Need a new table saw blade

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Haynie

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Joined
May 20, 2011
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Page Arizona
My table saw blade is as old as the table saw and I am pretty sure I am the 3rd or fourth owner. The saw is nothing to write home about but it is all I have right now.

I have never bought a table saw blade. The only thing I know about them is they are round, should be sharp, and they can be cheap to very expensive.

I have a tenru (sp) metal blade on one of circular saws and it is a nice blade but don't know what their wood blades are like.

Any and all thoughts are welcome.
 
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A blade? only one? I use my table saw a lot and have about 6 different blades depending on what I am cutting, how I am cutting and such. I only use Freud or the Freud Diablo, I have tried just about every other brand and keep going back. BUT the question is what are you wanting to cut?
 
Tenryu blades are FANTASTIC in my professional opinion! I run nothing but Tenryu Gold Medal blades on my Delta Unisaw when cutting wood. They are not cheap but they are the best I have used. I have used all the others and have stuck with Tenryu. My 40 tooth Gold Medal will make smoother cuts than my 80 tooth Freud Industrial blade (not the ones from Home Depot) I have 4 Tenryu Gold Medals that I keep in rotation through the saw sharpening shop. I have about 15 other high quality wood cutting blades and they never get used. Can't say enough good about an often overlooked blade.
 
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I use a Irwin Marathon blades and like them. I don't know they compare with some of other blades mentioned though. I've never used Tenryu or frued.
 
Forrest Mfg

I have about 4 different Forrest blades as well as a dado set. All are excellent and their resharpening service is excellent as well.

I wanted to try a Tenryu, but at the time, they didn't have a full kerf version of the blade I wanted (they do now). Tenryu have an exellent reputation. I have also heard good things about blades from Ridge Carbide, but no experience.
 
People seem to have different blades for different purposes.

What do you have the different blades for. I understand the Dado sets but not sure about what you would use the others for. I am sure this is painfully obvious but the urchins have sucked my brain dry today.
 
Saw blades have many different tooth configurations and grind profiles for different purposes. In my case I use a 40 tooth ATB combination blade for general purpose woork. It is a good compromise for cross cutting and ripping. If I am ripping thick hardwood stock, I use a 24 or 30 tooth blade. For making box joints, I use an alternate top bevel with raker blade because it gives flat bottoms on the kerfs. For plywood and fine cross cutting, 60 and 80 teeth blades work well.

I am a blade changer so using different blades to get the finish cuts I am after is standard for me.
 
Blades

Faulty and old blades are just straight out dangerous with things like, out of balance,metal fatigue and temper lost.

Secondly most people try to do everything with one blade, the majority of time one rips timber on bench saws therefor using a ripping blade gives better performance, since changing our philosophy at our wood club we have used one high performance / wood metal blade for 3 years and not even sharpened it.
We use a variety of cross grain cutting saws for other cuts.

Getting the right bush inserts is also important, plus there are many good brands out there but buyer beware, many of he known brand names are scouring Asian, the good European companies are better quality local steels.
Hope this helps.
Chris
 
Forrest! I have others and some do pretty well but for over 40 years I have used Forrest and their sharpening service and none have proven to be better.
WB
 
I'm an amateur who tries to avoid blade changes. I'd recommend a combination blade with about 40 teeth and alternating top bevel (ATB). While the Forrest Woodworker II has been a "gold standard" blade, I'm reading great things about the Tenryu Gold Medal and it's less money. If that's still too pricey for your needs, the other overachieving new kid on the block is the Irwin Marples. I've not tried either of these yet (currently using an Infinity), but one (or both) are on my buy next list.
 
Tenryu blades are FANTASTIC in my professional opinion! I run nothing but Tenryu Gold Medal blades on my Delta Unisaw when cutting wood. They are not cheap but they are the best I have used. I have used all the others and have stuck with Tenryu. My 40 tooth Gold Medal will make smoother cuts than my 80 tooth Freud Industrial blade (not the ones from Home Depot) I have 4 Tenryu Gold Medals that I keep in rotation through the saw sharpening shop. I have about 15 other high quality wood cutting blades and they never get used. Can't say enough good about an often overlooked blade.

Our plant bought one by mistake and first cut I made and didn't have to sand I was sold on them. It's all we buy now. When you rip something you can't even see a saw mark!
 
Dimar also makes a number of table saw blades. I bought a box with 3 blades for various types of work and one of their dado sets for cabinet makers
 
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