Aftermarket Blades for TS75 (List of Part Numbers with Specifications)

[rostyvyg]

I went on a quest lately looking for alternative blades for my TS75 and noticed a lot of concerns as it relates to using different blades with the same rail (splinter guard). Looking at blade kerf does not bring clarity here if you don't know the blade plate thickness and can't calculate the offset. The problem is - many manufacturers do not publish plate thickness, so unless you call them or take a plunge, buy a blade and measure it (as I did with Amana/AGE blades) there is no way to clear this confusion. So, here for everyone to use as a reference is my limited compilation of manufacturers and their part numbers with blade specifications. If you see some measurements missing, please feel free to post your own observations. Let's make this list as complete as possible together:

MODEL #           TEETH GRIND KERF PLATE OFFSET APPLICATION

Festool
495378                 16 ATB 2.6 mm 1.9 mm 0.35 mm Rip hard and soft woods
495379                 18 ATB 2.6 mm 1.9 mm 0.35 mm Rip building panels, wood and soft plastics
495380                 36 ATB 2.4 mm 1.9 mm 0.25 mm General purpose blade for wood and soft plastics; fine rip cut
495381                 52 ATB 2.4 mm 1.9 mm 0.25 mm Fine for smooth cuts in veneered plywood, sheet goods, melamine, and hard and soft woods
495382                 60 TCG 2.4 mm 1.9 mm 0.25 mm Solid Surface / Laminate
495383                 72 TCG 2.4 mm 1.9 mm 0.25 mm Non-ferrous materials, especially aluminium; acrylics and hard plastics
495284                 36 ATB 2.2 mm 1.9 mm 0.15 mm Steel

Amana/A.G.E.
MD210-160         16 ATB 2.6 mm 1.9 mm 0.35 mm Rip blade
MD210-182         18 ATB 2.6 mm 1.9 mm 0.35 mm Wood, building panels & soft plastics
MD210-360         36 ATB 2.4 mm 1.9 mm 0.25 mm General purpose
MD210-523         52 ATB 2.4 mm 1.9 mm 0.25 mm Fine crosscut in sheet goods, melamine
MD210-608         60 ATB 2.4 mm 1.9 mm 0.25 mm Solid surface and laminate
MD210-725         72 TCG 2.4 mm 1.9 mm 0.25 mm Aluminium and plastics
STL210-30         36 TCG 2.2 mm 1.9 mm 0.15 mm Alloy & Virgin Steel

Oshlun
SBFT-210036 36 ATB 2.4 mm 1.8 mm 0.3 mm Universal & General Purpose, Hardwood, Softwood, Soft Plastics
SBFT-210052         52 ATB 2.4 mm 1.8 mm 0.3 mm Fine Tooth & Crosscut, Hardwood, Softwood, Melamine
SBFT-210072A         72 TCG 2.4 mm 1.8 mm 0.3 mm Aluminum, brass, hard plastics

Tenryu
PSW-21018CBD3         18 ATB 2.3 mm 1.6 mm 0.35 mm Fast ripping on wood
PSW-21036CBD3         36 ATB 2.2 mm 1.6 mm 0.30 mm Combination (Ripping and cross cutting on wood)
PSW-21054AB3         54 ATAFR2.2 mm 1.6 mm 0.30 mm Fine cross cutting on wood
PSL-21052D3                 52 TCG 2.3 mm 1.6 mm 0.35 mm Laminate, composite, or flooring materials cutting
PSA-21068D3                 68 TCG 2.3 mm 1.6 mm 0.35 mm Aluminium cutting

CMT
290.210.24M                 24 ATB 2.8 mm 1.8 mm 0.5 mm Rip hard and soft woods
291.210.36M                 36 ATB 2.8 mm 1.8 mm 0.5 mm Rip and crosscuts on soft/hardwood and plywood
292.210.48M                 48 ATB 2.8 mm 1.8 mm 0.5 mm For crosscuts on soft hard wood, wood-based panels, one-sided veneered, paper-based laminated
236.190.04M                 4 Z4 Fiber cement boards: Eternit®, Swisspearl®, Fermacell®, Ivarplank®,

HardiePlank®, HardiePanel®, Corian®, Duroplast®, Formica®

Forrest
Ply Veneer                       70 ATB 2.4 mm Cross cuts on all types of wood including birch plywood

 

[DrD]

[member=63558]rostyvyg[/member]

That is a lot of work, THANKS!  Now permit me to display my ignorance: just why are Plate Thickness and Offset important?  Are they additive to the kerf?  Additive from what point of reference or datum?

Thanks, again, I've taken the liberty to ear-mark this page as I need a few replacement blades.

 

[Kevin D.]

Thank you for posting this and taking the time for doing all that.  I've printed it and it will sit in my TS75 Systainer for future reference.

 

[rostyvyg]

[member=63558]rostyvyg[/member]

Now permit me to display my ignorance: just why are Plate Thickness and Offset important?  Are they additive to the kerf?  Additive from what point of reference or datum?

Well, in order to determine how far the blade will cut into the guide rail splinter guard one must calculate where the inner side of the kerf resides in relation to the inner arbor plate. Given the same kerf a thicker blade plate would move the inner kerf side outward. A thinner blade plate will move the inner side of the kerf inward - towards the guide rail. This is where offset comes into play. It is calculated as (kerf - plate thickness) / 2. Offset larger then offset of the OEM Festool blade will cause the new blade to cut into the splinter guard. So far by calculations and by real life observations I can attest that Amana (A.G.E.) blades are exact match to Festool OEM counterparts.  With other blades you have to look at the table. For example, a general purpose (36T) CMT blade will cut 0.25 mm into the splinter guard. This is something you could notice with a naked eye. A general purpose Tenryu wil cut 0.05 mm into the splinter guard - this is something I, personally would not be able to detect just by looking.

I would be very interested if anyone in possession of Oshlun blades for TS75 measured kerf and plate thickness and posted those measurments here so that I could expand the table...

 

[Cheese]

Now permit me to display my ignorance: just why are Plate Thickness and Offset important? 

The thickness of the kerf minus the plate thickness divided by 2 = tooth offset or tooth overhang. That's how much the teeth over hang the plate on each side. That determines how much you cut or don't cut into the splinter strip when you swap between blades.

The TS 55 doesn't have these issues if you stay with Festool blades because they all have the same kerf width. I always thought it was strange that Festool didn't take this same approach with the TS 75.

 

[DrD]

Thanks guys for the easy to understand explanation.  As for why Festool neglected to do for the TS 75 what they did for the TS 55, I posted about my frustrations about this fact the other day where someone was asking why the depth of plunge guide on the TS 75 did not account for the guide rail.

 

[rostyvyg]

Would yiu, kindly, measure the  blade plate thickness of your Oshlun blades ad post them in this thread?

 

[Richard A.]

Would it be possible to shim the blade over on the blades with the thinner blade plates as to not change the cut edge? Or would that be dangerous?

 

[Svar]

Would it be possible to shim the blade over on the blades with the thinner blade plates as to not change the cut edge? Or would that be dangerous?

You could do that. There is a variety of arbor shims available for table saws.
You can also shim the guide rail channel in the saw base with thin UHMW tape, then readjus green knobs. This will move the entire saw away from the splinter guard. Its even easier on TS 55 REQ, as you can stick a shim under black plastic slides.

 

[Cheese]

Excluding CMT and excluding all the steel rated blades, the offset difference at the splinter guard between other brands and within brands looks to be 0.10mm (0.004") at most.

Agreed...while this is an interesting discussion and it is certainly capable of generating some interest, the net outcome is really insignificant. A gap of .004" as it relates to woodworking is the equivalent to the thickness of a coarse hair or a piece of paper. Seasonal changes or humidity variations will cause variations larger than that.

A .004" variance is large when machining metals and is huge when designing tools/dies/molds...but not so much when it comes to wood and even less when working with plastics.

 

[rostyvyg]

Thanks. I updated the original post with your data.

 

[Poindexter]

Fantastic thread  [thanks]

 

[presidentsdad]

Would it be possible to shim the blade over on the blades with the thinner blade plates as to not change the cut edge? Or would that be dangerous?

You could do that. There is a variety of arbor shims available for table saws.
You can also shim the guide rail channel in the saw base with thin UHMW tape, then readjus green knobs. This will move the entire saw away from the splinter guard. Its even easier on TS 55 REQ, as you can stick a shim under black plastic slides.

Hey all,
I hate to revive an old thread, but it was exactly what I needed.  For a TS75, regarding blade shims to "push out" the blade from the arbor to compensate for the differing kerf between the standard 36 tooth (2.4mm kerf) and the panther 16 tooth blade (2.6mm kerf), would I need 1/2 the kerf difference so that it puts the cut line exactly where the thinner blade starts?  In other words, to switch from the 2.4mm kerf blade to the 2.6mm kerf blade and still use the same guide rail/splinterguard, I'd need to find a .1mm shim and put it on before I put the blade in so that it pushes the blade out by 1/2 the kerf thickness?  Is that correct??  Thanks in advance.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Nothing wrong with reviving an old thread, especially if it has good information.

You are right in principle, a .1mm shim will push the wider kerf blade out to cut the same distance from the rail as the .2mm narrower blade.

In practice, you’ll need to shim the Panther blade out much farther (depends on the behavior of that particular blade) or suffer a severely chewed up splinter guard. The actual kerf of my Panther blades can double in use, for no discernible reason, resulting in a wavy cut that needs to be re-cut with a more civilized blade or jointed, unless the use is rough carpentry. The Universal blade cuts much more consistently.

 

[presidentsdad]

So should I rip with the grain using the universal blade instead of the panther ripping blade?  I thought the point of switching to the ripping blade (panther, less teeth larger gullets, suited for work with the grain) was cleaner/faster rips?

 

[presidentsdad]

Alright, did some research on Panther vs "standard" blade.  Seems the 18 tooth standard blade is better for ripping than the universal 36 tooth blade, but a leaves a smoother cut than the panther blade.  So...my question still remains, can I use a .1mm shim to compensate for the extra .2mm kerf of the 18 tooth standard blade over the 2.4mm kerf 36 tooth universal blade?  Would that still give me a good rip cut and not eat up my guide rail splinter guard?

 

[MikeGE]

Now I'm questioning my decision to buy the Panther blade for my TS75.  I have some 52mm thick beech to rip, and was hoping the Panther would give me a smooth edge.  It's still unopened, so I can easily exchange it for the standard 18-tooth blade, but I am interested in a source for shims so I don't have to keep two sets of rails or change out the edge strips when I change blades.

 

[presidentsdad]

I was going to buy some from McMaster-Carr. They call them "round shims," but there is a .1mm with a 30mm ID hole.

 

[presidentsdad]

Alright, did some research on Panther vs "standard" blade.  Seems the 18 tooth standard blade is better for ripping than the universal 36 tooth blade, but a leaves a smoother cut than the panther blade.  So...my question still remains, can I use a .1mm shim to compensate for the extra .2mm kerf of the 18 tooth standard blade over the 2.4mm kerf 36 tooth universal blade?  Would that still give me a good rip cut and not eat up my guide rail splinter guard?

Does anyone have some advise on this question??

 

[FestitaMakool]

I’ve searched for alternatives, as 210mm and the Festool name is rare here.. as one could easily drown in choices in “160mm” blades.

I found these from Makita as well, I know others are saying very good thing about them.
There’s a 24 tooth general and a 40 tooth fine. Both seem to be the same tooth “M”, just different tooth count. It seems that these are ww available.

[attachimg=1]