Rip and Crosscut Blades are a Fantastic Value

I understand why combination tablesaw blades are so popular. For many home shops, they offer an affordable way to get both ripcuts and crosscuts with one blade. But I find that even an expensive combo blade has compromised performance in either one or both jobs. That’s why I use dedicated rip and crosscut blades.

Now, with its Marples line, Irwin is making thin-kerf dedicated blades that make having two more affordable. Both the rip and crosscut blades are impressive. The rip blade easily handled hundreds of feet of 8/4 hickory, cutting smoothly with clean results. The crosscut blade also was a smooth operator, cutting everything from dense hardwoods to thin veneered plies to manmade materials such as MDF and melamine with virtually no tearout or burning.

The carbide tips on both blades are large enough for several resharpenings, which makes the price of each blade even more reasonable. For convenience, the Irwin website (irwin.com) will help you find a local sharpening service. All in all, these blades are a very good deal.

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