Blades and Bits of choice

[finish guy]

I've been running mostly freud for all my portable saws, table and chop, but now that I have the shop, I'm wondering if a better grade of blade is necessary for the table saw. Are they over rated? What Dadoe would you recommend

Also, after purchasing a frued 1/4" round over and paying almost twice as much compared to a Chinese bit, is the quality on a simple bit worth that much more? I run Freeborn cutters on the shaper because I don't want to sacrafice on something so important.

[Toolwhore]

Also, after purchasing a frued 1/4" round over and paying almost twice as much compared to a Chinese bit, is the quality on a simple bit worth that much more? I run Freeborn cutters on the shaper because I don't want to sacrafice on something so important.

Are the pieces coming off of your table saw or router table/router, less important?

[JayRBuilders]

We prefer the "Forrest" blades on the table saw and "Tenryu" on the chopsaws. Both stay sharp, give us crisp cuts, and are relatively long lasting.

[Lavrans]

Huh. I was just going to suggest Forrest & Tenryu :-)
Freeborn and Southern tool are great, as are Whiteside.

My local saw shop also makes their own blades- if you've got a good sharpener nearby who also makes blades they can be a very good bargain.

[Tischler]

CMT/Forrest

[dave_k]

My local saw shop also makes their own blades- if you've got a good sharpener nearby who also makes blades they can be a very good bargain.

The way I look at it it isn't the blades but the sharpening service that determines what blades I buy. The guy who sharpens my blades sells FS tool blades and bits. He's factory trained by FS tool and he has top notch equipment.

The real value isn't in the initial purchase of the blade but how long it stays sharp and how many sharpenings you get out of a blade. I wouldn't let anyone else sharpen my blades and I'm really happy with the quality and durability of FS tool.

I do have some Freud blades that I pick up from HD when I'm working out of town or just need a saw blade quick and they work just fine.

[rfulton]

I use Forrest on Cabinet Saw (Woodworker II and Dado King) Freud on Miter Saw.

I have been very impressed with the Dado King, flat bottom cuts and magnetic shims to get everything perfect. It's time to get my Woodworker II sharpened, will try sending it to Forrest for this unless anyone else has better suggestions.

[MSLiechty]

I too am running a Forrest on my cabinet saw. Finally had to send it back to Forrest for resharpening after several years of use.

Michael

[b_montgo]

alot of guys in the cabinet biz around here use amana. it may be just because they make alot of other oddball production machinery blades. i use them on my miter saw and they are good, but thats all ive used and sometimes i wonder if im missing out with other brands

[dixonpeer]

Forrest for the table saw and radial arm saw. They've convinced me that their blades are worth the extra money as they give me about as clean a cut surface as I have seen since I used Peerless hollow ground blades years ago. There's no need to go to the jointer after using the Forrest to rip lumber if you're going to glue it up. In fact, I sometimes have a hard time seeing which edge has been over the jointer and which edge was ripped on the table saw. The blades run relatively quietly too.

[jim@miterclamp.com]

Finish guy,

Here's a pretty good old thread about saw blades, runout, dog tracking, etc.

http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/s...tooth+angle%22


I have used nothing but Velepec and Whiteside router bits for years now, and have been very happy with them.

For table saw and chop saw blades I used mostly FS Tool, which I bought from my grinder. My experience has been the same as Dave K. You will get considerably more sharpenings out of them than a Forrest.

I developed a very good relationship with my grinder who let me use the setup with which he checked blade wobble after re-tipping saw blades. So I would take a stack of new blades and check them all out to pick the best one before actually buying it from him.

He also sold Scmidt, Stehle, Freeborn, and Amanda molding heads as well as most of the router bits including Whiteside and Velepec, excluding cheap imports.

If you work with MDF you will want a blade specifically for that stuff. You can hammmer it to death and it will still cut MDF. Don't even consider using it on wood, however, after cutting MDF for a while. You may also want a blade like a Forrest for finish ripping cherry or maple that you can't keep from tearing out on a jointer.

The Stehle/Amana aluminum shaper heads cost about a hundred bucks and use two knives, neither of which requires any adjusting - just one screw each to lock them into place. They will only do a profile about an inch and a half wide if I remember right, but are very good for small moldings instead of using a router. New knife grinding fees are probably about $22 per inch of actual grinding, plus the blanks which are probably about $20 a set by now.

The guy that did my grinding had to use my Stehle head to grind the knives on. But he liked it enough to start stocking them for sale.

It is a much faster and cheaper way to go than with corregated back heads for small moldings. It is also a cheap way to go for custom cabinet door or wainscotting cope and stick sets. Or if you have a particular molding you like and want to make it in several different sizes.

Dixon,

You beat me to it about the Forrest. Is there any special reason you were using PEERless saws before?

Have fun, Finish Guy .

Cheers,
Jimc

[Lavrans]

I just picked up an Amana moulder head that can run up to 2 1/2" profiles that uses that same 2 pin, 1 screw index. Basic profiles run from $30-40. Blanks are, I think, around $20. The shop next to me has some corregated back heads that can run 8" blades. A little scary in my book...

[natedawg]

Dave K


Who are you using to sharpen your blades in the GTA. So far I've had more than a few places ruin good blades.

[finish guy]

Thanks for the info. When your're used to working on a jobsite all the time with portable tools, its hard to get used to having nice gear in a shop and outfitting it with quality carbide.

[jim@miterclamp.com]

Lavrans,

A little scary in my book...

Somebody was talking about "reaction" wood in a recent post I think. Bill S. showed me a chunk of hickory he kept on his desk where the grain did a 180 degree change of direction (I think I'm remembering right). It bent the 1 1/2" diameter shaft on his German made molding machine. But on his machine the head was totally enclosed. I never had the pleasure of running hickory on my shaper.

How much was the head, Lavrans?

Was that scary Bill?



Cheers,
Jimc