Bladerunner? Should I return it?

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yorkie

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Mar 2, 2009
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Charlotte, North Carolina
Bought a bladerunner X2 and tried it on a couple of different blanks but it takes a lot of pressure to cut through a blank and I'm just not getting a sense of fit for purpose.
Should I stick with it and buy different blades or buy something else instead?
What would you use?
 
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TonyL

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Mar 9, 2014
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Maybe, if you try cutting a very soft/light weight wood to see if you like the mechanics/engineering of it. If yes, then try upgrading to a carbide blade?

I have a Byrnes TS, but it cost much more than the bladerunner.

I am sure folks that have the BRII can give you better guidance.

In between the BR and the Byrnes is a Proxxon line (and MicroLux). I would just check the specs for depth of cut.
Here is a link to the Proxxon. I own their chop/miter, saw and like it: Proxxon TS
 

Joebobber

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Sep 24, 2018
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Erie, North Dakota
I bought 1 too. I hate it. Its a piece of junk. Even thin stuff with the foot down on the wood its so bouncy, and if there's a warp.... forget about it. Its a glorified jig saw without the benefits of a jigsaw. I was so unhappy with mine. Although, it did handle brass well... go figure and the blades are easy to change, unless you lose the blade pusher down tool (guilty)
 
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leehljp

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I don't have one and although LOML wanted to give me one, I have too many specialty tools that get too little use.

That said - There may be a reason it is hard to cut. The wrong blades can wreak havoc on cutting. I mistakenly picked up some "DOWN-CUT blades to use on a new jigsaw 4 - 5 years ago and it caused the wood and jig saw to bounce and bounce. I had to press HARD to do any cutting with that jigsaw. Getting ready to give the saw away, and cleaning it, I noticed that it had the Down Cut blades versus normal UP-Cut blades. It is very easy to pick up the wrong blades at HD or Lowes.

Look at this picture - The 4th blade from the left is a LAMINATE blade and it looks the same as the others Except the Direction of the Teeth:

HomeDepot has laminate blades right beside the other blades and it is easy to pick up the wrong ones. The direction of the teeth make all the difference in the world, and so do the right blade for the cut.

I am not defending BladeRunner and don't care for it, but I do know that the wrong blade for the cut can make even a Bosch seem like a piece of junk if one is not aware of it.
 
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Joebobber

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Sep 24, 2018
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I don't have one and although LOML wanted to give me one, I have too many specialty tools that get too little use.

That said - There may be a reason it is hard to cut. The wrong blades can wreak havoc on cutting. I mistakenly picked up some "DOWN-CUT blades to use on a new jigsaw 4 - 5 years ago and it caused the wood and jig saw to bounce and bounce. I had to press HARD to do any cutting with that jigsaw. Getting ready to give the saw away, and cleaning it, I noticed that it had the Down Cut blades versus normal UP-Cut blades. It is very easy to pick up the wrong blades at HD or Lowes.

Look at this picture - The 4th blade from the left is a LAMINATE blade and it looks the same as the others Except the Direction of the Teeth:

HomeDepot has laminate blades right beside the other blades and it is easy to pick up the wrong ones. The direction of the teeth make all the difference in the world, and so do the right blade for the cut.

I am not defending BladeRunner and don't care for it, but I do know that the wrong blade for the cut can make even a Bosch seem like a piece of junk if one is not aware of it.
I would agree except they provide 2 wood blades and 2 metal blades and 1 diamond blade. With the brand new blades they provide it doesn't work very good.
 

AllanS

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Jun 13, 2022
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New Mexico
(6 months after the initial thread) Just for posterity and anyone else looking, I also have a Rockwell Bladerunner and also am not happy with it. I thought it would be a good solution for my limited work space but the cutting blade tends to deflect under any sort of pressure, making uneven cuts. Getting rid of the provided blades in favor of a better set helped, but not by much.

I think I'll gift myself with a Byrnes table saw as mentioned above. In a classic case of 'buy once, cry once.' I would have been better off getting that to begin with than having bought the Rockwell first and /then/ buying a quality tool later.
 

RGVPens

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Oct 4, 2021
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Mission TX
I bit the bullet a couple of months ago. I bought a Ricon 15" band saw! Great investment as I'll use it for other stuff also.
 
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