Replies

1. 
   forestgirl | Jul 11, 2004 02:30am | #1

   Hey, glad you gave the Diablo a try.  Is that a 12" blade??  Their display "technique" really sucks, though.  How do you spell d-u-m-b?

   A couple of years ago, I picked up Freud's Ultimate Crosscut Blade (LU85) at the Woodworkers' Show.  Whoa Nellie, what a cut.  Almost overkill -- for exposed ends it was great, but if I need any glue-hold on that end-grain, it's so glassy-smooth I have to sand it first, LOL.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
   Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   mbiker1999 | Jul 11, 2004 06:35am | #2

   It's a 10" blade the D1080X. I'm gonna play with it more tomorrow. I'm finishing up a cherry floor lamp wedding gift. I'll do all the crosscuts with it and see what it does.

   I'm still haven't made up my mind on thin kerf blades yet. This is thin kerf so we'll see what happens. I've got an old beast for a cutoff saw. An Delta 34-080, (they call it a powered miter box on the tag!!). With this blade it cuts with no effort.

   cya

   Edited 7/11/2004 8:44 am ET by Mbiker

1. 
   forestgirl | Jul 12, 2004 07:50pm | #7

   I understand your reservations about thin-kerf blades.  So far, I've been pleased with performance on the tablesaw, but can't help but wonder about their performance on a miter saw, especially when really pushing the saw on big/tough stock.  Hey!  I think I'll invite Charles M. into the conversation, see what he has to say.

   While he's here, maybe he can refresh my memory:  I can't remember which is a stabilizer and which is a stiffener.  One consists of a pair, and the other is a single piece used on the outside of the blade. 

   Off to drop him an email.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   charlesm | Jul 12, 2004 09:26pm | #8

   Forestgirl,

   Thanks for bringing this thread to my attention.

   Thin kerf blades are obviously more flexible than full kerf but ours are laser cut from extremely hard steel so they are less flexible than stamped blades. In theory, crosscutting shouldn't cause a blade to wander if the blade is travelling in a straight line through the material. Things that will cause blade wander include the blade not parallel to the line of travel or if a blade with too many teeth is used. So if the saw is functioning properly and the correct blade is used for the application the thin kerf should give excellent service.

   Stabilizers are dish shaped and are used in pairs to augment the factory fixing washers. Stiffeners are flat ground disks that are used singly to reduce vibration.

   HTHCharles M

   Freud, Inc.

2. 
   mbiker1999 | Jul 13, 2004 01:01am | #9

   I do have it in my miter saw at the moment. Been cross cutting some cherry and it does a great job. I thought my 60 tooth Oldham blade had a smooth cut, but this Freud is even better. I'm glad I purchased it. So far it's seems to be a great mid-priced blade. I'm going to make some test cuts in thicker material to see how it does. On 3/4 stuff you can hardly tell you cutting anything!! I also can't wait to put it in the table saw and cut some plywood.

   Thanks for tossing a note to Charles. I always like reading his comments.

   later,

2. 
   SRToolguy | Jul 11, 2004 07:09am | #3

   Well, not to make anyone jealous here but the Freud Truck was at the store last Wednesday and I got a box of test goodies for free. A Diablo, Ultimate Crosscut and A 7 1/4" steel whacker for ferrous metals. I also got a set of router bits to run up against the set that Amana gave me to test. I will be using the blades tomorrow and testing them against the FS Tool equivalents. I let you all know what I think I see in the differences.

   Sincerely;

   The Tool Guy

1. 
   mbiker1999 | Jul 11, 2004 03:31pm | #4

   Hey Tool Guy, sounds like play time to me. get back to us on how all those new toys work!! Oh and if you need a home for some of those 'old toys' I have a little more room in my shop!! HAHA

   -later

3. 
   Dave45 | Jul 12, 2004 04:53pm | #5

   I've had an 80 tooth Diablo for a few years and love it.  Cuts like a dream and there's virtually no tear-out in plywood.

4. 
   Dick38 | Jul 12, 2004 07:23pm | #6

   Hi Biker,

   Did you use the blade on a miter saw? I agree about the Home Depot's tool display It's like going to very unorganized garage sale.

   Check out the way Lowes displays thier tool's, very easy to find what you want.

   Dick38