Table Saw Blades

[backofanenvelope]

Hello all,

I have been looking at replacing the blade on my 10" JET Table Saw and want to get a blade more suitable to cutting Plywood and dimensional pine mainly main rip cuts but with some cross cuts. As a noob modder I am aware that the multi purpose blades are the "jack of all trades" I also have been reading about replacing table saw blades with circular saw ones due to a smaller kerf. The Blade on the TS is 254mm and I can find replacements but wanted to find out what peoples thoughts are about swapping. Recommendation on brands also appreciated.

TomC

[ddmckee54]

Not sure what manufactuers are available on your side of the pond, but Freud is always a good choice.  Might be a little pricey, but the quality is very good.  The blades I get usually depend on how fat my wallet is at the time.  Circular saws on this side of the pond are normally 7-1/4" so you would sacrifice a lot of depth of cut going with a circular saw blade.  10" Thin kerf blades are also available, at a price.

Cutting plywood and ripping pine normally requires two different blades.  When cuttting plywood you need a lot of teeth to avoid tear-out of the veneer face of the plywood.  Ripping pine requires a lower tooth count for two reasons - one you are ripping the wood so you don't need to worry about tear-out and two because it's a softwood the sawblade is able to tear out larger chunks of wood - the lower tooth count allows a larger gulllet between the teeth with more room for sawdust.

If it was me and I expected to cut a lot of plywood I'd get a dedicated 10" plywood blade.  A combination blade will probably serve you just fine for the rest of your cutting chores, just don't expect glass smooth cuts because the blade is a compromise between a rip blade and a cross-cut blade.

Have fun and keep your fingers away from the blade.
Don

[backofanenvelope]

Many thanks Don, I have looked at some Freud blades and have thought about the 60T blade that is recommended for Ply.

Oh and yes I fully intend on keeping my fingers in tact and have a healthy fear of the blade whizzing around..

TomC

[Beone]

I use 7 1/4 blades on my 10 inch table saw about 90 percent of the time. I only put in a big blade when I need the depth of cut, seldom. I like the Freud Diablo blades. A 60 tooth is about 20 bucks.
Dave

[backofanenvelope]

Thanks Dave, I have located one from Amazon so will give it a go after Chrimbo..

TomC

[lordedmond]

Tom

In the joiners shop at the iron works where I served my time the had a notice above the 48 inch saw " please count your fingers after use"

I have no idea about wood cutting blades nowadays me and wood do not get on but i still have the egg rack and it's still used along with a book case hand cut dovetails that I made some 52 years ago at school so I could do it

Hope you sort it and keep safe

Stuart

[backofanenvelope]

Hi Stuart, Yes I am coming from the opposite side as I have never really got on with metal but am changing that I also have a poker made in metalwork at school and a wooden tea tray all of which have survived down the decades, some how. Hopefully blade will arrive before chrimbo and this will help with modding a cross cut jig amongst other things.

TomC

[Meldonmech]

 
  Hi Tom
                 When sawing plywood even with a fine high no of teeth blade, the feed rate of cutting should be considerably  reduced,  especially when cutting across the grain. Different veneers also react differently to sawing, and would suggest a few trial cuts and feeds on scrap material before taking the final proper cuts.

                                                           Good Luck 

                                                                                  Cheers David

[John Rudd]

And another tip....
Prior to cutting cross grain, score on the cut line with a sharp blade will prevent too much damage when you finally cut with the saw.....do both sides btw.....

[backofanenvelope]

Thanks David for the advice I will bear it in mind as I am just getting used to the TS.

Thanks also John for scoring tip I hadn't thought of that!

Now that the festivities are almost over I am going to get cracking on workshop and TS. Inspired by vtsteam's thread I am going to build some draws to store stuff although I am keeping majority of power tools inside as the workshop is pretty damp (I think) But can use up some wood that Dad had been saving as it might come in handy.. and get some from local timber merchants..

Anyway this is what I am thinking of getting http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390536129187

[Spurry]

FFX. They are a very good company to do business with. Quite often it works out cheaper to buy from them directly, as opposed to through EB.
Pete

[backofanenvelope]

Thx Pete, hadn't thought to look at there own website and save just over a quid! Think I will get a couple with general and cross cut.

TomC

[BaronJ]

Hi Tom,

I little trick I use if I want a clean tear free cut is to set the blade just proud of the table, a millimeter or so and take a cut.  This has the effect of reducing the tear effect as the blade passes through.  This works particularly well with laminated chipboard.  Incidentally my table saw uses a 10" blade with either 100 teeth or 60 teeth.  The first sold as one for plastics and aluminum materials.


 

[Arbalist]

Have a look at Screwfix, they have clearance offers on circular saw blades at the moment.
I bought a 254mm wood/metal blade today for £14.99.

[backofanenvelope]

Baron,

Many thanks for the tip, interested to know the reasoning to 80-100T blades?

TomC

[backofanenvelope]

Have a look at Screwfix, they have clearance offers on circular saw blades at the moment.
I bought a 254mm wood/metal blade today for £14.99.

Thanks Arbalist, I am checking this out but I have brought the Freuds from FFX. However I am no stranger to Screwfix and Toolstation

[BaronJ]

Baron,

Many thanks for the tip, interested to know the reasoning to 80-100T blades?

TomC

Hi Tom,
The clue was in the description of the 100 tooth blade. "Aluminum"  I often cut this material.  Whilst both table saw blades are TCT, I prefer a 100 tooth HSS blade particularly for the chop saw.  But it's not a brilliant blade for cutting wood since it has no kerf and tends to burn thicker sections.  The 80 tooth blade is a good all round one.  Another issue is the speed.  Most table saws run far too fast, having universal motors.  Both my saws have 2850 rpm induction motors and even that is a bit fast for Aluminum.

By the way "Silverline" do replacement TCT blades with lifetime guarantees very cheaply.  I paid around £8 for mine.  The HSS ones were very expensive by comparison.

[backofanenvelope]

Hi Baron,

Ah apologies I wasn't reading correctly. I have to admit to ignorance at the moment as cutting Aluminium hadn't crossed my mind so far, and the extent of my cutting jobs will be in chopping up Plywood. However I do have a chopsaw that might be used for such things in the future. But this is the great thing about this forum in that I have gained lots of information in a friendly atmosphere and don't feel so much of a dunce asking questions.

TomC

[BaronJ]

Hi Baron,

Ah apologies I wasn't reading correctly. I have to admit to ignorance at the moment as cutting Aluminium hadn't crossed my mind so far, and the extent of my cutting jobs will be in chopping up Plywood. However I do have a chopsaw that might be used for such things in the future. But this is the great thing about this forum in that I have gained lots of information in a friendly atmosphere and don't feel so much of a dunce asking questions.

TomC

Hi Tom,
No apology needed 
As far as asking questions is concerned, you won't find out much if you don't ask !

[backofanenvelope]

Thanks to tips on here, delivery of 3 Freud blades turned up yesterday (40/60/80T) and I now have the 60T installed and have done a couple of test cuts.. to say the blades are chalk & cheese is an understatement from my untrained eyes and the provided spanners are as much use as a fart in an astronauts suit due to them being made of what seemed like plastercene. Putting on some thick gloves and after one abortive attempt I went and found trusty Ford spanner and all was well. New one went on a treat  . Looking forward to using TS now and making some jigs up.

TomC