I am new at woodworking. I need advice on type of blade for a table saw?

Wed, Jun 30, 2010

Woodworking Plans Q and A's

I have dozens of construction grade 1×6′s at the house that I will use in a few beginner furniture-making projects. I bought a table saw, and I am going to trim them down to 1×5 or so before running them through a planer. Should I use the rip blade that came with the table saw, or should I buy a blade with 40 teeth, 60 teeth, or 100 teeth?

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6 Responses to “I am new at woodworking. I need advice on type of blade for a table saw?”

  1. papercutfaint Says:
    30. June 2010 at 7:13 pm

    I can’t believe you’re asking these dummies on here.

  2. ~Seamaster~ Says:
    30. June 2010 at 7:13 pm

    Welcome to the world of woodworking! A good saw blade is definitely an investment that will pay off. Remember that your saw is only as good as the blade you are running. A $200 saw with a good $60 blade can make a better cut that a $2000 saw with a $20 blade. Try the Freud Diablo. It’s an excellent multipurpose, fine cut blade with a thin kerf that does rip cuts and cross cuts well. The fine finish blade has 60 teeth. I would not recommend a 100 tooth blade because it will take you forever to rip through 1×6. The 40 tooth would work fine for ripping 1×6 pine that you’re going to joint and plane smooth later.

    Make double sure your fence is square, go slow, use a push stick, wear safety glasses and don’t stand in the kick back zone.

  3. car dude Says:
    30. June 2010 at 7:13 pm

    rip blades are for length cuts, more teeth on the blade for cross cuts, the more teeth, the smoother the cross cut. 40 and less for ripping, 80 and more teeth for clean cross cuts. too many teeth will get hot if you use them for ripping, too few teeth for cross cuts will leave rough cuts in the wood. a 100 tooth blade would be good for use in a miter saw while doing interior trim and such. good luck, hope this explains it for you.

  4. John S Says:
    30. June 2010 at 7:13 pm

    Get a good carbide tipped blade. The more teeth, the cleaner the cut. If you are looking for inexpensive, try http://www.harborfreight.com

    Edit: If you’re doing both rip and crosscut, get a combination blade.

  5. Carpenter Says:
    30. June 2010 at 7:13 pm

    Personally I use a carbide tipped combination blade. Works well for me.

  6. Kathleen Kelly Says:
    30. June 2010 at 7:13 pm

    Hey, Dave Matthews here.

    While renovating a 109 year old house entirely by myself, I’ve been through a lot of saw blades.

    Buy a TUNGSTEN CARBIDE blade……the more teeth on the blade, the better the cut.

    I recently put unfinished, oak hardwood tongue & groove flooring in three rooms and couldn’t have done it without the 100 teeth blade.

    Enjoy the work . . . it’s rewarding & the only way any of us can ever afford to have anything that lasts these days.

    dave
    morgantown, wv

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