Choosing Radial and Table Saw Blades

I did an inventory of my blades, while awaiting the arrival of a new Forrest Woodworker II. Part of the shop remodel is to make a blade caddy that is easy to use and has labels for blades. This seems like a good time to refresh my memory on proper blade selection.

Update: I finally got the Forrester Woodworker II and it is an awesome blade -- sharp, smooth-cutting and quiet. It makes clean rip cuts that hardly need touch-up, and cutting through oak end-grain leaves a shiny-smooth surface.

I also picked up the Forrester Dado King 8" set. Pretty expensive at $200 but it makes beautiful cuts with 4 - 1/8" rakers, 1- 3/32" and 1- 1/16" raker. Therefore, making dados to match thinner plywood real easy.

Systi-matic has a good explanation of tooth configurations. But basically, cross cuts need the alternating top bevel (ATB) to slice cleanly across the grain. Rip teeth typically have the Flat top or ATB teeth with a flat raker added to clean out the cut much as a chisel would. You might find the flat raker with the corners ground off and they call that a Triple Chip design.

Tooth hook angle is very important....teeth that enter the wood leaning forward (positive angle) will cut your rips faster and be more 'aggressive'. Aggressive, like when the radial arm saw wants to climb over the board..and kill the motor...yikes! That's where you need a low or negative angle tooth. The same goes for laminates.

Of course, you have to choose the right blade but for best performance, be sure that there is no wobble, vibration or poor alignment in your saw.

Installing a link-belt and a milled pulley on your motor help a lot with vibration.

Finally, if using an underpowered or portable saw, a thin-kerf blade is a good choice with some blade stablilizers to prevent thin blades wobbling.

Do a little research and find out how to tune up your particular saw.

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THREE BASIC TOOTH DESIGNS

Each different grind has a different purpose. A ripping blade will have a Flat Top Grind (FTG) for fast cutting with the grain. A cross cut blade will do the best job with an Alternating Top Bevel (ATB), cutting across the grain like a knife and producing a very smooth cut. A blade with Triple Chip Grind (TCG) is good for all-purpose cutting and also gives you a very clean cut. TCG blades are also good for cutting non-ferrous metals and plastics. Of course, no matter which tooth design you're looking at, more teeth will give you a smoother cut than fewer teeth.

Sharpening carbide blades...obviously not something for the shop. So where to go?

In Anchorage, call Willie Accu-Sharp (907)337-9490. He does an excellent job on carbide blades and router bits.