of the effective thickness of the stock. If I wanted a truly smooth bevel I would do it on a shaper or router table. Maybe remove some material with the table saw first to make it easier on the router table.

That's what I would do as well, I don't own a router however the shaper does a great job with lock mitre joints..........Rod.

[Lee Schierer]

It depends somewhat on the Hp of your saw, the wood being cut and the thickness of what you are cutting. My saw is only 1-1/2 Hp so I tend to change blades to make the cuts faster. If I had a 3 Hp or larger saw maybe I would stick with a combination blade. A 60 tooth crosscut blade is going to run hot making a long rip in thick hardwood.

[Ted Derryberry]

DoubleRabbet.JPGDepending on the look you want here's a joint you might consider. It's two identically sized rabbets. One board is cut flat and the other on edge. You can size them so the exposed joint is very close to the corner and almost invisible. Also size them so the thin edge protrudes beyond the face of the other board and then plane/route/sand it flush. You have some of the advantages of a lock miter but none of the hassle and it can be cut with a shaper, router table, hand held router or table saw using standard square tooling. I generally reserve it for painted projects, but might consider it with stain/clear coat depending on what it is and how visible the corner will be.

Whatever you decide on, I'd make some test cuts/joints before committing to the whole project.

[Mike Ontko]

DoubleRabbet.JPGDepending on the look you want here's a joint you might consider. ...

Thanks again, Ted. I looked into this kind of approach earlier but now that you've brought it up I feel like I didn't give it enough consideration. My objective is to create posts and rails for the head- and footboards of a bed frame. The design (based on images found online - pic below) is a shabby-chic thing that looks like an assembly of pallet wood. I'm using red oak, 3/4" (milled from 4/4 stock) cut down to short pieces, stained, glued back together with dowels to create full length boards, and then joined to form posts and rails that are 3-1/2" square, but much lighter overall (and less costly) then full dimension lumber.

To make them appear as solid posts, the look requires clean mitered corners...or now that you've mentioned it, at least corners that look cleanly mitered.

OscarReclaimedWoodbyKosasHome.jpg

[scott spencer]

Your 40T WWII should make a cleaner cut than your 24T Oshlun