I am a weekend warrior DIY guy. Not a furniture maker.
I am going to be installing some 3/4" oak hardwood floors in a week or
so.

I wanted to get a good blade for some clean cuts.

I have a 12" sears compound miter saw
And a sears portable table saw 10"

I was at Sears today buying a new shop vac filter and noticed they had
blades on sale.
2 12" Sears Professional Blades were $60 That is a 80 and 44 tooth.
The 10" blades were $40 for a 40 and 60 tooth.

They are both marked as thin kerf type.

From reading online, it shows I should be using this type for an
underpowered saw.
How do I know if I have an underpowered saw. I have been using the
cheap blades that came with the saw and there was never any stalling.
Just splinters on the cuts.

Did I waste my money on these blades? Or buy the wrong type because
of the thin kerf

On Oct 21, 12:00*am, wrote:

Did I waste my money on these blades? *Or buy the wrong type because
of the thin kerf

Don't worry about the thin kerf, worry about how the blades cut. The
best thing you did for yourself is buy the blade at a place like Sears
where they will take the blade back if it doesn't perform in a
satisfactory manner.

Here's your best test.

Put the blade on your saw and test it with the material you intend to
cut. Try a few straight cuts, then a couple of miters. Remember to
put the piece you are cutting in the miter box upside down to reduce
splintering.

Do you like the quality of the cut? Did you have troubles with the
saw bogging down? Cut a couple of straight miters (this of course
assumes you have tuned up your miter box!) and put the two together as
you would see them on your floor. Good?

If you liked what you saw and didn't have troubles with the miter saw,
then keep the blade(s).

A while back I was stuck and couldn't find a new 12" blade to cut
oversize crown, big enough I couldn't nest it in the box. I was
pushing to get finished but was having problems with my cuts as the
long crosscuts weren't coming out smooth as the blade was dull. All I
could get was a 12" DeWalt blade, a 80 tooth thing with yellow coating
around the teeth.

I wasn't expecting much since it was DeWalt. But to my great surprise
it worked pretty well. On the long compound miters, there was a
little blade movement (common in thin kerf blades) if I pressed the
cut, but if I took my time and let the blade chew through it did
pretty well. Almost no splintering, and good clean cuts. A pretty
good blade for $50 or so at the big orange box.

If you have troubles with the blade, take it back and get yourself a
Freud blade. Bang for the buck they are are tough to beat. You can
buy better blades, no doubt. But for about $75 a blade you can get a
great, coated blade that will razor off that oak like you wouldn't
believe. Check this one out:

http://tinyurl.com/6p2ahp

NOTE: This is a crosscut blade. Thin kerf blades are not generally
speaking not your first choice, especially one like the Freud above,
for ripping.

For your ripping, get a different blade, one that is either marked as
a multipurpose (they do everything OK, but nothing in a superior
fashion) or a rip blade.

Remember on your blades, you get what you pay for (hopefully!). Get a
good blade and keep it clean in your miter saw and it will last a
long, long time and give you a lot of great cuts.

Robert

On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:00:08 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

They are both marked as thin kerf type.

From reading online, it shows I should be using this type for an
underpowered saw.
How do I know if I have an underpowered saw.


They are recommended for "underpowered" saws because they cut a
thinner kerf, each cut turning less wood into sawdust and therefore
requiring less power to make the cut. If your saw isn't bogging down
using a regular kerf blade, it isn't underpowered. If it is, a thin
kerf blade "might", just "might" with no guarantees, prevent the
bogging down.

For what it's worth, I use thin kerf blades almost exclusively and my
TS is a 10" 3HP cabinet saw that is far from being underpowered for my
needs. Don't worry about overpowered/underpowered. If the thin kerf
blade does the job for you, go for it.

Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS
USA

wrote in message
...
On Oct 21, 12:00 am, wrote:

Did I waste my money on these blades? Or buy the wrong type because
of the thin kerf

Don't worry about the thin kerf, worry about how the blades cut. The
best thing you did for yourself is buy the blade at a place like Sears
where they will take the blade back if it doesn't perform in a
satisfactory manner.

Here's your best test.

Put the blade on your saw and test it with the material you intend to
cut. Try a few straight cuts, then a couple of miters. Remember to
put the piece you are cutting in the miter box upside down to reduce
splintering.

Do you like the quality of the cut? Did you have troubles with the
saw bogging down? Cut a couple of straight miters (this of course
assumes you have tuned up your miter box!) and put the two together as
you would see them on your floor. Good?

If you liked what you saw and didn't have troubles with the miter saw,
then keep the blade(s).

A while back I was stuck and couldn't find a new 12" blade to cut
oversize crown, big enough I couldn't nest it in the box. I was
pushing to get finished but was having problems with my cuts as the
long crosscuts weren't coming out smooth as the blade was dull. All I
could get was a 12" DeWalt blade, a 80 tooth thing with yellow coating
around the teeth.

I wasn't expecting much since it was DeWalt. But to my great surprise
it worked pretty well. On the long compound miters, there was a
little blade movement (common in thin kerf blades) if I pressed the
cut, but if I took my time and let the blade chew through it did
pretty well. Almost no splintering, and good clean cuts. A pretty
good blade for $50 or so at the big orange box.

If you have troubles with the blade, take it back and get yourself a
Freud blade. Bang for the buck they are are tough to beat. You can
buy better blades, no doubt. But for about $75 a blade you can get a
great, coated blade that will razor off that oak like you wouldn't
believe. Check this one out:

http://tinyurl.com/6p2ahp

NOTE: This is a crosscut blade. Thin kerf blades are not generally
speaking not your first choice, especially one like the Freud above,
for ripping.

For your ripping, get a different blade, one that is either marked as
a multipurpose (they do everything OK, but nothing in a superior
fashion) or a rip blade.

Remember on your blades, you get what you pay for (hopefully!). Get a
good blade and keep it clean in your miter saw and it will last a
long, long time and give you a lot of great cuts.

Robert

Good info.
But....
I find that in a miter saw, I get a better cut (no splinters) with the
material "good side up".
Same with a radial arm saw.

Max

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:20:31 -0600, "Max"
wrote:

I find that in a miter saw, I get a better cut (no splinters) with the
material "good side up".
Same with a radial arm saw.

I agree with you for radial arm and for "chop saw" miter saws. With
sliders, if you pull the slider out, lower the blade and push it
through the work, good side down is the way to go.

In either case, best results (less tendency to splinter) is on the
side where the saw tooth enters the work. More tendency to splinter
where the tooth exits the cut.

Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS
USA

On Oct 21, 6:26*pm, Tom Veatch wrote:

In either case, best results (less tendency to splinter) is on the
side where the saw tooth enters the work. More tendency to splinter
where the tooth exits the cut.

Exactly. Which is why I am scratching my head over Max's experience.

My miter saws works exactly like a circular saw. So does my radial
saw. Once they are through the material's thickness, they are cutting
up, with the teeth making the clean cut from bottom to top. Hence the
clean cut on the good side down, and the splinters coming up where the
blade exits the wood.

It would be the reverse for the table saw, though.

Robert

On Oct 21, 1:14*am, Tom Veatch wrote:
On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:00:08 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

They are both marked as thin kerf type.

From reading online, it shows I should be using this type for an
underpowered saw.
How do I know if I have an underpowered saw.

They are recommended for "underpowered" saws because they cut a
thinner kerf, each cut turning less wood into sawdust and therefore
requiring less power to make the cut. If your saw isn't bogging down
using a regular kerf blade, it isn't underpowered. If it is, a thin
kerf blade "might", just "might" with no guarantees, prevent the
bogging down.

For what it's worth, I use thin kerf blades almost exclusively and my
TS is a 10" 3HP cabinet saw that is far from being underpowered for my
needs. Don't worry about overpowered/underpowered. If the thin kerf
blade does the job for you, go for it.

Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS
USA

Thanks for all the help
I will be trying out the new 12" 8- tooth on some crown molding later
this week.

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:12:22 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

...
My miter saws works exactly like a circular saw. So does my radial
saw. Once they are through the material's thickness, they are cutting
up, with the teeth making the clean cut from bottom to top. Hence the
clean cut on the good side down, and the splinters coming up where the
blade exits the wood.

It would be the reverse for the table saw, though.

Robert

It's been a while since I've used a RAS, but as I recall, the blade
spun such that the edge closest to the operator moves down. If the saw
is used by making the cut on the pull stroke, then the blade is moving
down as it enters the cut. In that case I'd expect the least
splintering on the upper surface. If it's used like I use my slider,
cutting on the push stroke, the blade is moving up or very nearly
parallel to the surface as it enters the cut and I'd expect the
cleaner cut on the bottom side.

My only experience with a non-sliding miter saw is with abrasive
wheels on metal cutting chop saws so I can't speak from any experience
with type of saw cutting wood. But as I envision it, with that type
saw, I'd expect that part of the work closest to the fence to see a
cleaner cut on the bottom and any part of the work on the operator
side of the blade center to see a cleaner cut on the top surface.

Of course, that's all theoretical, and the only thing that really
counts is what you experience with your saw, using your techniques.
(BTW, the "you" in that sentence is the generic "you" and not intended
to be any specific individual.)

Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS
USA

On Oct 21, 11:10*pm, wrote:

Thanks for all the help
I will be trying out the new 12" 8- tooth on some crown molding later
this week.

Oh no....

An 8 tooth?

Up or down, I am afraid it won't matter which if you get an 8 tooth
blade! ;^)

Robert

wrote in message
...
On Oct 21, 11:10 pm, wrote:

Thanks for all the help
I will be trying out the new 12" 8- tooth on some crown molding later
this week.

Oh no....

An 8 tooth?
***********************************************

I saw that too. I figured (hoped) it was a typo.

I think that would be the dinosaur blade!

"Lee Michaels" wrote:

An 8 tooth?
***********************************************

I saw that too. I figured (hoped) it was a typo.

I think that would be the dinosaur blade!

SFWIW, I have a 10", 8T, carbide tipped, Sears & Rubbish blade from
long ago.

Think of it as a powered hatchet.

Lew

On Oct 22, 1:01*am, "
wrote:
On Oct 21, 11:10*pm, wrote:

Thanks for all the help
I will be trying out the new 12" 8- tooth on some crown molding later
this week.

Oh no....

An 8 tooth?

Up or down, I am afraid it won't matter which if you get an 8 tooth
blade! * ;^)

Robert

I ment my new 80tooth blade

Lew Hodgett wrote:
"Lee Michaels" wrote:

An 8 tooth?
***********************************************

I saw that too. I figured (hoped) it was a typo.

I think that would be the dinosaur blade!

SFWIW, I have a 10", 8T, carbide tipped, Sears & Rubbish blade from
long ago.

Think of it as a powered hatchet.

I have that same blade, and used it for years, still have it. I also
have a 12 tooth that I've used for years. These are great for rough
work, they cut with far less effort than a 40/60 tooth. No good for a
miter saw or plywood, but if you have a jointer, they work well for
ripping rough lumber on the TS.

It is a dinosaur blade though, when I went to replace it, couldn't find
one, thats why I have the 12 tooth blade. Not sure if they still make
that one either?

--
Jack
Using FREE News Server: http://Motzarella.org
http://jbstein.com