Table Saw Blade advice

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Superior industrial blades include Leitz, Swedex, OMAS and a few more.

For a good but middle quality blade, I'd point you towards CMT and their chrome range.

I know we are all telling you that separate rip and crosscut blades are best, but this general purpose 40T blade happened to come up in a search and the other descriptive stuff around the CMT chrome range is useful.

https://www.cmtorangetools.com/eu-e...85-industrial-saw-blades-for-ripping-crosscut

Scott & Sergeant are an established supplier focussed on the needs of trade users rather cheap DIY and they distribute CMT. Just browse their site. You could even ring and ask them to recommend a pair of blades.
 
Superior industrial blades include Leitz, Swedex, OMAS and a few more.

For a good but middle quality blade, I'd point you towards CMT and their chrome range.

I know we are all telling you that separate rip and crosscut blades are best, but this general purpose 40T blade happened to come up in a search and the other descriptive stuff around the CMT chrome range is useful.

https://www.cmtorangetools.com/eu-e...85-industrial-saw-blades-for-ripping-crosscut

Scott & Sergeant are an established supplier focussed on the needs of trade users rather cheap DIY and they distribute CMT. Just browse their site. You could even ring and ask them to recommend a pair of blades.

Thank you Sideways - I very much like the idea of their "filled slots" for thermal expansion.
 
I don't think I have any blades with filled slots but they might help in reducing the wind noise from the blade and I can't think of any downside to the feature.
 
It is my understanding that filled slots have an advantage in a commercial environment where cleaning of the blade may not be a priority. Slots get full of resin and since not all get filled at the same rate it causes the blade to come out of balance that creates a wobble / vibration. Filling the slots prevents resin build up, so a good idea. However, for hobby / one man band operations just keeping the blade clean / not allowing a build up of resin achieves the same thing.
 
This is just my view, but Freud blades are just a waste of metal. I’ve tried most blades, the last Freud blade I bought went into the bin after just one cut. They are cheap for a reason.
That's odd because I have been using the same Freud blades for many years, I haven't had to replace them, and they work very well. Mainly rip blades. Maybe the quality has gone down in the last 20 years?
 
Hello,

I have Axminster 10" table saw, still with its original blade, which has now seen better days.
I need to replace the blade, but I want a good blade for the work I need to do. I don't mind paying a bit extra for something special.

As an example of my needs, I make hardwood boards out of 25mm thick American Black Walnut, Maple, Oak and other hard woods.
A typical board is 20" square but the planks are cut to 3" strips (ripped) then glue back together (alternative species) then cut again (crosscut) into 3" strips before being glued back together.
The end result is like a chess or drafts board (Although not for this).

I want a really good blade for cutting both directions of the board, but with a good enough finish for gluing back together.

So, my question is what would be the best blade for this? A general purpose blade? What make? What about teeth style (Rake & top etc)?

For me personally, I really don't want to be changing the blades each time, unless it really has a massive benefit.

I read the Swedex and CMT blades are good and a few other high end brands, but more specifically is what style of tooth and TPI would be best?

Thank you for any any replies or advice you can give.
Maybe my saw is set up incorrectly but I have never achieved a rip cut that can be glued up off the saw without planing first. I know they advertise rip blades that should achieve that but I doubt it is really possible.
 
Sorry to interject, but you guys have provided some great information sources above - and I particularly liked the CMT website. I am cutting 18mm BB Birch Plywood using a KITY 419, but I need something that's going to produce a better cut with less tearout than the cheap 40T blade I currently have.

On looking at CMT, there's a 40T or 60T with the suggested rake angle - but what's the actual difference ? I IMAGINE 60T will produce a better finish - but just a little slower - is that correct, or am I missing something obvious?
 
As a blade gets more teeth, it tends to make a finer finish on crosscut and sheet material. At the same time, rhe "gullets" between the teeth get smaller and the blade is less able to carry away the stringy fibrous chips that you get when you make a rip cut with the grain instead of a cross grain cut. The effect is that on a rip cut, you can't feed as fast, there is more friction, the blade heats up and there is greater risk of scorching.
So it's a trade off.
Look at a 10" sliding mitre saw. A good saw with a good 80 tooth blade leaves a planed cross grain cut that is hard to achieve any other way. But a 10" rip blade will have only 16-20 teeth for comparison and the massive gullets between the teeth really clear the cu when you rip.

The other thing that is worth remembering is the effect of a sharp blade.
A blade freshly sharpened by a good specialist is better than a new blade from the factory as their machinery is probably better and more care taken.
 
There are four things that help reduce tear out.
1. Make a zero clearance table insert and ensure it’s level with the top. As the stuff passes over this reduces tear out drastically.
2. Quality sharp blade and a properly setup table to minimise vibration.
3. Tooth count, as @Sideways has highlighted a higher tooth count will produce a cleaner cut. However this is linked to rotational speed of the blade (I can vary my table saw speed as it has a belt and pulley system for speed control), diameter of blade selected and depth of cut to be taken. Sounds all very complex, however quality blade manufacturers will have an easy cheat sheet of which blade you need along with graphs showing the feed rate versus rotational speed. If your is a fixed speed saw, you just need to check your speed fits within the criteria.
4. Tooth geometry, there are blades for man made materials that have a tooth geometry design to minimise/ eliminate tear out.

As before check out and have a read of the Swedex catalogue, the first dozen pages probably gives the best introduction and explanation of table saw blades I’ve come across.
 

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