Time for new blades

[headhunter636]

Ok, I have scanned through the various posts on blades and after all that reading, I feel a bit dumber than I did before I started.

Long story short, my BT3 has been sitting pretty much dormant for about 5 years because of military deployments and being stationed overseas for 3 years. I finally have a job that gives me time to get back out into the shop and I decided to get a new blade, or two or three. I have been looking at Freud but I am not sure which one would best suit my needs, namely all the different models they offer. I am looking at getting at least two blades, possibly a good general prurpose for the BT3000 and a really good crosscut blade for my miter saw.

I have been looking at the Diablo series blades, mostly because they are the closest available at Home Depot but I have also been looking at the higher cost blades at a Rockler store a little ways away. Would the difference in cost be worth it if I went for the Industrial blades or do you think I would be just as well off in the Diablo series?

One more thing, since I am already rambling on. I have read a bit about the Freud Premiere Fusion , do everything blade. Has anyone tried this out and is it worth the money to get one? Currently, I see it is about $99 at Rockler.

Thanks for all the help,
Dave

[AlanWS]

I don't have that blade, but hear it is excellent, similar to the Forrest woodworker II. What will determine which blades are likely to match your needs is what those needs are.

Here is a link that describes some distinctions:

http://www.rockler.com/articles/display_article.cfm?story_id=72

I think the major differences between diablo and the industrial line of Freud blades is how long they will last. Diablo blades cut well, but the industrial line has thicker carbide and can be resharpened more times. If you will have it resharpened, the industrial blade should be cheaper in the long run. Some blade styles are not available in the diablo line, so of course there are other differences.

Thin kerf blades require less power, and I usually use the 50 tooth LU-83 combination blade. In my opinion, a thin kerf rip blade is a good idea, and the LU-87 is what I have. These make a good pair for the tablesaw, as I can cut anything with the combo blade, but for thick stock or ripping a lot of stuff the rip blade makes a real difference.

[Knottscott]

Dave - Alan is correct about the Freud Diablo/Avanti lines vs the Industrial...more carbide on the Industrial, and often a more elaborate anti-vibration pattern.

The Freud P410 Fusion is a full kerf blade with a Hi-ATB grind that also has a dual side grind. I've used a strikingly similar Infinity Super General 010-044....it is THE cleanest cutting general purpose blade I've tried to date, but it's not necessarily the best overall choice, depending on your saw and what you cut. The full kerf will pose more resistance to your saw, which can lead to bogging and more burning under load. The dual side grind leaves a highly polished edge, but can also lend itself to more burning if everything's not perfect. The Hi-ATB grind will perform beautifully in fine crosscuts, ply, veneer, etc.

For your saw, depending on what you cut, you might consider going with a 30T thin kerf Forrest WWII. It's very difficult to tell the cuts apart from those made with the 40T WWII, but it's noticeably more efficient on thick rips.

Another option that I really like, and can also be used as a general purpose blade, but is sort of the antithesis of the 30T WWII. It's a 60T Infinity 010-060 with a Hi-ATB grind that gives super clean crosscuts and ply cuts, yet also rips nicely to ~ 5/4". The Freud LU88 60T is a reasonable substitute for the Infinity but it's standard ATB grind loses a little ground in ply and crosscuts in favor of being a bit more efficient at ripping (good to ~ 6/4").

Otherwise, most of the better brands of 40T ATB, or 50T ATB/R thin kerf blades should suit your needs....Forrest, Infinity, Freud, DeWalt PT series, Amana, etc.

Is your miter saw 10", and is it a regular CMS or a slider? If it's a 10" CMS, that Infinity 010-060 would be an excellent choice for that saw as well.

[cgallery]

I really like the Dewalt yellow blades on my BT3K. They seem to cut w/ less feed pressure than other blades I've used, and provide a very nice finish. They work even better with my recently added Forrest 5" stabilizer.

I used the combo just the other day to cut some 9/4 walnut in a single pass. You wouldn't think the BT3K would cut through such thick wood in a single pass and with such ease, but it sure did.

[headhunter636]

I don't have that blade, but hear it is excellent, similar to the Forrest woodworker II. What will determine which blades are likely to match your needs is what those needs are.

I guess in all my rambling, I forgot to mention what I was planning on doing with these new blades. For the BT3000, I am really trying to find a good combination blade that will spend most of the time on the saw without having to switch between cross and rip. I plan on cutting all sorts of different woods, both hard and soft, and since i am living in the northwest, I have seen many other hardwoods I would like to try out (I am dying to try something with Purple Heart). I like the idea of a good combo blade and then having a good ripping blade for when I will be doing a lot of ripping. I may take that route. As for think and thin kerf, I talked to some guys a while back that said the issue they have wtih a thin blade is that the wood tends to wander a bit easier than with a thinker blade, any truth to that?

The miter saw is plain old compound miter (I also have an older Craftsman radial arm saw but had to leave it in storage for now, my favorite tool). I would really like a blade on here that leaves the smoothest cut, my wife would like me to build some frames.

I sure do appreciate all the input, I am going to start putting together a shopping list for this weekend.

Dave

[vaking]

I am missing only one part in this discussion. If you have a miter saw and a table saw the logical segregation would be in my opinion to use miter saw for cross cuts and table saw for rip and sheet goods. That means you would want a good blade for miter saw and a good rip blade for table saw and those blades are staying on most of the time. If you still have money left in the budget - a blade for fine cut in sheet materials (80 teeth). Combo blade of high caliber is not a must at all if you have a dedicated tool for crosscuts.

[Knottscott]

Dave - There are many lingering stories of troubles with thin kerf blades that stem from inferior quality, older designs, poor selection for the application, comparing commercial needs to amateur needs, etc. While it's logical that a thin kerf blade would be more prone to deflection than a full kerf, that doesn't mean that it's actually prone to deflection. Modern designs have improved dramatically even in the past 5 years, and steel alloys have also improved. I've used over 30 high quality TK blades with no issues, and have always found the cut quality to be comparable. I've seen at least two recent magazine articles that recommended TK blades for smaller saws, and they also found the cut quality to be comparable to full kerf. If you stick with a good quality blade like those mentioned, the odds are excellent that you'll get great results with no deflection, and there's no doubt whatsoever that the TK blades are easier for your saw to spin....a full kerf blade is roughly 33% wider.

[cgallery]

If you stick with a good quality blade like those mentioned, the odds are excellent that you'll get great results with no deflection, and there's no doubt whatsoever that the TK blades are easier for your saw to spin....a full kerf blade is roughly 33% wider.

To the OP, I agree w/ Knottscott that high-quality TK blades provide outstanding cut quality, and for those of us with "underpowered" saws, they are the logical answer.

However, I will also add that TK blades do seem more prone to vibration and/or deflection under extreme circumstances, at least on my high-RPM BT3000 saw.

I recently posted this thread:

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=46795

It discusses my experiences and provides a primitive before/after test of a blade stabilizer.

Since then I've cut 9/4 walnut and 7/4 white oak. I would have never tried cutting 9/4 walnut in a single pass before I added the stabilizer. 7/4 oak would have been a stretch, too. I'd typically have made two passes for either of those. But with the stabilizer, the blades cut through them without a single "zing" (see linked thread).

I will also add that I recently purchased some Amana 40-tooth GP TK blades and they come w/ a warning that they require a stabilizer when cutting material over (I think) 3/4".