Cross cut blade

[Renzo]

I've got a Freud Premiere Fusion, Freud Glue line rip blade and the crap blade that came with my General Int Saw.

I've had good quality cuts from the glue line rip blade, but it's useless on cross cuts. (crazy tear out)

The Premiere Fusion is an OK blade but i get a LOT of burning, especially with thicker (1 5/8") wood (such as the cutting boards im currently doing) (even at faster feed rates)

Im wondering if I should get a dedicated cross cut blade (from freud or anyone else really)

Or maybe try a Woodworker II general purpose blade.

I don't mind changing blades, but on something like these cutting boards i have to do cross cuts then rips immediately and having to swap blades three times for a single series of cuts is annoying.

Any suggestions?

[nlwoodworker]

Hi Renzo:

I have had good success with the Forest Woodworker II blade -- slightly thicker and more of a robust blade with really clean cuts.

I've used a thin Freud Combination blade in the past and experienced burn on hard woods, but not so with the Woodworker II.

Hope this helps.

[Saddlestrum]

I was buying Freud blades for awhile but had seemed to have problems with them...either binding, wavering, scorching, etc.

Here in Canada we're seeing increased distribution of Dimar blades. Dimar has production facilities in Germany and make quite a wide range of blades, router bits, and dado sets. The carbide on my Dimar 10" teeth is at least twice as thick as my Freud blades. The Dimars cut like a hot knife through butter on my saw, and the pricing is very, very competitive.

A local sharpening service told me they can sharpen a Freud blade about 4 or 5 times. They can sharpen a Dimar up to 20 times 'cause of the heavier carbide teeth.

Dimar makes two lines. Their "Nova" line is their topline brand. The "Woodpecker" line is more of a general line. I bought a 10 x 24 "Woodpecker" blade and switched out the Freud rip blade I had in the saw. Man, what a difference in ease of cutting and smoothness on the cut edge. In case you're wondering, the Freud was near new and I was cutting the same wood for comparison.

If you're interested in pricing, here in Victoria, BC, the 10 x 24 Woodpecker was recently on sale for $24.95 Cdn. 10 x 80 was on sale for 49.95.

Link to the Dimar website is below if you're interested.

http://dimar-canada.com/products.php?m=56&idp=13

[knotscott]

A top shelf crosscut blade will give you cleaner crosscuts, but is less versatile, and won't typically do well outside of it's intended range. A high tooth count Hi-ATB blade will give the least amount of tearout...something like the Freud LU80 (LU79 thin kerf), Infinity 010-080 (or 010-060 60T TK), Forrest Duraline, or CMT 280.080.10 are about as good as they get for crosscuts and ply.

The WWII will likely rip a bit more efficiently than your Freud Fusion, but isn't likely to crosscut quite as cleanly due to the Hi-ATB grind of the Fusion, and definitely won't crosscut as well as the blades listed above. The Fusion also has a dual side grind that helps give a highly polished edge to the cut, but as you've discovered that same feature also makes the blade more prone to burning in some situations.

There's always a trade off between convenience and performance with the general purpose blades and specialty blades. What's best depends on what level of performance you really want. For a little better performance than the general purpose blades, but a little more versatility than the purebred dedicated blades, you might try something like the Infinity 010-060 or Forrest WWI. Both 60T blades with a Hi-ATB grind and a slightly positive hook angle. They're exceptional crosscutters but will also still rip up to ~ 5/4", which makes them a bit more versatile than most of the 80T crosscut blades.

[Renzo]

Thanks, Saddle. I'll check them out.

I was buying Freud blades for awhile but had seemed to have problems with them...either binding, wavering, scorching, etc.

Here in Canada we're seeing increased distribution of Dimar blades. Dimar has production facilities in Germany and make quite a wide range of blades, router bits, and dado sets. The carbide on my Dimar 10" teeth is at least twice as thick as my Freud blades. The Dimars cut like a hot knife through butter on my saw, and the pricing is very, very competitive.

A local sharpening service told me they can sharpen a Freud blade about 4 or 5 times. They can sharpen a Dimar up to 20 times 'cause of the heavier carbide teeth.

Dimar makes two lines. Their "Nova" line is their topline brand. The "Woodpecker" line is more of a general line. I bought a 10 x 24 "Woodpecker" blade and switched out the Freud rip blade I had in the saw. Man, what a difference in ease of cutting and smoothness on the cut edge. In case you're wondering, the Freud was near new and I was cutting the same wood for comparison.

If you're interested in pricing, here in Victoria, BC, the 10 x 24 Woodpecker was recently on sale for $24.95 Cdn. 10 x 80 was on sale for 49.95.

Link to the Dimar website is below if you're interested.

http://dimar-canada....php?m=56&idp=13