Thread: Blades for contractor table saw

There are plenty of blades out there for 5/8" arbor - most JET saws take this size (including mine).

I predominantly use combination blades (Freud, Infinity) which perform very well indeed for both ripping and (especially) crosscutting, e.g.

Freud 10 In. 50 Tooth Thin Kerf Combination Saw Blade with 5/8 In. Arbor(LU83R010) : Amazon.com.au: Home Improvement

If you have a relatively underpowered saw (which is most contractor saws) the thin kerf version of these blades helps a lot to make the most of your limited power.

The only time I change from a combination blade is if I'm doing a lot of ripping in thick hardwoods, and want to get as close to a glue-ready surface as possible. For that I purchased a dedicated Freud thin kerf ripping blade.

Thanks, Mr Brush.

The Dewalt I have has a ~2.5hp motor, so has plenty of oomph as well as accomodating a dado stack, so that opens up a number of options for me.

I've been in two minds about a combo blade - how have you found the cut quality on plywood and MDF?

Combo blades do as good a job on plywood/MDF as any dedicated rip or crosscut blade IMHO. Mind you, my JET saw is fitted with a homemade zero clearance insert, which has more effect on controlling breakout than the choice of blade. The only way to get better cuts than that on plywood is with a scoring blade in addition to the main blade, as found on big panel saws. As I said, the only limitation I find is ripping thick hardwood stock, for which the combo blades just have too many teeth in the timber compared to a dedicated ripping blade. For hardwood say 3/4" thick, the combo blade works fine for ripping and crosscutting, saving stuffing around changing blades all the time.

Freud is a good combo blade; the Infinity combo I have is even better, but I ordered that direct from the US manufacturer. The Freud version is available locally or on Amazon.

Hi WKAMC. I have had no trouble using 10" blades with 30mm holes on my 5/8" arbour tablesaw. Reducers are easy to purchase, just make sure they are NOT 16mm but a true 5/8 (it makes a difference). I also have Freud and CMT blades with 5/8" holes (Freud rip blade purchased only a couple of months ago from Timbecon). I have bought 30mm to 5/8" rings from Carbatec and my local saw sharpening service - Timber Tools in Bayswater.

Opteco, circular saw blades suppliers, may have what you need ?

Cheers,
Yvan

Second that! Brilliant blades!

You will normally find them at a saw sharpener shop. They hold stock of high end stuff like Opteco.

They even ground a 40 tooth blade down to FTB for me for a reasonable price, so I purchased the blade and had it modified all in one go. All out my best blade ever.

Get to know your specialist saw sharpener!

Originally Posted by yvan

Opteco, circular saw blades suppliers, may have what you need ?

Cheers,
Yvan

I think, in summary, there are plenty of suppliers of quality blades to suit 5/8" arbor. If you already had some blades with 30mm bore then a reducer is a good solution to adapt them, but if you are buying from scratch there is no need to go down that path.