Help choosing a table saw blade

[Mini Me]

I would have a really close look at the fence alignment to the blade before anything else. Parallel to a tad of toe out is what you are looking for. WW blades are excellent but then most major brands will give good results such as Tenryu which are at least as goodhttps://tenryusawblades.com/ as WW.

 

[Bob D.]

• The primary reason why "rip blades" have fewer teeth is to enable faster feed rates.

I always thought rip blades had fewer teeth and hence more space between the teeth to allow more room to collect the swarf and move it out of the cut zone. You're cutting with the grain so in effect chiseling out small shavings, not crosscutting which makes for smaller, shorter bits. This may allow you to feed your stock faster and that may be desirable to avoid burning on woods like Cherry but I did not think that was the primary reason.

 

[smorgasbord]

• The primary reason why "rip blades" have fewer teeth is to enable faster feed rates.

I always thought rip blades had fewer teeth and hence more space between the teeth to allow more room to collect the swarf and move it out of the cut zone. You're cutting with the grain so in effect chiseling out small shavings, not crosscutting which makes for smaller, shorter bits. This may allow you to feed your stock faster and that may be desirable to avoid burning on woods like Cherry but I did not think that was the primary reason.

Fewer teeth mean larger gullets, which mean more wood dust can be carried away, which means faster feed rates possible.
But, fewer teeth mean a rougher cut, but when ripping that effect isn't as pronounced.

This Stumpy Nubs video actually does a decent job explaining the major attributes to consider when choosing a blade:

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I work in a large commercial cabinet shop that has had at least 2 of the industrial version of these saws for the more than 10 years. My first experience with one was in 2009. In that time, I have replaced dozens of these cartridges, with every kind of blade you can imagine stuck in them.
The only exception is the dado stack, no one has ever set that off. We have had the same one for years. The stopping time "might" be calculatable, but it's so fast that in real terms doesn't matter. You have to remember that it is dropping out of the way too and that is not affected by a micro-second difference in stopping time.
To my knowledge, none have actually been fingers, as the "keep guards in place" rules are followed strictly. Dados, other non-through-cuts are the only exceptions and only a few of us ever do that anyway. Most of the triggering comes from mistakenly cutting conductive material. Metal laminate is the most common, but there have been others. I set it off the first time I cut the PVC sheet material that covered the outside of those curved nurse station desks. The PVC generates enough static electricity, sliding across the saw, to trigger it.
"Someone" in the shop will set one off fairly regularly, enough that we keep them in stock.
At one point I was getting concerned about how many times these machines can actually take this, it's a rather violent event. I was assured by one of their tech people, during a phone conversation about another issue, that it was not a problem.

 

[John T.]

Thanks for that video. He confirms 40-50t combination/general purpose blade for finish quality rip cuts. I guess the tooth count is more important than the tooth shape for finish quality over speed.

• The primary reason why "rip blades" have fewer teeth is to enable faster feed rates.

I always thought rip blades had fewer teeth and hence more space between the teeth to allow more room to collect the swarf and move it out of the cut zone. You're cutting with the grain so in effect chiseling out small shavings, not crosscutting which makes for smaller, shorter bits. This may allow you to feed your stock faster and that may be desirable to avoid burning on woods like Cherry but I did not think that was the primary reason.

Fewer teeth mean larger gullets, which mean more wood dust can be carried away, which means faster feed rates possible.
But, fewer teeth mean a rougher cut, but when ripping that effect isn't as pronounced.

This Stumpy Nubs video actually does a decent job explaining the major attributes to consider when choosing a blade:

 

[Cheese]

I've always been a fan and a user of Forrest blades, I've used them for years on table saws & a radial arm saw. However, once I started purchasing Festool saws, the Leitz blades that come with them really impressed me, to the point that I feel the Leitz blades are certainly the equal of Forrest or maybe even better than Forrest. Those Harvey/Leitz blades that Tom refers to certainly are reasonably priced. The BR36 rip blade for $89 compared to the WWII 30 tooth for $155.

Having said that, Forrest does make an "Ultra-Planer" 30/40 tooth blade for $156/$173.
https://www.sliversmill.com/category_12_UltraPlaner.html

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I had never used a Leitz blade until a couple of years ago, when we switched sharpening services.
An actual Leitz rep comes to us every week. Most of the blades for all of the saws come from them now. Everything from the huge ones in the beam saw to the TS55.
I still have a few Festool branded ones, but they are Leitz too as far as I know.

 

[John T.]

It's between the Forrest WWII, the Harvey (Leitz) BR36, and the Leitz Pro combo blade. It's almost the same price as the Forrest WWII. I'm leaning towards one of the Leitz options since they seem to have pretty good reviews and are a little more affordable than the WWII.
https://vsctools.com/shop/leitz-combo-table-saw-blade/

Edit: I ended up ordering the WWII. I realized afterwards the Harvey rip blade does have anti kickback humps although they are smaller than those on the Freud rip blades.

The Leitz Pro blades look good but I couldn't find any info or reviews on them besides one Youtube video from the distributor, and that combo blade is close to the WWII cost.

I had never used a Leitz blade until a couple of years ago, when we switched sharpening services.
An actual Leitz rep comes to us every week. Most of the blades for all of the saws come from them now. Everything from the huge ones in the beam saw to the TS55.
I still have a few Festool branded ones, but they are Leitz too as far as I know.

I've always been a fan and a user of Forrest blades, I've used them for years on table saws & a radial arm saw. However, once I started purchasing Festool saws, the Leitz blades that come with them really impressed me, to the point that I feel the Leitz blades are certainly the equal of Forrest or maybe even better than Forrest. Those Harvey/Leitz blades that Tom refers to certainly are reasonably priced. The BR36 rip blade for $89 compared to the WWII 30 tooth for $155.

Having said that, Forrest does make an "Ultra-Planer" 30/40 tooth blade for $156/$173.
https://www.sliversmill.com/category_12_UltraPlaner.html

 

[Packard]

For many years, I have used separate rip blades and cross cut blades.  I’m getting lazy in my old age, and I tried the Freud Fusion blade ($80.00 currently from Amazon).  But less than $60.00 in 2018 when I bought mine. 

Freud-Diablo P410 Premier Fusion 10-Inch 40 Tooth Hi-ATB General Purpose Saw Blade with 5/8-Inch Arbor and PermaShield Coating

It cross cuts and rips as smoothly as my dedicated blades.  But note they set limitations on rip thickness to 1-1/2” even though the blade can cut a advertised 3-1/2” thick cross cut.  It shows a 3/8” minimum cross cut thickness, but I have used it regularly on 1/4” nominal plywood with good results. 

I’m happy with this blade.  I have not touched my dedicated rip or cross cut blades since I got this.