Saw blades

[keppar]

Hi
Have now finally decided and have ordered a Trupro MBS300 table saw which I will be picking up this Thursday. I need to purchase a 12in blade for it. If I could get some recommendations on blade type and manufacturer it would be helpfull.
At this stage I am only able to buy one blade but am looking fot the better or best make. Also if anyone could advise of a retailer down in Melbourne as I will pick it up while I,m there.
P.S I was thinking about a 72 tooth blade, would this be good enough for ripping and fine cross cutting.
Thanks all Kepp

[West OZ Mark]

Hi Kepp

I use CMT blades on all my saws and I find them to be very good value. I have tried more expensive blades but always come back to the CMTs

Depending on what you are going to cut a good combination blade would suit you initualy. CMT do a 12" 54 teeth blade (order number 285-054-10M) that is a good combination cut.

Carba-tec sell the range of CMT blades. Jump on ther web site and brouse there blades they have @ www.carbatec.com.au (http://www.carbatec.com.au)

[Iain]

Ditto what Mark said, I use a range of them but they do have a general purpose blade.
Whilst they do cost a bit more they cut cleanly and stay sharp a lot longer than the cheapies, actually they have come down in price over the past 5 years, I paid about $160 for my ripping blade and they are now about $95.
There are other good brands on the market like the Bunnies Irwin, but they are more for the weekend warriors with the exclusive Ozito type gear, well, they are not too bad but don't go the distance like CMT.

[noodle_snacks]

Another happy CMT customer here, my 10in melamine/finecutoff blade is great!

[keppar]

Does CMT make a 12in with 60 teeth or more?

[noodle_snacks]

http://www.carbatec.com.au/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=20_3330

yep, their melamine and fine cutoff blade for example has 96 teeth.

[Iain]

Another happy CMT customer here, my 10in melamine/finecutoff blade is great!

Thanks, I just bought one and haven't tried it yet, got a bit of reno work to do still with 16mm melamine MDF.

[jaspr]

My saw came with a Freud blade - it gives very good results.

[soundman]

I have a good range of blades for my 12" and the most versatile would be arround 50 tooth, get finer that that and heavy ripping gets to be a problem.
A sharp 50t still does pretty well in ply and melamine too.

I'd go CMT for value for money..... freud are pretty damn good but overpriced in my opinion... the irwin ones fail to impress me.

You will find that because the arbour runs soo smooth on the mbs 300 you will get a better cut than you are probaly expecting from a 50T.

I have a 72t ( i think) too and a lot of the time its hard to tell the diff between the 50 and the 72.

With the price of blades thes days it wont be lond befor you can have a good selection.

A 20T ripping blade on a MBS300 is a wonderous thing:yeah: :brava :H .
90mm thick hardwood..... riiiippppp...SPPPT..... no problem.:D

cheers

[BobL]

Hi
.......I was thinking about a 72 tooth blade, would this be good enough for ripping and fine cross cutting.

I think you will find that 72 teeth will be good for fine cross cutting but too slow for ripping and you will tend to want to push it too much making it bad for the saw and blade. You should think about a combination blade with around 50 teeth. I gave a 48 tooth blade that does a fair job on both although it does screech like a banshee.

Cheers

[keppar]

Thanks all
makes things easier for me to decide

[gpsmith]

Also have a look at Linbide blades - I have a 60 tooth combination blade that cuts melamine without chipping and also cuts recycled jarrah without missing a beat.
can get them from woodworking warehouse? woodman group in Braeside?

regards,