What Table saw blade do you use for plywood?

[jacko9]

I was wondering what brand and model of saw blade foggers use on their table saws?  I mostly do solid wood construction so I use the Forrest Woodworker II 80 tooth blade for my general table saw work.  I am going to start building some kitchen cabinets and I would like to find a blade to minimize ragged cross cuts.  What do you folks recommend?

Is the Forrest 8" x 80 tooth DURALINE HI-A/T Saw Blade - Thin Kerf a good blade for plywood cutting?

Jack

 

[Michael Kellough]

Are you sure that's an 80 tooth blade? I think 40 tooth is the norm with the WWII.

Whichever, it's an excellent blade for plywood. 80 teeth would be better.

There is a tendency for people to think the higher cost product can't be worth the price.
(think Apple) I'm a long time Forrest user and I fell into that skeptical thought process
when my old WWII hit a loose nail and chipped several teeth.

I'd heard the Ridge blade was very good so I bought one instead of going through the hassle
of sending in the WWII for sharpening. The damaged WWII cut better than the Ridge.

The main difference in circular saw blades is in how much attention is given to flattening the disk.
Doesn't matter how finely sharpened the teeth are if one or two stick out too far due to a warped disk.
You'll get a scratchy cut. Forrest uses flatter disks and it shows in the cut.

 

[GPowers]

I use the TS55 and the guide rails to cut Plywood.  [big grin] easier and safer, just my $0.02.

 

[AlexThePalex]

80 teeth on an 8'' blade? Isn't that a bit of overkill? My 9'' Festool blade on my tablesaw has 48 teeth and it's considered the ''fine'' blade. It works great on many woods including plywood. On an 8'' blade, 40 or 48 teeth should be fine, even 32 would work alright.

Of course 80 teeth will work too, but the more teeth a blade has, the harder it is to push the wood through and the longer the cut will take. The cut should be very fine of course, but the question is if that little bit of extra finesse is worth it.  

 

[jacko9]

I guess I should mention that I have mention that I have a 10" Powermatic 66 Table saw with a 5HP motor so, pushing a 80 tooth blade is no problem.

 

[AlexThePalex]

I guess I should mention that I have mention that I have a 10" Powermatic 66 Table saw with a 5HP motor so, pushing a 80 tooth blade is no problem.

I'm not talking about the force the table saw needs, they've generally got enough power, I'm talking about the force YOU need. The more teeth a blade has the more teeth hit the workpiece per second. This creates a resistance that you need to overcome when pushing the piece into the blade. That's why a 12 T Panther blade can rip a lot quicker than a 48 T fine blade. It's a trade off you make between the smoothness of the cut and the work needed to get there.

 

[Timtool]

I have this $100 special 60T blade with alternating hollow and pointy teeth meant for cutting without tearout on melamine or veneer, it works ok, well no it doesn't. Theres still the occasional chip which is unacceptable. lucky for me i have a scoring blade on my panelsaw, i just raise that one up when cutting plywood, veneered mdf of melamine and keep my normal 48T crosscut blade installed. but i fear scoring blades are an invention that unfortunately hasn't reached the new world yet, good thing is that protruding riving knives are also rare over there so you can probably still cut a first pass backwards with the blade a few mm above the table to fake a scoring blade.

 

[andvari]

I have this $100 special 60T blade with alternating hollow and pointy teeth meant for cutting without tearout on melamine or veneer, it works ok, well no it doesn't. Theres still the occasional chip which is unacceptable. lucky for me i have a scoring blade on my panelsaw, i just raise that one up when cutting plywood, veneered mdf of melamine and keep my normal 48T crosscut blade installed. but i fear scoring blades are an invention that unfortunately hasn't reached the new world yet, good thing is that protruding riving knives are also rare over there so you can probably still cut a first pass backwards with the blade a few mm above the table to fake a scoring blade.

Riving knives are on all new table saws over here. Scoring blades appear on some of the higher end table saws like the MiniMax and various panel saws.

 

[mastercabman]

I like Freud.

 

[Kevin Stricker]

The Duraline Hi-AT 80tooth blade is a 10" blade( at least mine is).  It cuts plywood wonderfully, but you need a ZCI on the saw to get good bottom side cuts. 

I do get lazy and make plenty of cuts with my WWII, it does a pretty good job itself.  You will get some bottom side splintering, but usually this is not a problem on cabinets as one edge is generally hidden. 

 

[Timtool]

Riving knives are on all new table saws over here. Scoring blades appear on some of the higher end table saws like the MiniMax and various panel saws.

I know, but i meant the protruding riving knives that sit taller than the blade. Mine has such a riving knife and i believe it is mandatory now in europe, so that you cannot make a hidden/non through cut which is a forbidden and dangerous operation according to the manuals. All it does is force us to remove the knife for certain operations, making it even more dangerous.

 

[jacko9]

The Duraline Hi-AT 80tooth blade is a 10" blade( at least mine is).  It cuts plywood wonderfully, but you need a ZCI on the saw to get good bottom side cuts. 

I do get lazy and make plenty of cuts with my WWII, it does a pretty good job itself.  You will get some bottom side splintering, but usually this is not a problem on cabinets as one edge is generally hidden. 

Thanks, I bought the Duraline blade yesterday and picked up a few zero clearance inserts.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

The best plywood blades have a AFATR grind.

Alternating Face, Alternating Tooth with a raker.

I got nice splinter free cuts with my old PM66 5hp with a 60 tooth ATB blade from Matsushita, and it ripped everything I could shove into too.

I run a 40t 16" Tenryu on my TS now.  That will cut 6" thick solid stock like no one's business.

 

[barnowl]

While most of my plywood/melamine cuts are with the TS55, when I use the table saw, it's with a Forrest 10"DURALINE HI-A/T Saw Blade - Thin Kerf.

It's an excellent blade.

 

[tbellemare]

Has anyone tried one of these?

[attachimg=#1]

I don't have a table saw and I'm wondering how well they perform.

Tom

 

[mastercabman]

I would stay away from CMT.

 

[tbellemare]

Can you tell me why, please?

I am sincerely trying to understand why nobody seems to be using them.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[jacko9]

I have no experience with the CMT blades.  For the first 25 years of woodworking, I had to get all of my blades punched to 20mm since all I could find were 5/8" arbor holes and my Inca Table saw had a 20mm arbor.  I think that some of the resizing might have had an adverse effect on the blades and one in particular was the Freud blade which performed like crap.

I switched to Forrest blades for the past 20 years and have been happy with the results so, I tend to stay with them.

Jack

 

[tbellemare]

Thanks, Jack!

I'm wondering if it isn't bad experiences and that people have found something they like that prevents them from trying something new. I'm also wondering if there are those that have specific bad experiences with CMT blades...

Tom

 

[jacko9]

Tom,

I did a search on Fine Woodworking.Com for saw blade reviews and found an "old" posting from 2002

"10-in. Combination Tablesaw Blades
Our high-tech test of 14 new blades revealed the smoothest cutters
by Tom Begnal"

This study rated the Forrest as Excellent and the CMT two steps below as good.  I know that this is old data but, if your interested and have access to Fine Woodworking, here's the web site;

http://www.finewoodworking.com/ToolGuide/ToolGuidePDF.aspx?id=2777

I know that suppliers change their products all of the time so, I would be interested in any folks on here that have more recent experience with the CMT blades.

Jack