What 10" combination blade is best? - Woodworking Talk

**rrbrown** · 02-28-2009, 02:57 AM

I have been using a Oldham 60T combination blade for the past few years. It cost like $20 and seems to be a pretty good blade. I am looking for better blade if possible for my cabinet saw. The Oldham splinters the edge of some cross cuts. Ripping and cross cuts are a must for this blade. I tried the Dewalt 10" combination blade and it sucked from what I could see. I bought the freud diablo 80 tooth but it requires a slower feed rate and allot of reveiws claim it burns the wood when ripping. Anyone have a suggestion ?

Bigred15 · 02-28-2009, 08:20 AM

Several options talked about here.

need recommendation for a tablesaw blade

knotscott · 02-28-2009, 08:20 AM

There really is no bonafide "best", though we all seem to have our favorites. Choosing the right blade for the task is more important than the brand. The $20 Oldham 60T from the homecenters has been one of the most disappointing blades I've used...YMMV. DeWalt makes several different levels of blades...their old Series 60 and Series 40 were very good, but I don't consider the Series 20 construction grade to be suitable for furniture making....the Series 60 has been morphed into the Delta Industrial line now.

An 80T blade has too many teeth for ripping, as you've discovered. A good general purpose blade will typically have 40-50T, and can do an acceptable job of both ripping and crosscutting, but will accel at neither. Any from Infinity, Forrest, or Ridge Carbide should be excellent, but can get a little pricey. The Infinity 50T Combomax has been on sale for ~ $60. Many of Freud's top offerings are excellent too. There are great choices from Amana, Tenryu, CMT, and Systimatic too, but all have multiple levels of quality, so know which you're getting.

Considering that you already have a very good crosscut blade in that Freud 80T, you might consider adding a separate ripping blade, and use each for their specific intended cutting tasks. Something like an ATB 30T Forrest WWII or Delta 36-7653 would be a good compliment...these will be rip very cleanly and fairly efficiently, and will even crosscut a bit. A 24T FTG from any of the names mentioned above will make for a very efficient ripper in thick stock, but won't crosscut well at all.

woodworkerszone.com=Table_Saw_Blade_Comparisons

mwhafner · 02-28-2009, 11:59 AM

I use the Forrest Woodworker II, and have been very pleased. I have also tried several others, but the Forrest trumps them all, IMO.

The woodsman · 03-01-2009, 10:46 AM

I personally don't use combo blades for fine cutting as I believe thats why the have ripping blades and cross cut blades.

I will say that forrest is best,if you don't mine spending the bucks.I use Freud for all my cutting where cleanliness and accuracy counts.Most burning is usually caused by the alignment of the fence with the blade or even a cheap tablesaw.I don't have any burn problem with Freud on my TS or MS and they are about half the price of Forrest.

thesource · 03-01-2009, 05:06 PM

The Freud Fusion is an excellent "general purpose" blade.

knotscott · 03-01-2009, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesource

The Freud Fusion is an excellent "general purpose" blade.

The Freud Fusion and the Infinity Super General are unique relative to other general purpose blades in that they both have a 30° Hi-ATB grind (as opposed to a standard 10° to 20° top bevel), and both have a dual side grind that polishes up an edge to an impressive level of shine. I can actually identify wood that was cut with the Super General because of the polished edge. Both accel at splinter free fine crosscuts, ply, veneers, and melamine, but have the right stuff for reasonably efficient ripping in fairly thick stock...they won't rip quite as aggressively as the WWII, TS2000, Gold Medal, or DW7657 that have lower top bevel angles. The downsides are that the burnished edge can become a burned edge if feedrate and alignment aren't correct, and the Hi-ATB points tend to abraid slightly faster than the standard points. Both are made in Italy and both are only available in a full kerf.

ACP · 04-04-2009, 02:13 PM

I just picked up Ridgid's new 50T combo blade with that nice gold Ti-coating. That stuff is slicker than snot. It's like someone sprayed the blade with Pam. The blade is very sharp too. I had not heard much about these blades, but believe they are made by the folks that make the Freud blade. (Packaging is almost identical along with the blade itself.) Gonna give it a try for $35. I will let you know how it turns out.

Harddog Wood · 04-04-2009, 11:31 PM

freud LU83. WELL WORTH THE 50 BUCKS OR SO. GOT ONE AND LOVE IT.

scot herries · 05-11-2009, 09:30 PM

I'll agree with most other posters. The freud blades are great for the money. I have a thin kerf with something called the "ice coating" on my saw for plywood, softwoods, etc.

**rrbrown** · 05-12-2009, 01:32 AM

Ok thanks guys a bought the freud premier/fusion and it is 1000 x better. I got it a few weeks ago and used it some but I guess I forgot to leave this reply earlier, although I thought I did.

peerawit · 05-26-2009, 12:24 AM

freud Fusion also .. The quality is very good ..

BobbyfromHouston · 06-20-2009, 08:44 AM

I like Freud blades and have also seen the Delta 50 tooth do a great job at a woodworking show. The Forest gets very high reviews also.
Bobby

clarionflyer · 06-22-2009, 01:10 AM

The best?

By my guesstimate:

Wood Worker 2
Freud Fusion
Amana

No particular order. Just the popular order.

I've had several cheaper blades that are excellent. Just ask if you're interested.

dbhost · 07-17-2009, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrbrown

I have been using a Oldham 60T combination blade for the past few years. It cost like $20 and seems to be a pretty good blade. I am looking for better blade if possible for my cabinet saw. The Oldham splinters the edge of some cross cuts. Ripping and cross cuts are a must for this blade. I tried the Dewalt 10" combination blade and it sucked from what I could see. I bought the freud diablo 80 tooth but it requires a slower feed rate and allot of reveiws claim it burns the wood when ripping. Anyone have a suggestion ?

I would be surprised to see an 80T combination blade.

I have the Freud Diablo 40T combination blade, and throw a LOT of wood through it with no issues, ripping, or crosscutting.

My CMS has the Freud Diablo 80T crosscutting blade, no worries there either. But I don't use it for ripping.