Let's talk about saw blades...

[TENRYU AMERICA]

Hello

Hopefully some people on this forum have heard of TENRYU. I need to ask a big favor and ask you all to help with the following questions:

1) What are your thoughts in regard to the blade choices currently available from FESTOOL (Tooth counts, Grind, Quality etc.)
2) If you are the proud owner of either a TS-55, TS-75 or Kapex what blade do you use most?
3) What materials do you cut most often? (Rate your top 3)
4) Are there any materials you would like to cut that is not currently supported by a blade choice? (Fiber cement etc.)
5) What describes you best: a) Hobbyist b) Professional Contractor c) Little bit of a) & b) or d) "Your choice"?

Thank you in advance for your help. I also wanted to let everyone know that if you have a saw blade type question you are very welcome to ask.

Iain Goodridge

 

[Michael Kellough]

Welcome Iain, thanks for the introduction to your stuff.

I don't think anyone would mind if you included a web link
so we can get a better idea of what you can offer.

I'm assuming you have the ability to bore blades to fit Festool saws.
Every now and then someone expresses a desire to have more choice in
blades but often it's to buy a cheaper blade for the quick and dirty work.

 

[womackdesign]

I think the panther rip blades are pretty amazing, If they arent made by leitz they are better. The rest I would perfer leitz. Chad

 

[Per Swenson]

Welcome Iain,

We have and use 3 of your company's blades on our table, miter, and radial arm saws.

We keep them in rotation with our other blades.

This is to say that Tenryu makes a high quality product and we are extremely

happy with the blades we use in those applications.

But, big but, its going to be pretty tough to beat Festools own blades in both price and quality,

for their intended application.

Per

 

[Steve Jones]

Welcome Ian,

I'm in the same boat as Per, I too use your excellent blades in rotation on table, miter, and radial arm saws, and am very pleased with them.

But like per, I suspect you'll have a hard time competing with the standard blades supplied with the TS55, I spend my days mostly cutting 3/4 domestic ply with the TS55 and a new blade lasts me about a month (which is WAY more mileage than I'm getting from other blades on other saws -yours included, I'm afraid),  oddly enough getting them professionally sharpend does not give me half the life that a new blade gets, which I intend to take up with my sharpening service when the next batch is due for sharpening.

along those lines, I suspect that your blades do not hold up as long after sharpening, maybe I need to change services - do you have any input as to possible reasons? I know your blades perform very well when new, do you put a second grind angle on that perhaps the service is not doing?

Steve

 

[TENRYU AMERICA]

Welcome Iain, thanks for the introduction to your stuff.

I don't think anyone would mind if you included a web link
so we can get a better idea of what you can offer.

I'm assuming you have the ability to bore blades to fit Festool saws.
Every now and then someone expresses a desire to have more choice in
blades but often it's to buy a cheaper blade for the quick and dirty work.

Hello, thanks for the welcome. I will have a weblink available in a couple of weeks. In answer to your other comment we will be modifying bore sizes to fit the FESTOOL saws. We are planning to bring thinner kerfs and alternative tooth grinds (ATAF, ATAFR etc.) to the table to see if people are interested.

 

[TENRYU AMERICA]

Welcome Ian,

I'm in the same boat as Per, I too use your excellent blades in rotation on table, miter, and radial arm saws, and am very pleased with them.

But like per, I suspect you'll have a hard time competing with the standard blades supplied with the TS55, I spend my days mostly cutting 3/4 domestic ply with the TS55 and a new blade lasts me about a month (which is WAY more mileage than I'm getting from other blades on other saws -yours included, I'm afraid),  oddly enough getting them professionally sharpend does not give me half the life that a new blade gets, which I intend to take up with my sharpening service when the next batch is due for sharpening.

along those lines, I suspect that your blades do not hold up as long after sharpening, maybe I need to change services - do you have any input as to possible reasons? I know your blades perform very well when new, do you put a second grind angle on that perhaps the service is not doing?

Steve

Hello Steve, Thank you for using our blades I always like to hear from current users. I will send you some information via private mail regarding your sharpening question (Pictures etc.) Hopefully it will help. Thanks for the information on your cutting needs, the blades we are planning for the TS-55 & TS-75 will not be from our current line up and will be unique for each saw.

Thanks again, Iain

 

[TENRYU AMERICA]

Welcome Iain,

We have and use 3 of your company's blades on our table, miter, and radial arm saws.

We keep them in rotation with our other blades.

This is to say that Tenryu makes a high quality product and we are extremely

happy with the blades we use in those applications.

But, big but, its going to be pretty tough to beat Festools own blades in both price and quality,

for their intended application.

Per

Hello Per, Thanks for the note. I really appreciate your comments on your existing TENRYU blades. I look forward to discussing the FESTOOL blades with you in the future. Do you mind telling me which saw you use most often and with what materials? Thanks again Iain

 

[dirtydeeds]

iain

could you possibly give us some insight to why

HUGE generalisation...............................

saw blades that are reharpened by saw doctors

never seem to have the same lifespan of the original blades

i have no doubt that your new saw blades suffer the same problems on resharpening on the basis that steve jones comment

altough im the other side of the atlantic, matches my own experience

 

[Brice Burrell]

Hello Iain, I use the Festool TS 55 to cut plywood, I use the blade that comes with the saw, fine tooth blade. That blade works very well for both cross cutting and ripping veneer plywood. I also cut a lot of Azek, cellular PVC, sheets and I use the same blade. The laminate blade Festool has would be a much better choice for cutting the PVC because that blade has a triple chip grind would last longer between sharpenings. I do some straight line ripping of rough hardwood stock, for that I use the Festool's fine tooth or panther blade depending on thick the stock is.

I have the Kapex and all of it's blades but it is too early to judge the long term quality of the blades. However, my impression is that the blades will live up to the quality that I have come to expect from Festool's blades and bits.

I agree with what the others have said, Festool's blades are very good quality and they make a blade for every purpose that saws are made for. I think you'll find it hard to improve on the quality or value that Festool's blades offer. If you can find a blade that does offer a better value or one that fills a void in Festool's offerings I think we be very interested. Good luck and welcome to the FOG.

 

[Tim Sproul]

It would be nice to have a good rip blade, a good combo blade and a good fine finishing crosscut blade for the TS 75 - all with the same size kerf.  I don't care if the kerfs are a little different than Festool's kerfs (that is plural), just so long as Tenryu blades all had the same kerf. 

The change in kerf sizes by Festool is as stupid as the bungling Kapex mess that is going on.  $1300 for a FIXED ANGLE miter saw  :'(.

 

[Warrior]

Iain,

Thanks for your interest in producing more choices for us wood workers.

I use the TS75 with the 36 tooth universal blade. I use it as an all purpose combination blade in hardwoods 3/4" to 2 1/4" thick. I also use it to cut plywood and MDF. In hardwoods I find that it sometimes vibrates in the middle of a cut mucking up the edges of the cut. Also the cut edges in hardwood have slight saw marks no matter the adjustment of the saw.
Overall I am happy with the universal blade for what I do. BUT if you were going to produce one for me, I would like a vibration free combo blade that produces glass smooth cut. I would also like to see a decent ripping blade with the same kerf as the combo blade and a thin kerf rip.

Another blade I would like to have is a chip free melamine blade. The festool option for melamine is lacking in the chip free area.

So the list goes, for the TS75:

Super smooth combo blade
rip blade
thin kerf rip blade
chip free melamine blade

Eiji Fuller

 

[bruegf]

Eiji,

I used the Festool fine tooth blade on my ts55 this summer to build some melamine mdf core cabinets for my garage.  Even though the blade has see a bit of use it cut 100% chip free.  The same blade chipped like crazy when I built laundry room cabinets last year out of pc core melamine I bought at Menards.  The difference was the quality of the core material.

Fred

 

[Jerry Work]

Hi Iain,

Welcome to the group.  I design and build fine furniture in a one man studio setting.  I started using your Gold Metal blades in my European combo machine nearly a decade ago and have been most impressed.  When I called your company about five or so years ago looking for resharpening I was told that you did not resharpen and instead was given the name of a company in Utah.  They did a good job but I would like to know if you now do offer resharpening for your customers.  I have several of your blades in rotation cutting mostly solid hard woods.  I use them for both rip and cross cuts with good result but I would prefer to sharpen them more often if you do now offer that service.  I use Festool brand blades for the plunge saws and the Kapex and have been very pleased by the cut quality, cost and service life.  There is no factory resharpening there either so it is a bit of a crap shoot to find a reliable service that will grind them back to new performance.  Seems to be very dependent on just who was manning the sharpening system that day.  Some do well, and some don't seem to know what they are doing.  One area where I think you could do well would be with larger band saw blades.  Those are also a real crap shoot as to whether the blade will be welded straight or not.  If you could offer Gold Metal quality carbide blades in .5" and 1" widths in length ranges appropriate for 20 to 24" industrial band saws I would think you would find a really receptive market eager for something more reliable than the current crop of stock blade blank welders.  Hope this helps.

Jerry

Jerry

Hello

Hopefully some people on this forum have heard of TENRYU. I need to ask a big favor and ask you all to help with the following questions:

1) What are your thoughts in regard to the blade choices currently available from FESTOOL (Tooth counts, Grind, Quality etc.)
2) If you are the proud owner of either a TS-55, TS-75 or Kapex what blade do you use most?
3) What materials do you cut most often? (Rate your top 3)
4) Are there any materials you would like to cut that is not currently supported by a blade choice? (Fiber cement etc.)
5) What describes you best: a) Hobbyist b) Professional Contractor c) Little bit of a) & b) or d) "Your choice"?

Thank you in advance for your help. I also wanted to let everyone know that if you have a saw blade type question you are very welcome to ask.

Iain Goodridge

 

[Warrior]

Eiji,

I used the Festool fine tooth blade on my ts55 this summer to build some melamine mdf core cabinets for my garage.   Even though the blade has see a bit of use it cut 100% chip free.   The same blade chipped like crazy when I built laundry room cabinets last year out of pc core melamine I bought at Menards.   The difference was the quality of the core material.

Fred

Fred,

I have no choice but to use PB core melamine as it is the only option available in my area. The only mdf core I can get is in the 1/4" sheets. I can get chip free cuts all day long on my table saw with a freud melamine blade. I don't have a scoring tablesaw.

Eiji

 

[minimal]

I have a TS55 and love the fine-tooth blade it comes with: I've been using it primarily on a very dense 1" multi-ply
and this blade is relatively fast and very, very clean.

I'm jealous that the TS75 has a blade for steel plate. I know the TS55 has a lot less power but I'd instantly
buy a blade that cuts steel sheet, say 15 gage.

And a blade that can cut prefab 1/8" concrete panels (plastic/composite mesh reinforced). I'd probably buy
a TS75 if this blade came out for it only.

Yes, I know these are special applications, but you asked so I spoke up...

 

[TENRYU AMERICA]

I have a TS55 and love the fine-tooth blade it comes with: I've been using it primarily on a very dense 1" multi-ply
and this blade is relatively fast and very, very clean.

I'm jealous that the TS75 has a blade for steel plate. I know the TS55 has a lot less power but I'd instantly
buy a blade that cuts steel sheet, say 15 gage.

And a blade that can cut prefab 1/8" concrete panels (plastic/composite mesh reinforced). I'd probably buy
a TS75 if this blade came out for it only.

Yes, I know these are special applications, but you asked so I spoke up...

Hmm, interesting material. Do you have the name of the manufacturer of the panels? I think I have cut this before with a 180mm blade that might fit the TS-75. Let me know about the panel and I will test it out. On the metal cutting for the TS-55, I do have a blade option. Would you like to try it out?

 

[TENRYU AMERICA]

Hi Iain,

Welcome to the group.  I design and build fine furniture in a one man studio setting.  I started using your Gold Metal blades in my European combo machine nearly a decade ago and have been most impressed.  When I called your company about five or so years ago looking for resharpening I was told that you did not resharpen and instead was given the name of a company in Utah.  They did a good job but I would like to know if you now do offer resharpening for your customers.  I have several of your blades in rotation cutting mostly solid hard woods.  I use them for both rip and cross cuts with good result but I would prefer to sharpen them more often if you do now offer that service.  I use Festool brand blades for the plunge saws and the Kapex and have been very pleased by the cut quality, cost and service life.  There is no factory resharpening there either so it is a bit of a crap shoot to find a reliable service that will grind them back to new performance.  Seems to be very dependent on just who was manning the sharpening system that day.   Some do well, and some don't seem to know what they are doing.  One area where I think you could do well would be with larger band saw blades.  Those are also a real crap shoot as to whether the blade will be welded straight or not.  If you could offer Gold Metal quality carbide blades in .5" and 1" widths in length ranges appropriate for 20 to 24" industrial band saws I would think you would find a really receptive market eager for something more reliable than the current crop of stock blade blank welders.  Hope this helps.

Jerry

Jerry,
Thank you for the information. I have noticed a real concern on this forum with sharpening and I hope to be able to ease some fears in the future. I am glad the Gold Medal performs well for you and you are the first person to ask me for a Gold Medal band saw blade so I will have to dig into that question a little more.

Thanks again, Iain.

 

[TENRYU AMERICA]

Update - 7/22
Thank you to everyone who has thrown in a recommendation or just a general comment. I really appreciate the effort. Here is the latest on the blades:
On Monday I spent 3 hours with a Kapex and many different TENRYU blade options. I can happily report that the Kapex is a great saw to use (Most of you probably knew that) I did manage to test out the overload protection more than once as I tried to miter a 45 through a piece of 1-3/4" x 6" maple (I was testing negative rake & high tooth count blades). We are still developing options for the Kapex and I will keep you informed.

On the TS-55 I now have prototypes available, unfortunately not everyones requested blades have been made yet but there is an interesting looking line up. On Friday pm, I will list the blades, and ask for volunteers to try them out (No cost, and no strings attached I just need honest feedback!). Hopefully a few of you TS-55 owners won't mind helping out.

Again, thank you for the interest and support.

Iain Goodridge

 

[Warrior]

I feel left out. What about TS75 blades?