Curious as to what others recommend for a chop saw blade. I have a Rigid Titanium in my 12″ Bosch and a Freud in my 10″ Bosch. Both blades seem to dull very quickly. I’m only cutting poplar.
My question is, is it worth going to a CMT or Forrest blade?
Are they worth the money?
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Replies
I just put a Dewalt blade in my Bosch table saw. I wanted a Freud but couldnt find one when I was at the home center.
I am pretty much always cutting poplar too and I found the factory blade wasnt too bad, that is until a helper decided it would be a good thing to cut hardibacker on my table saw.
I'll say this though, I either went too long without changing the blade or that DW blade is awesome.
Probably a little from column A a little from column B.
What kind of price range are you willing to be in? I think you gotta answer that first.
After that, theres a lot of decent blades, and most of the time, getting what you pay for is both cliche and reality. I think the DWs are trash, but I'll qualify that and say pretty much every blade thats ever come on a saw I pulled out of a box is just a cheapie. Ditto on Bosch and Makita. The Mak blade cut good briefly but that was that. The Bosch was really disappointing to find on such an otherwise nice saw.
Never tried a forrest. Tried Freuds, think they're hit and miss. Some did good, real good. Others didnt last a day. Had a number of Systimatics and all but one of those did good out of the box and continues to. But all the Systis are mostly the rougher, heavier, more framing kind of cut blade than trimmers. For trim I swear by (I gotta space it out for the thing not to get XXX on it) m a t s u s h i t a which are thin kerf great carbide tuned up cut like a laser through rock maple blades. They hands down last twice as long as anything else. Hard to find on the internet but they're out there. A 12" miter blade is about $120, which isnt too bad for what it is.
And I'm falling in love with Amana for specialty blades. I have one of their ditech carbides for melamine. I think ditech must be Amish for super expensive but its worth it. And I have one of their NFM blades which has got to be the heaviest plated blade I own. Monster. And like a pound of carbide on each tooth. How could you not like that?
In general I think its worthwhile to buy a high end blade that has good carbide and enough of it to merit repeat resharpenings. Years ago before Jesada went through its evolutions of being bought and sold they marketed some Italian made blades that were really really good for the money. Im told that Infinity tools now (the Jesada guy's son) is selling the identical blade, but I havent tried to be sure. Those were worth a try, definately.
Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
how fast are you cutting with them?
Slamming them into the wood or even quickly moving the blade through the wood is going to dull them faster then a slower more moderate cut.
If you're willing to spend the money buy a Forresst blade but I'd only recommend that if you're the only one using your saw, or sure as hell some yahoo is going to cut a nail with it.
I haven't used a CMT blade, but my Freud blades outlast my Forrest blades for the same applications. I have a Freud Diablo 80 tooth blade in my CMS now. I used a Freud 80 tooth "ultimate cutoff" blade for a while, and was very happy with it. The Diablo is a little thinner.
I have a Forrest Woodworker II for my table saw that I rarely use these days. I have a Forrest 12" Woodworker I for my radial arm saw that gets used a lot. Forrest seems to make the best blades for an RAS, but Freud makes a little 8" blade with very little hook that works better for ripping on the RAS than the Forrest does.
My biggest mistake was buying a blade from Ridge Carbide. It just seems thick and clumsy and takes a lot of pressure to cut anything.
I pretty much only use Forrest blades anymore.
I've tried CMT's - don't like them at all, Freud - bought two of the ones that they recommend specifically for the slider and I wouldn't give you $5 for two more of them. Amana - don't think much of them for my slider but they do make some good blades for other purposes that I like.
I think RW said it, the blades that come with the saw aren't really a good long term blade, if your only going to use it sparingly then maybe their OK.
Doug
Edited 8/24/2007 10:00 pm ET by DougU
I tried one of those red Freud blades and it was horrible. It liked to leave a red coating on every cut face almost as much as it liked to bind and kick back. As near as I can figure they must have thought that they could compensate for an aggressive hook angle and minimal tooth set with a teflon coating, but it didn’t work.
Maybe they’ve learned something in the past five years, but I’m not willing to risk my fingers to find out.
Premium blades from Makita have always done right by me but, given previous comments, Forrest looks interesting.
Premium blades from Makita have always done right by me but,
In the last year I've bought two Makita CMS and I've been very pleased with the blades that came with them. I like the Forrest more but for a blade that comes with a saw I'm pretty impressed with the Makitas.
Doug
I have always got a lot of mileage out of the Makita 7-1/4" blades framing, but have never actually seen a 10" or 12" Makita in stores here for some reason...
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I've said this lots of times before.....having used many blades, from lots of manufacturers (currently running several dozen), your best value is going to be the pro lines that are sold mostly through sharpening shops or good industrial suppliers......I don't like paying for Freuds massive publicity machine: their blades are adequate, but very overpriced in my area. Same for any of the blades that aimed at retail/hobbyists.
Forrests are a good quality professional blade, and no more.....I know enough about tooling to think their advertising hype is just that, hype, and all the sharpeners I know agree. They are good, but there are lots of other choices that are as good or better, and I own and use Forrests as well as others. Personally, I find FS Tools blades to be superior in quality, very consistent, and reasonably priced, so that is my first choice. I'll usually go to Dimar second if I need something fast, but as I said, the sharpeners will have good quality pro blades from different makers that you can rely on. When I buy a pro blade from a good supplier, I usually pay 50-75% of the price for a comparable Freud etc. at a retail supplier, and you get a lot more service from them.
Those Makita blades that are getting good reviews here are probably Tenryus by the way.Cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
"Those Makita blades that are getting good reviews here are probably Tenryus by the way."Adrian- enlighten us, please.
At one time, and I would think probably still, Makita was rebranding very good Tenryu blades to ship with their saws. I know that for sure as a Tenryu rep contacted me and confirmed it after seeing something I wrote on this forum, I think.
As people still seem to be liking those blades, I' guessing they are still Tenryus. The Japanese make good blades; I know at least one guy that orders blades for his big straight-line rip saw directly from Japan.Cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
I have always got a lot of mileage out of the Makita 7-1/4" blades framing, but have never actually seen a 10" or 12" Makita in stores here for some reason...
I've bought two Makita chop saws in the last year so thats where I'm getting to see the 10 and 12" blades. I did get an additional Makita blade when I bought the first saw so I do have more then the one that came with the saw but I havnt seen the blades for sale in any of the tool stores I go to either.
Doug
The OEM Makita blade that came with my Makita SCM was much better than the Freud blades that eventually replaced it. Clean effortless cuts, minimal tearout. Wish I could find more in the stores.
Doug, See if there is a Makita service center in your area. There is one in Mpls. and the last time I was there they had a big selection of Makita blades. I also agree with the CMT blade. The first one I used seemed OK, but I wasnt too impressed wth the last one I bought. I think I wil try the Makita next time.
Edited 8/29/2007 7:19 am ET by wood4rd
We do have two nice tool companies in the area so maybe they have the Makita blades, never really looked but they do sell and service Makita so.......
I bought the CMT blade because I procrastinate so much and needed a sharp blade - I dont send them in to be sharpened until I need em! I paid $85 for a blade that I think is less then adequate and was really pizzed about a week into it, I dont usually send anything back - figure its my way to learn a leason and boy did I! I like CMT router bits but the saw blade is another brand that I'll never buy again.
Doug
I'm a Dimar man myself. Thought about going to the forest at on time but I'm getting good results with the dimar. You know what they say " If it ain't broke "
Gary
If your blade is rubbing enough to leave red from the blade on the wood then the saw needs alignment. Sounds like you are using thick kerf wide tooth blades to compensate for bad set-up.
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Piffin, sorry for the slow reply, but... now that I’ve had some time to think about it... you’re probably right. I used to love my Makita LS1211. It could cut 60 degrees either way and combine for 50+ degrees, as well as cut a 6x6 in a single pass. It made airtight joints in big crown, but did burn an edge or three every day. Anyway it died in action about six months ago and I got the new Hitachi 10" and haven’t seen a burned edge since.
The main thing that bugs me about the new Hitachi is the way the motor housing gets in the way when you lay it down to the right for a bevel cut.
Doug,
Tenryu. They manufacture blades for Makita. The blade that comes with the LS1013 is a rebadged Tenryu Silencer. My local shop carries them, actually I just bought a fresh one this morning for about $70. Try searching online for a supplier. My only gripe is that they're thin-kerf blades, but they do give a sweet cut.
Thanks
Forgive me if I misunderstood you- the Tenryu's I have are full kerf.
No, you didn't misunderstand me. I was simply referring to the Silencer line which is a thinner-than-full kerf. They're definately a lot thicker than say a Marathon blade, but still not quite the traditional full kerf thickness. Tenryu does of course have full kerf width blades as well.
toolbarn.com sells lots of Makita blades of all sizes. Many of them, even the 10 and 12" are less than $40 though, so maybe they're not as nice as the blades makita includes with their miter saws.
I vote for the Makita as well. And if the yare rebranded blades, so be it. They cut excellent. Infact, I got a new chopmaster to go with my saw when i bought it new, and took it back of to put the Mak blade back on.
The best cutting blades I have seem to be the M A T S U S H I T A and TENRYU, full kerf blades and each over a hundred smackers. The Dewalt and Freud thin kerfs I have seem to be second stringers at best. But I'm really not that well versed about blades. Doesn't the tooth HOOK ANGLE have a bearing on the cut and also as to what type of saw you are using it in?
I will only get Forrest anymore.
I have done Amana, Freud Diablo, CMT, and the lesser ones Ridgid and Dewalt thin kerf made specifically for the saw I use. It was like I was searching for Eldorado. Finally I put the cheapo me on the shelf and bought a Forrest.
They're on both miter saws and my table saw. Never go back.
I think I get better cuts from my Forrest blades, but I would say they last any longer between sharpenings.
My worst blades are the Dewalts.
I probably get the most bang for my buck from the Freud thin kerf blades.
I have just started on a couple of Tenryu but no opinion yet.
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Gotta agree -
Forrest is king
Forrest
well of course you say that, you probably get royalties ;)
I like Systimatic blades about as well as Froid or Forrister.
I have a Freud 10" 80-tooth Diablo in my Bosch SCMS, and it works very well. I also have Freud blades for my table saw, and I try to match the blade to the use. Most of the premium blades (Freud, Forrest, CMT, Amana, Ridge Carbide, etc.) essentially are all the same, it's extremely important that the saw is properly adjusted, cleaned and lubricated and then the blade won't matter nearly as much. One guy mentioned that Ridge blades are clunky, but I sent all my blades to them for sharpening (I don't have any of their blades but they'll sharpen anything) and they did a great job. I use a 30-tooth Freud glue-line rip that leaves a better edge than my jointer - smooth as glass. No red rubbing off on the wood because my saw is aligned properly with a machinist's square and dial indicator to within 0.001". The alignment on a miter saw or chopsaw is probably not as important, but still might make a difference. Mine tends to bind if the fence isn't set perfectly in alignment on both sides of the blade. That'll make a lousy cut any day.