Thread: Which tablesaw blades needed?

I use a 60 tooth square cut blade it has three different teeth on it. One tooth is angled to right one to the left the third is a square cut tooth. When cutting melimine I only cut just over 2/3 of the wasy trough. I then flip the board over & finish the cut to give me a smooth cut both sides
I have not used a tennoning jig so this I am unable to help but I use this type of blade to do rabbets on my basic boxes
Regards Michael

Jill, I had a similar issue with double sided melamine chip/MDF boards. I went to my local Perth Power Tools shop and they recommended and sold me a Freud 96 tooth blade ($170 odd) similar to the one in this link (I'll check it out tonight and let you know tomorrow) http://www.freudtools.com/p-15-ultim...-melamine.aspx With the blade set just above the material it produced chrisp sharp edges (that sharp that they would cut one's skin) with no break-out on the underside.

There are probably other makes and blades that will do the same but this worked for me.

The last time I attempted anything with melamine, the only way I could get a smooth cut was to raise the blade only just high enough to cut through the layer of laminate (that would be visible on the finished job), then flip the board and raise the blade enough to just finish the cut.

I wasted a good bit of time and malamine to get to that point...

I can't remember the number of teeth, but it was the more expensive of the Triton blades....nothing too flash.

Hi Jill,

I'd second the Frued recommendation based on what I've seen on Stu's saw.

Stu (from Stu's Shed) has a nice series of articles testing different saw blades on his 10" table saw. Here's the winner: http://stusshed.wordpress.com/review...eud-lu2b-0700/

I've just ordered one of these Freud blades for my own saw so am looking forward to trying it out for myself.

Cheers,
Carl

I have some significant melamine stuff to do in the future...I am thinking one of those blades may be in order.

Hey Afro Boy - what is the latest price on these please? You getting it from Woodworking Warehouse? I couldn't find it online.

I remember reading somewhere on this forum recently that these blades only last a few sharpenings. Will try to find it again.

Pete

I paid $153 for the blade, delivery and a reducer ring thingy (30mm to 5/8th). This blade isn't on the website so I just emailed them with a link to Stu's article and they told me they had them in stock.

Don't know about the sharpening thing, but I will definitely look it up. I don't expect to use this blade very often, only for those more precise/special cuts.

Cheers,
Af.

After reading the above, I was thinking I need :

1. A really good workhorse blade like a 60T crosscut / combination blade for general work on the MDF and ply and pine boards like one of the ones mentioned in Stu' s comparisons, but am very reluctant to pay $150+ for a blade.

2. A really good triple cut 80T crosscutting blade for cutting Melamine and veneer covered MDF and where a really good finishing cut is required. I have a 9 1/4 in. blade from the old Triton 2000WC which may be suitable for work on a 10" saw table; tooth speed will be 7% slower, but that should be OK.

3. For work on 2nd hand timber, and for ripping pine planks, an old second hand 40T combination blade would be suitable (which I can pick up at the local saw doctor)

I would welcome any comments on this selection, especially suggestions for a 60T workhorse blade, and suggestions for my future blade collection.
regards,
Jill

The number on my Freud blade is LU3A. I just did a search on their site but nothing came up, probably been superceded.

Yes that right Jill you do need a combination of blades. You know you can probably fit a 12" blade into the machine. I modified my Carbatec MJ2325CT slightly to take a 12" blade ie removed the dust chute and modified the aluminium infill plate around the blade... it works a treat.

Jill B,

Can't really comment on what to use for Melamine, as I don't use the stuff, but what I do know is this:

If you are ripping up timber to use for firewood, any blade will do. If you are ripping up board/timber to work toward be able to glue up off the saw, this can be achieved if you have good quality blades, but more important, the blade must run dead true, in that there are no 'wiffles' in the blade and the arbor upon which the blade is mounted is dead square to your slot so that the blade is then dead parallel to your fence.

All this should all be checked out with either a run out gauge or a vernier. Depending upon what sort of equipment you have this may have to be an ongoing concern.

Another thing to look at is the mounting flange that holds your saw blade in place, is it absolutely flat and true? On some saws this is a piece of cast material that really needs machining to get it flat and true. It also follows that the hub itself must be flat and true, so that when the blade is mounted you have 4 flat and true surfaces together.

A good way to check this our in the first instance is to carefully rip a piece of timber and look closely at the back of the cut. Look at both sides of the cut material, looking for differences between the two. If all is correct you should see exactly the same pattern produced on both sides of the cut. If you see more evidence of tooth marks on one side than the other your cut is not true, for any one of the reasons noted above.

Get all this right in the first instance and it makes life a whole lot easier. Even though I do use dedicated blades for rip and cross cut, when you have your equipment well tuned I don't believe the blade type becomes as critical, you just have to alter your feed rates.

The upside, to me, when it is all running well is this: I had a need to make up a small box to store some stuff in - nothing flash- just mdf. Cut all the pieces to size, butt jointed it all, straight off the saw, glued it, clamped it, all square, and all done in about 20 minutes.

Finally back to saw blades. Your saw is the heart of your workshop. Your saw blade is the main artery of your workshops heart. Buy the best you can. The pain of initial price will diminish rapidly as you find the main artery just keeps going. I would also stay away from thin kerf blades, they are more prone to overheating and more prone to buckling (in my experience)

Regards

Many thanks for this valuable information, Colin. I really apprecaite it.

I have a Sidchrome dial guage with which I intend tuning the sawbench. I had to return my new Carbatec MJ2325B because itthe blade would not align properly, and the mitre slots were different widths, and the cast iron extensions were quite wavy along the length of the joining edge with the main table, so that in places with one end perfectly aligned, the mlddle part near the blade was below the main table, and the other end was above the main table.

I have just taken delivery of a TSC-10HB cabinet saw, a bit easier to align I hope, but still the mitre slots have different widths ( 19.1mm and 19.0mm). I am wondering just how hard it is to mill two slots the same width.

My first step is to build a mobile base ( I tried the JET heavy duty ones, but the sawbench could stilll wobble, so made my own with 50x 100 RHS and cast iron wheels), then remove the main table and remove all the grease from the pinion gears and shafts and coat with CRC Easy Glide so they don't gum up with sawdust, then align the table as you indicate above. It is going to take a while, but as you say, it will be worth it.

regards,
Jill