I need to cut a fair bit of birch plywood and oak-veneer plywood for
some cabinet and bookcase projects.

I want to get a good blade that cuts smooth with minimum tearout but
don't want to break the bank.

Any recommendations for blades in the $30-50 range? (or is that too
low)

Thanks

blueman wrote:
I need to cut a fair bit of birch plywood and oak-veneer plywood for
some cabinet and bookcase projects.

I want to get a good blade that cuts smooth with minimum tearout but
don't want to break the bank.

Any recommendations for blades in the $30-50 range? (or is that too
low)


Based on the cost of the material above, the cost of a blade gets lost
in the wash for a project like this.

I have a set (24T,50T,80T) of Freud blades, they work for me.

Some of the pros on this list use other blades they prefer.

The point is that blade cost ranks well down on the list of reasons to
buy or not buy a particular blade.

Have fun.


Lew

"blueman" wrote in message
...
I need to cut a fair bit of birch plywood and oak-veneer plywood for
some cabinet and bookcase projects.

I want to get a good blade that cuts smooth with minimum tearout but
don't want to break the bank.

Any recommendations for blades in the $30-50 range? (or is that too
low)

Freud Diablo 80T. I cannot imagine a blade doing better than what this does
for plywood. I'm sure there are other good ones, but this has worked very
well for me.

Have to third with the guys on the Frued blades. I been using them
quite a bit over the last few years on everything and think they are
the best deal going. They cut really well, last well, and won't break
the bank. I am in the process of moving everything over to Frued
blades.

If only they weren't that gawdawful red...

Robert

wrote in news:1162186258.746480.209870
@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:


Have to third with the guys on the Frued blades. I been using them
quite a bit over the last few years on everything and think they are
the best deal going. They cut really well, last well, and won't break
the bank. I am in the process of moving everything over to Frued
blades.

If only they weren't that gawdawful red...

Robert



I have Ridgid and Freud blades. It is a tossup between the two. The red
color of the Freud isn't very good looking. The gold color of the Ridgid is
a bit more attractive.

wrote:

If only they weren't that gawdawful red...

They didn't used to be :-).

But I'm about due to replace some so I guess I'll have to live with it.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

More teeth are better.

http://www.freudtools.com/woodworker..._Series_1.html



blueman wrote:

I need to cut a fair bit of birch plywood and oak-veneer plywood for
some cabinet and bookcase projects.

I want to get a good blade that cuts smooth with minimum tearout but
don't want to break the bank.

Any recommendations for blades in the $30-50 range? (or is that too
low)

Thanks

These are also highly recommended:

http://www.freudtools.com/woodworker...ination_1.html

blueman wrote:

I need to cut a fair bit of birch plywood and oak-veneer plywood for
some cabinet and bookcase projects.

I want to get a good blade that cuts smooth with minimum tearout but
don't want to break the bank.

Any recommendations for blades in the $30-50 range? (or is that too
low)

Thanks

Pat Barber wrote:
More teeth are better.


I just bought a Ridgid 50-tooth titanium coated combo over the weekend
for $39 at HD. I haven't had a chance to test it on a full range of
materials yet, but I was cutting a bunch of 1/2 and 3/4 walnut and it
was like a hot knife through butter, with very smooth edges.

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/Combination-Saw-Blade/

blueman wrote:
I need to cut a fair bit of birch plywood and oak-veneer plywood for
some cabinet and bookcase projects.

Any recommendations for blades in the $30-50 range?

Technique will matter more than blades (which are all of pretty good
quality, if you keep 'em clean and don't saw nails and gravel).
I've had good results with throwaway B&D Piranha blades, old Craftsman,
and new Freud. Some folk swear by Forrest.

To get low tearout, one can set the blade low and do the first pass
backward (this is to cut the bottom veneer, and a little of the veneer
above
it, with the blade heading into the work). It's a dado cut, so no
splitter
or riving knife allowed. The second pass (forward cutting) then cuts
the
top veneer and parts the wood.

Infeed and outfeed tables (or a good helper) are important in keeping
the wood movement linear.

And the old recommendation is to use a steel blade, not carbide; the
best sharp
edge steel will hold is more effective at slicing wood fiber than the
carbide technology allows. That only matters when the steel blade is
high quality,
hollow-ground, recently sharpened. And, I don't know where to find
such
nowadays.