TS55 Blade Selection

[Tom D]

I am building a deck using TimberTech PVC Decking and was wondering what blade would be the best for cutting it?
I will lay all decking first then use a guide rail and and the TS55 to cut the ends off.

Thanks in advance for any help, Tom

 

[Brice Burrell]

I've used the blade that comes with the saw but it strained the saw. Try the 28 tooth universal blade.

 

[justinmcf]

hi tom, i have done quite a few decks this year, using several types of australian hardwood.

if i understand you correctly, you only want to know which blade to select for cross cutting the ends of the deck, then the universal blade that comes with the saw will be perfect.

if you are going to rip with the ts-55, then brice is right, the saw will strain to rip the timber, you should buy the panther blade for ripping, i have also been ripping 50mm thick silky oak, forest red gum and tallowwood lately , and the panther chews through it beautifully.

the universal blade made the saw switch off twice. which means the motor was nearly over heating. i worked it out pretty quickly, its cheaper to buy the panther blade.

good luck, justin.

 

[Loz_S]

Unless I'm missing something here the OP asked about PVC decking which is a plastic last time I looked.

The correct blade for hard PVC in the TS 55 is the Aluminium/Plastic blade 439686.

Soft PVC can be cut with the Panther blade 487377.

 

[tbellemare]

As Brice pointed out, in the U.S., the TS 55 comes with the fine tooth blade (495377 - formerly 491952), 48T ATB, where the universal blade is 28T ATB (495376 - formerly 490516).

The TS 75 comes with the universal blade.

The blade for hard plastic is now 495373 (formerly 439686). It's a 56T triple chip blade.

I don't know if I would consider pvc decking hard plastic. Is it that hard?

Tom

 

[Brice Burrell]

No, PVC decking isn't very hard, in fact, it's fairly soft. The 56 tooth hard plastic blade wouldn't be a good choice nor would the Panther rip blade. Your best bet is the 28t universal blade.

 

[Tom D]

Brice is right, the decking is fairly soft. I will try the 28t blade.
I will let you know how it works out.
Thanks for all the input.

Tom

 

[Brice Burrell]

Brice is right, the decking is fairly soft. I will try the 28t blade.
I will let you know how it works out.
Thanks for all the input.

Tom

Please do, I just picked up a universal blade (it's been on my list to buy forever) but haven't had a chance to try it yet. 

 

[Tom D]

Brice,
I used the 28 tooth blade today on the decking. I made some test cuts first on some scrap to find out that you should use a slower cutting rate. (not motor speed)
If you go too fast there will be some chipping, when going slower the cut was good.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I have done numerous composite porches and always used the blade that came with the 55.

Worked like a champ ripping or crosscutting.  Fills the vac up fast.