I’ve been spending some of the last couple of days really trying to research sawblades for the new TS – looking at just what is out there, and boy, is there a LOT of blades!!
Some of this is summarising comments made on the Australian Woodwork Forums – just wanted to acknowledge that. Basically, I asked the question on there, and there are an absolute plethora of suppliers that are being recommended, all with blades that look pretty awesome.
Some of the variables that need to be considered are (and this parallels a post on here a-ways-back)
tooth design (eg flat grind, alternate top bevel, triple chip)
surface coating (none, nickel, teflon, permashield etc)
noise reduction slots and expansion slots
tooth count
carbide quality & thickness
and so on.
Some of the companies that are getting mention are
Infinity
Freud
CMT
Kanefusa
Daiko
and I’m sure there are more to come.
What I am trying to find is simply: what is the best ripping blade, crosscut blade and combination blade out there? (ie 3 separate blades, not one that does all that!)
Of course everyone has their own preferences, but trying to look past that and simple see what are the great blades! Comments most welcome!
Addendum: Been giving it some thought, and the only real way that I am going to be able to wade through this all is by actually running a side-by-side comparison of the different blades. Of course I probably won’t be able to get access to all the different manufacturers that should be included, but will at least be able to do those that I can.
This won’t be a “winner takes all” – ie I won’t say “this is the best blade out there” but I will simply put the results side by side for different situations, including any feedback I can get about longevity of the carbide and its resharpenability, price, runout etc, and we’ll see what we will see.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Saw Blade
I used to have a dedicated (although pretty average) ripping and crosscutting blade, but quickly got sick of changing them whenever I changed what I was doing, and got a combination blade.
I originally looked at the Freud Fusion which is apparently very good, but also pricey – a couple of hundred bucks. In the end I settled on the Infinity. Half the price of the Freud, and it crosscuts better than my dedicated crosscut blade, and rips better than my dedicated rip blade. And there is no changing blades.
The bees knees of combo blades is apparently the forrest woodworker II – although I couldn’t justify that.
imagine I’ll be the same – stay with a combo for the majority, and fit a dedicated blade for specific roles.
I have contacted the importers of both the Infinity and the Freud Fusion (given that I don’t make any money from the site, I can’t afford just to buy all the blades I need to run a trial that includes every potentially good blade on the market).
The importer of the Infinity didn’t think there was any value in getting it compared here, so I won’t be able to report on it. The importer of another brand of blades didn’t even want his blade compared to what he called “the equivalent of Chinese quality blades”. Guess I hit a nerve there. (Given CMT and Freud are Italian, and both are quality carbide on quality steel I thought the comment rather unjustified).
I haven’t heard about the Fusion as yet (only asked the question today, so perhaps early next week). I would like to include it if there is a chance – sounds a great blade.
I’m hoping to be able to review the Woodworker II a little way downtrack if it all goes well. It won’t be in time for this trial, but so long as I keep the tests consistent, I can include other blades into the review at any stage in the future as they become available.