Saw Blades

[James B]

I was wondering if anyone has the scoop on saw blades. There seems to be a wide range of them; I would like to know who makes the best blades for ripping on my table saw as well as cross cutting on my miter saw. Or if there are any reviews that some mag has done?

[Dave Arbuckle]

For ripping, I use a Leitz (get ready, they don't make their part numbers easy) 130008535. This is a 24 tooth, 5/8" kerf, low ATB blade (unusual for a ripping blade). I am most impressed by it, feeds almost as though it pulls the wood through. Runs about fifty bucks or less from industrial blade suppliers. I got mine from Scott's Sharpening in Arizona, his email is scottsharpaz@qwest.net . Nice guy, good to work with.

Just to be sure we're both on the same page, this is a ripping only blade, not a general purpose or combination. I don't care for general purpose blades.

Dave

[James B]

Dave, Thanks for the info...

[GaryMc]

Dave, 5/8" kerf? That would be some kind of paddlewheels! Did you mean 5/32"? For either case, did you pick this one over the typical Freuds, etc., because it is thicker, because of the ATB, or because of ?.

[Dave Arbuckle]

Geez. Can't do my home phone number, either. ;)

Five-eighths would be the arbor bore... Kerf is one-eighth inch, "standard" kerf.

I bought it on Leitz' reputation. They are pretty famous in high-end tooling, but I never knew they made anything in the inexpensive (say, under $200) range. Turns out they have a full line of 10", low cost blades. I jumped at the chance, and have been entirely happy with it. The blade retired was a Freud, which did a good job also, but not so good as the Leitz.

Dave
972-something ;)