What sort of blade do you use in your table saw?

[whostolebenfrog]

I've just taken delivery of a new Harvey table saw from woodford. I have it put together and it's looking very smart and seems to work very well!

However it's got the stock blade on it which doesn't look all that hot so I'm looking to buy something more suited to a shiny new machine. To start with I'm looking for a general purpose one - suitable for crosscutting and ripping. A lot of the youtubers use Freud blades but the American's seem to have access to different choices.

I've seen this on screwfix which looks good: "FREUD TCT CIRCULAR SAW BLADE 250 X 30MM 40T" - apparently I can't post links yet.

Is that going to be nice, I have a Freud in my mitre saw and it's excellent.

Anything better available?

What do you use?

Thanks!

 

[MusicMan]

Looks a very nice bit of kit. I hope you got the 'advanced' riving knife version!

I use a 40T TCT combination blade as you describe; it came with the saw and is old and I can't read the make, but it is very good. I also have a Freud thin kerf TCT rip saw blade, which is best for heavy ripping, and a thick 80T Freud TCT blade that is best for cross-cutting and for laminate-coated chipboard (but does not like anything much thicker).

I generally leave the combination blade on most of the time, but change to the 80T if I want quality cross cuts (e.g. for end-grain chopping blocks) and the rip blade if I am mostly ripping, especially thick stock.

 

[RobinBHM]

A 40T 250mm blade is a good combination blade for your machine, It should do well for all materials and cuts, maybe struggling a bit with deep ripping where low teeth count and big gullets clear sawdust quickly and minimise heat build up.

Do check the your riving knife width and make surr your saw blade kerf is a touch wider.

 

[Hot stuff]

Freud on everything for me. I've tried other makes but the Freud ones perform and last well and they're not ridiculously expensive either.
Makita blades are good as well, only had them on my circular saw but I was well pleased with the cuts they produced.

 

[curtisrider]

I use Freud for all my neat stuff (I have a 250mm 40T on a tablesaw and mitre saw and they are great) and use Dewalt construction blades for all my rougher stuff (nail embedded wood) and they also perform really well for half the price making them pretty disposable against the Freuds which cost enough to justify sharpening

 

[lurker]

Another Freud user here
I tend to use Amazon as they are a little cheaper if you keep your eye on them.
Keep that dubious one for cutting reclaimed wood to approximate size

 

[MARK.B.]

Yep another user of Freud here.

 

[MotamJoinery]

Found Freud blade to be best so far for price/performance.

I would also look at the Bosch blades (the Expert or top precision range). Bosch brought out Freud and i have been told the Bosch blades are made in the Freud factories now.

 

[MikeJhn]

And another satisfied Freud blade user, I have found them to be the best value for money.

Mike

 

[memzey]

Wealden and Atkinson Walker blades are very, very good too. British made as well.

 

[skipdiver]

Think Freud are about the best combination of price/performance and also have a huge range which is freely available and easy to source. I have several makes of blades for different machines, some of which came with the machines themselves, but if i'm buying new, it's usually Freud.

 

[pcb1962]

Wealden and Atkinson Walker blades are very, very good too. British made as well.

+1 for Wealden from me, get all my blades from them.

 

[tomlt]

Anything from Doug at CuttingSolutions.co.uk. I've got a couple of his blades and they are superb! Service is good too, proper old fashioned company to deal with which is nice.

Cheers, Tom.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Freud on everything for me. I've tried other makes but the Freud ones perform and last well and they're not ridiculously expensive either.
Makita blades are good as well, only had them on my circular saw but I was well pleased with the cuts they produced.

I use only freud as well,however they are ridiculously expensive... :|

 

[MikeJhn]

Freud blades can be found at a reasonable cost if you shop around a bit: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Freud-Pro-LP2 ... 0879102521 I don't call that expensive for a top quality blade.

Mike

 

[whostolebenfrog]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like there is a pretty strong consensus here. I'll give that Freud a shot once I've checked the riving knife thickness. £31.99 at screwfix, pricy compared to some but the Freud on my mitre saw has held up very well to a lot of use. I don't mind paying more if it's going to cut well and last.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Freud blades can be found at a reasonable cost if you shop around a bit: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Freud-Pro-LP2 ... 0879102521 I don't call that expensive for a top quality blade.

Mike

go for a larger blade with higher tooth count and it gets expensive very FAST

 

[MikeJhn]

You have to pay for quality, if you can't afford the blades then you have bought the wrong table saw, you should consider what you are buying, not just for the basic piece of equipment, but for all the things you will need to make it operate correctly.

Not everyone looks for the cheapest equipment and peripherals.

Mike