SS saw blades, good or bad?

[hagarz71]

I am looking to purchase new saw blades for my SS, although i don't believe the blade is all that worn, I really have a difficult time ripping anything like a 2x6. I'm wondering what are some oppions on the ss blades? I seem to remember reading some negative stuff about them, but not sure where or if it was even a ss product. I would most likely by the deluxe package that comes with 3 blades (carbide tip combo blade, hollow ground and plywood blade.)

Thanks

Hagar

[Bruce]

I would not waste my money on a non-carbide blade unless you like sharpening steel blades. The SS carbide blades are good blades, in my opinion, but have opted for a couple of thin-kerf blades. One is the Forrest Woodworker II, which although expensive, is a excellent blade. My other blade is an Hitachi that I bought at Lowe's. I think it has about 60 teeth. I use it for my general purpose blade and the WWII for hardwood joinery. I had the WWII bored to 1 1/4" for the standard SS arbor. I bought a 5/8" arbor for the Hitachi blade.

[dusty]

The SS saw blades are good. You get what you pay for. I have some that are not carbide but I don't remember when they were last mounted.

I use the SS carbide blades almost exclusively. I use thin kerf blades almost exclusively.

What is the best? That question will draw a wide variety of answers. I believe it will be very hard to find a blade better than top of the line Forrest. I have one that was given to me, it is a thin kerf that cost about $120. It is sweet but I hardly ever use it. I am saving it for the appropriate task.

I believe that if you are going to spend that kind of money on a blade then you should be spending a comparible amount of money on the wood that you are using.

If you buy your lumber at Lowes, Home Depot, Menards or the like then you don't need a Forrest. Incidently, we can have this same discussion about router bits and the answers will be just as diverse.
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Making Sawdust Safely

[ericolson]

Instead of buying a new SS blade, you may want to consider getting it sharpened. That's a lot less expensive than a new blade. I've got a Shopsmith carbide combo and it performed excellent. I just need to get it sharpened one of these days. I use, almost exclusively, thin kerf combos. It may not seem like much of a difference, but there's a lot less strain on a motor as it's not trying to spin as much steel. Plus, with a thin kerf, you're not wasting as much wood. I use primarily cherry and walnut, occaisionally mahogany, and I hate seeing money going up in sawdust in the kerf. Stay away from steel blades. With the longevity of carbide, steel just isn't worth the effort or expense.

[8iowa]

Shopsmith has a 24 tooth ripping blade which is probably a good investment if you are doing a lot of ripping of long boards (pn 555959).

Sometimes the grain of the wood is such that the gap/kerf wants to close up thus "squeezing" the blade. It is a good idea to have a helper on the outfeed of the saw with a short screwdriver or other type of wedge to insert in the kerf to keep it open.

[Bruce]

Shopsmith has a 24 tooth ripping blade which is probably a good investment if you are doing a lot of ripping of long boards (pn 555959).

Sometimes the grain of the wood is such that the gap/kerf wants to close up thus "squeezing" the blade. It is a good idea to have a helper on the outfeed of the saw with a short screwdriver or other type of wedge to insert in the kerf to keep it open.

Maybe a few short wedges would be better than a screwdriver if the splitter isn't enough.