Hi all-
I just got a new contracter table saw (1.5hp) and need a new saw blade to go with it. I don’t mind paying for quality and from what I’ve read forrest is the way to go. I know that forrest recommends you go with a thin kerf for this type of saw but I’m not comfortable doing so since I would not be able to use my exisitng splitter/blade guard and I don’t have the budget to buy an aftermarket overhead blade guards/splitter right now. My question is has anyone out there used the full thicknest (1/8″) forrest saw blade in a contracter saw? If so, how has it worked for you? Thanks
Replies
What brand of saw did you get? I use my stock splitter with my thin kerf blades, my splitter measures .090" thick and my thin blade is .094".
I have used the WWII in a Delta Contractor saw and it works great. Have always felt that the most important thing to improve your cuts is less the blade and more in tuning your saw. The contractor saws have particular points of focus...
On a Delta saw: 1) check the parrallelism of the miter slot to the blade; 2) Check trunnion alignment and install PALS for $20 if needed; 3) swap belts and pulleys to link belt and machined pulley (this helped tons); 4) most overlooked... check the alignment of the motor - first that the motor arbor is square to the top and square to the opening and second, that the pulleys (on the motor arbor and the saw arbor) are lined up perfectly; 5) align the fence to the miter slot.
The WWII, as well as any other good blade, will work much better in a tuned saw.
I've been running Forrest blades on my modified Delta contractors saw (cast iron wings, 3hp.motor, 50"fence) And I'll put it up against ANY cabinet saw for quality of cut.If your saw isn't tuned up properly, ther's not a blade on the market that will make it cut good.
Texas Sharpologist
Without getting into whether the Forrest is the correct blade, your saw will handle a full kerf rip blade without any problem. Forrest recommends their 30 tooth blade as the best for ripping 3/4" to 1 1/2" stock. The 30 tooth is also excellent at crosscuting as it uses the same tooth geometry as their 40 tooth blade. IMO, the 30 tooth might be the best choice if you only want a single blade.
Thanks for your help all. The saw is a craftsman and the splitter is about .1", too thick for a thin kerf. It sounds like I'll be ok with a regular kerk blade. I was thinking abouit going with the 30 tooth blade from forrest- anyone else have experience with this blade on a contracter saw? I assume the tradeoff would be ease/power with cutting vs lower quality on rip cuts and or cross cuts. Thoughts?
I suspect a huge percentage of the Forrest blades are on contractor's saws, so not to worry. I have both a regular-kerf combo blade and a thin-kerf rip blade (not Forrest, but equivalent quality). Simply have to slow down the feed rate with the larger-kerf blade. Your quality should be fine.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I ran my old contractor's table saw (Jet, blue version) with a regular-kerf combo blade (Craftman of all things) for awhile before getting a quality combo blade from Freud. The saw did just fine. As mentioned above, make sure your saw is tuned properly, and get the link belt -- you will love it.
There are two (at least) schools of thought on saw blades: Get one blade that does almost everything, or spend less and get two or three specialty blades plus a good combo blade. I have a high-quality combination blade that cost me less than half what a WWII costs, and a high-quality thin-kerf ripping blade that makes pretty darned good crosscuts as it turns out. Two other specialty blades fill out the stable at this point.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG
A little off the topic, but you made a comment in an earlier post
about the Link belt and proper direction.
I'm using a link belt on my older saw and can't find any markings on it, and it seems to run rhe same either way.
Also, looked at a package the other day and it didn't say anything
about direction.
Can you fill me in on what I'm missing and how to tell.
Jeff
Oooops, maybe I'm remembering wrong. Let me run out and check. Back in 10.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
PLZ stand by Folks as Jamie is having a "Senior" Moment..LOL.....
Not too senior to remember my VooDoo! Watch it there, Doc!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
OK, just checked. My belt has small black arrows along one edge that indicate direction. There is printing on that edge also, and then the arrow follows the printing. They're not real apparent after the belts been used for awhile, but they're there.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Thanks FG
I'll check mine.
Jeff
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