jeffbayne

Hey guys, I'm looking for a thin kerf 10" blade- aiming for the ultimate in fine finish. 80t or even 100t. But, i'm seeing -5degree, 0degree, +5degree, and +10degree hook angles. what is for what??

Thanks

Charles M

The hook angle is the angle the tip makes relative to an imaginary line drawn through the center of the blade. Rip blades generally have high hook angles so they can more effectively clear the chip while plywood/melamine,laminate blades have lower angles to reduce chipping on the exit side of the cut. Positive hook is easier to feed than negative and low hook is less likely to self-feed on a radial arm saw or lift the material on a SCMS.

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Charles M
Freud America, Inc.

Ken Johnson

Jeff,

I too was recently in the market for a thin kerf blade because I wanted to get more power out of my table saw. My last blade was an 80 tooth Oldham ATB which was great but I had a lot of trouble with burning even though it had recently been sharpened. I ended up purchasing a 40 tooth general purpose blade from Ridge Carbide and it is the greatest blade I ever used. It leaves me with a prefect finish, even better than my Oldham 80 tooth did. It also cuts everything from oak to plywood without chipping out. I can even resaw much better without near as much force. It feels like I got a horsepower upgrade. Anyway, you may want to consider it. I hope this is helpful.

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Ken

"What we hope ever to do with ease, we must first learn to do with diligence".
- Samuel Johnson