Replies

1. 
   troys | Jun 17, 2008 03:48am | #1

   I have a couple of the Piranha blades for my 12" delta mitersaw. One of them has a curved tooth pattern that makes it hard to sharpen. My local sharpener can only sharpen the top of the tooth. The blade cuts well but the style of the tooth limits the ability to be sharpened. I have another Piranha blade that does not have the curved tooth so it should be able to be sharpened normally. As for the reason they are not to popular is that B&D no longer has the best reputation for quality. That being said the ones I have seem to work ok. On a side note you can often pick up brand new Piranha blades on E-bay for very low prices.

   Troy

2. 
   Knotscott | Jun 17, 2008 12:23pm | #2

   Hi Clement - B&D's Piranha line is fairly typical entry level big box DIYer grade stuff. Not sure where they're made now, but I'd hazard a guess that it's China or some other location known more for low cost than precision and quality. That doesn't mean they've never made any blades that were decent, but they've got their markets pretty well identified now, and the Piranha line is not marketed as anything remotely highend from what I can tell.

   B&D owns DeWalt and Delta, both of which have some excellent upper grade blades, but also some entry level lines. The old DW series 60 was made in England and is really competitive with some of the best IMHO....many of those blades have since become the Delta Industrial line. Delta's Sidekick line is pretty average IMO, as is DW's old series 20 "Contractor" line (some had a yellow edge but not all). Their former series 40, also made in England, was pretty decent too...most of that line appears to have morphed into their current "Precision Trim" (PT) series that has the full yellow coating.

   I think B&D also owns the Vermont American and Oldham names, but I'm not sure if they're currently marketing anything under the Oldham name. Some of the upper level Oldham Signature blades were very good too, but they also had some cheaper entry level "Industrial" blades that I was very disappointed with. I've never found a Vermont American blade for TS that I was very impressed with.

   B&D also owns the Porter Cable line, which offers the "Razor" as their best line, which I've found to be good value with above average performance, but not top shelf. PC also has a lesser "Riptide" line, which I've never tried. For all I know B&D may have other lines too, but it's getting too darn hard to keep track of!

1. 
   flairwoodworks | Jun 21, 2008 08:21pm | #8

   Scott,

   Isn't Vermont American gone now?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com

    - Success is not the key to happines.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

1. 
   dgreen | Jun 22, 2008 01:22am | #9

   Bosch Power Tools, Skil Power Tools, Dremel, Vermont-American, Primark brands, and Gilmour –are now part of the Robert Bosch Tool CorporationGiving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -- P.J. O'Rourke

3. 
   RMillard | Jun 17, 2008 02:25pm | #3

   I have used them in the past and they worked well for me to. Although I wouldn't have the guts to try one on a RAS ( I'm a chicken when it comes to the RAS; it seems designed to cut my fingers off)

   I now use the Irwin Marathon blades on my table saw, and for the kind of work I do with them, they are prefect. This is another blade I hear little or nothing about.

   Rob Millard

   http://www.americanfederalperiod.com

    

4. 
   gdblake | Jun 18, 2008 09:15pm | #4

   I'm in metro Atlanta.  There are Black & Decker stores in surrounding Outlet Shopping Centers where you can pick up bulk packaged B&D Piranha saw blades for very little money, less than half the cost of resharpening.  I have used them for years in my tablesaw and circular saw with satisfactory results.  The blades come sharp, cut fairly clean, and seem to last as long as more expensive blades.    I nearly always finish by hand planing the edges anyway.

   Having told you that, I do switch over to a thicker high end blade for cutting tendons, grooves, miters, tapers, etc.  I prefer a thicker/stiffer blade for these kind of cuts.

1. 
   coolbreeze | Jun 19, 2008 03:06am | #5

   "Having told you that, I do switch over to a thicker high end blade for cutting tendons"

   If I am going to cut my tendons, I want to do it with a classy blade   :-)

   Just pickin at you, I know what you meant to write.

1. 
   gdblake | Jun 19, 2008 04:13pm | #6

   Yea, you caught me in a clear Freudian slip.  If I'm going to do bodily damage, I want to use an expensive blade and not suffer the embarassment of having to admit I cut myself up with a cheap blade.  Of course, the immediate impulse is to edit my previous posting to fix the mistake, but why deprive everybody else of a good laugh. 

   On the topic of blades, I just took delivery of a new Jet ProShop saw to replace my 28 year old Craftsman.  It came with a rather crude 28 point Jet blade.  A cheap B&D Piranha blade will actually be a huge step up over the blade that came with the saw.

5. 
   tomwalz | Jun 19, 2008 06:55pm | #7

   I have worked with Black & Decker R&D off and on for maybe 20 years.  I have always been immensely impressed by how good their cheap blades are and the tremendous science that goes to make them that good.  I keep one packaged in my office as an example of excellence in saw blade manufacturing. 

    

   Tom