TS55 and Off Brand saw blades?

[Daviddubya]

...Is sharpening a viable alternative to cheap blades? Forrest makes really big deal about the quality of their sharpening service. Has anyone looked into this as an option? How many times a Festool blade can be sharpened by an efficient shop that won't waste your carbide? If you sharpen a blade 10 times (round number) at $30 ($25 + shipping) = about $360. 11 blades = about $660. I think you see my point. Pretty much every re-sharpen = cheapish blade but with cut quality like a high grade blade.
...

Sharpening is certainly an option.  The cost to sharpen a Festool blade at the local service I use is around $15 - the cost is dependent on the number of teeth.  Local mailing adds about $8 each way, for a total cost of $31.  If I send several blades at the same time, the cost per blade drops.  If I choose to drive the blades to the service and back, the out-of-pocket cost drops, and my time gets into the equation.  Festool blades can be resharpened quite a few times, and so can Forrest blades.

I agree with Lou - if I were cutting laminate flooring that ate blades like crazy, I'd find another solution.  There are choices in saw guiding systems and lots of name brand circular saws can use throw-away blades.

 

[Greg_R]

I'm surprised I never see Forrest mentioned here since they make Festool blades. They make some of the best Carbide blades you can buy. My chop saw blade is a Forrest Chopmaster and I have visited cabinet shops that won't use anything else. Our shop at work swears by them. Of course they only seem to offer a 50 tooth Woodworker I.

I let my neighbor use my chopsaw for installing laminate flooring and that stuff killed my Chopmaster blade very quickly.  I think some form of specialty blade (diamond, etc.) is definitely required.

 

[mntbighker]

I let my neighbor use my chopsaw for installing laminate flooring and that stuff killed my Chopmaster blade very quickly.  I think some form of specialty blade (diamond, etc.) is definitely required.

Yup, my friend's chop saw blade was wrecked doing my laminate floor. Knowing what I know now I would never let my Chopmaster near that crap. I felt guilty cutting 8 inches of ACQ plywood yesterday.

 

[rodwolfy]

Wow,

I didn't even think about my chopsaw blade. I hope I didn't mess it up!

Lou, I can understand that you hate the stuff. It isn't what I wanted either. But I spoke with several people and they all recommended that I put it in, commenting that with three very active kids (under 12) and two dogs (inside all the time-not my choice either) a regular or engineered wood product would be trashed in a few years and require refinishing. I did buy a very expensive underlayment for it (I think it was called SilentFloor or something like Kohn?).

As far as blades go, I checked around last night and indeed found that Vermont American makes 160/20mm blades, as does DeWalt. I was not able to locate them at US based sites. I went to DeWalt in UK and found an all-around finish blade: DT4057. I put in an email to DeWalt asking if they have the blade available in NA...

Rod

 

[Daviddubya]

...I spoke with several people and they all recommended that I put it in, commenting that with three very active kids (under 12) and two dogs (inside all the time-not my choice either) a regular or engineered wood product would be trashed in a few years and require refinishing....
Rod

Rod - My wife and I made the decision to install laminated flooring in our kitchen and utility room several years ago.  I have NEVER regretted that decision.  The floor is by Wilson Art and it has held up under use with not one single mark or indication of wear.  And we have a 50 pound dog that walks on it every day.  We have accidently dropped metal cooking pans and heavy dishes on the kitchen floor, with no mark left behind.

We always wear soft shoes, so the noise some folks complain about is not an issue in our house.  I think the floor looks every bit as good as wood, which we had in our prior home.  The wood floor had to be refinished after several years of use, and that job was an unholy mess!!!  We were cleaning up sawdust inside cabinets and cupboards for weeks.  And we had to move out of the house while the sealer cured for a day or two.  Never again.  I have no experience with engineered wood floors, so I cannot compare that product.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Those considering installation of any pre-finished flooring (engineered / laminate) should also know that many of the long life finishes include alumina particles to obtain and assure that long life.  As others have noted, alumina is the most frequently used synthetic abrasive material, and thus any finish containing alumina particles is going to cause rapid wearing of cutting tools. 

My home has varnished synthetic stone (decorative concrete) in the kitchen/breakfast area which adjoins the garage, and most of the rest is varnished (MinWax PU) oak parquet.  In my previous home, the I made the T&G, bevel-edged flooring from red oak, and finished it with SW varnish.  I and my family long ago developed the practice of wearing only socks / slippers within the house, and even though we don't impose our personal practice on our guests, none of the flooring in either has ever showed any signs of wear (in more than 30 years in the first house and >6 years in the current house).  We did not have any pets.  The key to avoiding scratches and minimizing wear of the finish on the flooring is keeping other abrasive materials from grinding between your feet and the finish on the floor.  When I am working and going in and out of the house, I wipe my shoe soles with a dampened paper towel before walking into the house and especially before walking across the light colored carpeting.

Dave R.

 

[Brice Burrell]

  I'd like to see some of the Festool dealers carry Freud or DeWalt blades for the TS55/75 saw. I think this will be an even bigger issue when the Kapex gets here, I for one, an going to want a cheap blade to cut Azek (PVC trim boards) it really dulls blades fast. Maybe Festool would frown on dealers selling a competitors product, that would be a shame. 

 

[The Woodentop]

Dave

Very sound advice if I may say.

 

[Eli]

Those considering installation of any pre-finished flooring (engineered / laminate) should also know that many of the long life finishes include alumina particles to obtain and assure that long life.  As others have noted, alumina is the most frequently used synthetic abrasive material, and thus any finish containing alumina particles is going to cause rapid wearing of cutting tools. 

My home has varnished synthetic stone (decorative concrete) in the kitchen/breakfast area which adjoins the garage, and most of the rest is varnished (MinWax PU) oak parquet.  In my previous home, the I made the T&G, bevel-edged flooring from red oak, and finished it with SW varnish.  I and my family long ago developed the practice of wearing only socks / slippers within the house, and even though we don't impose our personal practice on our guests, none of the flooring in either has ever showed any signs of wear (in more than 30 years in the first house and >6 years in the current house).  We did not have any pets.  The key to avoiding scratches and minimizing wear of the finish on the flooring is keeping other abrasive materials from grinding between your feet and the finish on the floor.  When I am working and going in and out of the house, I wipe my shoe soles with a dampened paper towel before walking into the house and especially before walking across the light colored carpeting.

Dave R.

(sigh) if only I could get the babies to use the damp paper towel dispenser near each door to wipe the mud and rocks off themselves. My three Y.O. came back the other day from a the park with Mom, sat next to me on the couch and said, "I've got hot feet", and pulled off his sneaker and poured a stream of sand onto the couch and floor. "But at least there's no more sand in my shoes"

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Ha, ha, ha that's funny Eli. My 18 month old is the same except he doesn't say anything, just looks at you like it is all ok. Couple that with my two Beagles and we have no hope. Wife vacuums every 2 days. Polished Jarrah floor boards show every single spec of everything! At least one day when we get them resanded and finished there is plenty of wood there to play with.  We will need to leave the house for that one I guess. Had Tasmanian Oak flooring sanded in a previous house once before we mooved into it which was great but still a lot of cleaning to do. Obvioulsy they didn't use Festool hey!

 

[rodwolfy]

  I'd like to see some of the Festool dealers carry Freud or DeWalt blades for the TS55/75 saw. I think this will be an even bigger issue when the Kapex gets here, I for one, an going to want a cheap blade to cut Azek (PVC trim boards) it really dulls blades fast.

Brice,

It's my hope too. I emailed a couple of companies. Here's the response from DeWalt:

"Hello Rod, and thanks for using DEWALT's on-line support.

We do not offer that blade here in the US.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to serve you. If your question remains unresolved or if you require additional information please update this incident.

Sincerely,

Jeff"

So, I went to one of our "local" suppliers here on the FOG to see if he had a different response. Hopefully, Ron with McFeely's will be able to help us out, since they already deal in Freud blades. I sent him an email today. I'll let you guys know what he has to say, unless he wants to chime in here!

I'd really like to get a few Freud blades that have a coating!

Rod