This week’s question comes from Jeff. He writes:
Hey Marc. I’m gearing up for an attempt at a maple and walnut (or mahogany) chess board. Question is, my blade on the 10″ table saw has gone thru a lot of MDF recently and its time to buy a new one. I’m looking to get some real clean and straight cuts and was wondering if I should buy a high tooth count blade for a nice finish. My current blade is still good for the rough stuff. I’m thinking 3/4 to 1 inch thick strips. Any suggestions?
And here was my reply:
Hi Jeff. The table saw blade is one of those things that I truly feel is worth investing a little extra money in. You can spend $100 on a good blade and have it sharpened once a year, or you can get a mediocre blade for $50 and have to replace it a couple times a year. Furthermore, one gives drastically better results than the other. To me, its a no-brainer. Personally I like Forrest blades. I use a 40 tooth Woodworker II. This is my all-purpose blade, from solid wood to plywood. And if you keep your box when you buy it, you can use that to send it back to Forrest for a perfect resharpening. Another company that I really like, but I do not own, is Tenryu. I have used their blades a few times and I thought they were just as good as Forrest, for about the same price. But because I already own Forrest and I use them for sharpening, I stick with Forrest. Incidentally, I always seem to find the best price at Amazon. Here is a link to the blade in my Amazon store:
20 Responses to “Tablesaw Blades: Which One To Buy?”
Being in the market just recently myslef for a combo blade I actually decided on the Freud Premier Fusion blade and so far it’s been great!! Although I would recommend the Forest Blades as well having purchased the Dado King set up and again so far it’s been an awesome set up. Spend an extra couple of bucks and you won’t regret it!
Hi Marc. Normally I’d agree with you but I personally believe there is no need to spend $100 on a good table saw blade. My reasoning behind this is that I have the Dewalt DW7657 in my table saw and it is just as sharp now as the day I bought it a year ago. It very closely resembles the forrest blade in the way it was made (40 tooth ATB, aggressive negative hook, thick C4 carbide, etc.)and the performance rivals that of a WWII as well. The best part is that right now at amazon it’s only $31.99 after the discount. With the performance the blade has given me the year I’ve had it I see no need to spend $100 on a forrest blade.
I saw a 7 1/4 inch WWII blade. I’ve tried to panel cut with a zero-clearance jig but can’t find a good blade to fit on my Porter Cable circular saw. The best I’ve found is a Freud(sp?) but I still have some tear-out unless I apply blue tape and score cut first before I through cut. So I’m wondering if the Woodworker II 7 1/4″ version of this blade would allow me to panel cut without all the fuss. My local Woodcraft has Festool blades but I don’t think they fit regular Circular Saws. Friends have said a regular circular saw can never do this job.
Hey Richard. I use a Freud blade on my Porter Cable circular saw and it does pretty well for me. But it is by no means a perfect cut. So there has to be something better that isnt as expensive as the Festool saw right? Well, if the performance of Forrest’s circular saw blade is anything like that of its bigger brothers, I would have to say it would be worth the investment. Unfortunately, I cant speak from experience since I never used one of the little guys. But upgrading to a premium blade would certainly be cheaper than upgrading to a whole new system like Festool.
If your going to spend the money for the good blades find a good person to sharpen them and they usually don’t come cheap either. There are lots of hacks out there that will mess up your good blades for a really cheap price!
Hey Marc,
I as well use WWII as well as a couple of freud blades. I do think that the forrest blades are slightly superior on overall multi-use platform but I would give a huge thumbs up to freud as well..
The question I have is the value of thin kerf vs standard blades. I recently purchased a thin kerf WWII on Amazon for a great price of $79.00. I do not see any difference in stiffness or the accuracy of my cuts between the two. I have asked around but I have never heard a good explanation of why one is better than the other and I would like to get your take on this….
Thanks,
John
Hey John. There are some that believe that a thin kerf blade wobbles a little bit more than a full kerf blade. This extra vibration results in a slightly less smooth cut. Would you need a microscope and a set of dial calipers to detect the difference? Probably. But just in case, there are blade stiffeners available that slide on the arbor after the blade and help to “steady” the blade.
But in reality, the most compelling reason to use a thin kerf blade is if you are running a lower horsepower saw. A 1HP saw, for instance, will be happier pushing a thin kerf blade. You should see a little performance increase. By the time you hit the 2HP range, the full kerf is perfectly fine. So I dont really see one being better than the other. I just see them serving two different purposes. Once you decide what you like, then you should stick with it since your splitter (if you have one installed), will only work with one or the other.
Marc,
I’ve really enjoyed your website. Keep up the good work.
Based on your recommend I decided to give the WWII saw blade a shot. The ‘problem’ is I ordered the blade through your website from amazon and amazon has the Forrest part numbers switched for the thick (1/8) and thin (3/32) kerf blades. I ordered a thick kerf but received a thin kerf. Heads up to anyone ordering from Amazon, check the last part of the item model number 125 vs 100.
I don’t want to use a stabilizer, that’s why I ordered the thick blade. But now I have in my hands the thin blade and don’t really want to hassle with returning it. I have a 3 hp saw so power shouldn’t be a problem. I read the previous response, that a stabilizer isn’t necessarily needed. Is there any downside to picking the thick kerf blade?
Next question to all you WWII users out there. When I received my blade the logo and lettering appears worn, similar to what a blade looks like after it’s been used a bit. Is that expected? I expected a new blade to have crisp sharp lettering, particularly a $100 blade, not this one. Anyone else experience this? I’m trying to decide whether I got a bad one or not. thanks
The logo on my new Forrest WWII blade also looked worn, but I didn’t worry about it because I knew it was a new blade. My saw uses an unusual size: 12†with a 5/8†arbor.
Anyway, I only use either Forrest or Festool blades. By the way, you can send your Festool blades to Forrest for sharpening. Oh, I guess I will put out one exception: if I’m just cutting rough lumber like 2x4s, I would use just any cheap blade like Dewalt. Why wear a good blade down when the cut quality really isn’t that important?
Hi Marc,
Continuing the blade conversation, what are your thoughts on dado blades? I’ve been looking and they seem to go as low as $50 for Grizzly set all the way up to almost $300. Frued looks to have an 8″ “professional” offering for $95 which is the way i’m leaning, but wanted to hear from the experts first.
Thanks in advance!
The high end dado blades are awesome. But they are incredibly expensive. Since a dado is not for everyday use, I see no reason to buy the $300 models. The Freud unit you mentioned is an excellent value and gets really good reviews. I have recommended that blade many times in the past. I think you will be happy with the results.
Follow up on my buy of WWII blades from Amazon. I contacted Amazon, told them they shipped me the wrong blade, told them I wanted the 1/8 kerf. They were great, got right back to me, said they would drop the 1/8 kerf blade in the mail, free shipping. They did all that, except, you guessed it, it was another 3/32 kerf blade. So I’m good with that now. I’ve decided to stick with the thin kerf blade.
The new blade, nice new packaging, looks sharp, and it has the same worn out looking letters as the first blade. I’m assuming that Forrest just prints thin worn out looking letters on the blades. Dont know why, but two for two looks like a pattern.
Anyhow, off I go to chop up some wood with it.
Well thats a bummer. I meant to respond before but forgot. It does seem like the worn printing is just the way the blades are produced. I have yet to see a Forrest blade with a nice crisp label.
This afternoon I received my new Forrest WWII blade that I ordered from your store. My old blade was a hand-me-down that Noah had left over he built the arc — what an improvement the new blade is! I’m keeping the packaging so I can send it to Forrest when it needs to be resharpened. Thanks for the recommendation and for the link! Once again you are a lifesaver.
Ive got this Delta x5 unisaw with a biesemeyer fence,and using the stock blade, and also a freud bi metal 60 or 80 tooth blade and im getting HORIBLE cuts. The edge on the fence is jointed,but the fence face isnt 90 to the table,but it is paralell. The saw blade is 90 to the table and the mitre slot. If i do the slightest reposition,it gouges the woods face. I really cant figure out why a saw this costly is giving me such trouble.
any thoughts?
I would need a lot more information before I could tell you what was wrong Ron. Describe the problem with the cut for me. Are the cuts burning? Is the cut edge just real rough?
Most problems can be alleviated by repeating the setup process. I outline my system here: http://thewoodwhisperer.com/ep.....neup-pt-1/
I would suggest doing the entire tuneup process. At that point we can look at the symptoms and perhaps pinpoint what might be wrong.
Marc:
Amazon appears to have two 40-tooth WW II blades for sale, one at .100 kerf and one at .125 kerf. Beyond .025 in., what would the functional difference be between these two blades? The .100 doesn’t quite qualify for “thin kerf” I don’t believe, so I’m at a loss to determine why you might choose one over the other.
-Shawn
Hey Shawn. Actually, the .100 blade does qualify as “thin kerf”. Basically, as far as the industry is concerned, anything under .125 seems to be referred to as thin kerf.
Thin kerf blades remove less wood, bottom line. So that means the saw doesn’t have to work as hard, which make it ideal for underpowered saws. As far as I’m concerned, that’s really the primary reason to go thin kerf.
I am about to embark on my first woodwork job. I have a table saw with a 10″ 60teeth. I want to build a exterior outside column encasement. Is this good enough or should I put a miter blade on it?
The column is getting painted and planning on have 45 degree miter joints. I saw a 30teeth joint blade but was hesitant…
If the saw is tuned up and the blade is sharp, you’ll probably be just fine.