Hello all,
I spent about 3 hours tonight looking at all the usual haunts
(Menards, Farm and Fleet and Sears around here) for a replacement
blade for my 10" Delta table saw. I'd like to upgrade as much as
possible, I'd prefer American made (I'm in manufacturing, so buying
Chinese is like kicking myself in the nuts) and I'd like to get the
smoothest cut I can for under $100. While the best way to do this is
more than likely to use a different blade for ripping and crosscuts, I
still just kind of prefer combination blades since most of my projects
are fairly small, and changing the blade every day seems like too much
hassle.
I found blades from DeWalt, Freud and Oldham, along with your usual
assortment of crap. I've heard a lot of good things about the Freud
blades, and that may be the route I'll take, but the Oldham signature
series looked pretty nice as well, and they have the advantage of
being a US company. Has anyone used the Oldham "signature" series- if
so, how well do they work, and how do they compare to DeWalt and
Freud? I'd like one that can withstand moderate (3-6 hours a week)
use in dense hardwoods (mostly maple and walnut) and only require
occasional sharpening and/or tooth replacement. The Delta blades that
came with my saw aren't really up to snuff- a few teeth are now
chipped, and the cuts were never really very smooth to begin with.
I've got another one of the same that came with the saw, but I'm
planning on just keeping that as a backup when I send the nice one for
sharpening.
Any thoughts?
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
Forrest WWII 40 tooth if you are mainly working with 2" thick and thinner,
1/8" kerf. You will not need anything else for wood.
"Prometheus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello all,
>
> I spent about 3 hours tonight looking at all the usual haunts
> (Menards, Farm and Fleet and Sears around here) for a replacement
> blade for my 10" Delta table saw. I'd like to upgrade as much as
> possible, I'd prefer American made (I'm in manufacturing, so buying
> Chinese is like kicking myself in the nuts) and I'd like to get the
> smoothest cut I can for under $100. While the best way to do this is
> more than likely to use a different blade for ripping and crosscuts, I
> still just kind of prefer combination blades since most of my projects
> are fairly small, and changing the blade every day seems like too much
> hassle.
>
> I found blades from DeWalt, Freud and Oldham, along with your usual
> assortment of crap. I've heard a lot of good things about the Freud
> blades, and that may be the route I'll take, but the Oldham signature
> series looked pretty nice as well, and they have the advantage of
> being a US company. Has anyone used the Oldham "signature" series- if
> so, how well do they work, and how do they compare to DeWalt and
> Freud? I'd like one that can withstand moderate (3-6 hours a week)
> use in dense hardwoods (mostly maple and walnut) and only require
> occasional sharpening and/or tooth replacement. The Delta blades that
> came with my saw aren't really up to snuff- a few teeth are now
> chipped, and the cuts were never really very smooth to begin with.
> I've got another one of the same that came with the saw, but I'm
> planning on just keeping that as a backup when I send the nice one for
> sharpening.
>
> Any thoughts?
> Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
I have several como or general purpose blades. The best ones I have are a
Forrest WWII, a Frued, a Shopsmith and an Oldham Signature series. For the
money, the Frued is best. It is almost indistinquishable from the WWII for me.
The Oldham does a decent job, but it is soooo loud. I actually like my
Shopsmith one too, but with a 1.25" arbor hole I doubt that it is something for
you to consider ;) Seriously, go for a good Frued. Mine is the TK906 I think.
Dave Hall
On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 23:11:11 -0600, Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote:
I bought two 10" Oldham Signature Series blades in Ebay for about $15 each
including shipping last year. I believe these 10" 40T blades were discontinued,
the seller acquired 400 plus pcs and selling it cheap in Ebay. I have forgotten
his email. You may want to contact a seller below (NO relation to me) in Ebay's
current listing 10" 80T Oldham Sing nature Series blade and he might be the same
seller, ask him if he have any Oldham 10" 40T Signature Series carbide blades.
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQgotopageZ1QQsassZtpav1QQsorecordsperpageZ50QQsosortorderZ1QQsosortpropertyZ1
I suggest you check very carefully with the seller, satisfied yourself before
you part with your money.
>I found blades from DeWalt, Freud and Oldham, along with your usual
>assortment of crap. I've heard a lot of good things about the Freud
>blades, and that may be the route I'll take, but the Oldham signature
>series looked pretty nice as well, and they have the advantage of
>being a US company. Has anyone used the Oldham "signature" series- if
>so, how well do they work, and how do they compare to DeWalt and
>Freud? I'd like one that can withstand moderate (3-6 hours a week)
>use in dense hardwoods (mostly maple and walnut) and only require
>occasional sharpening and/or tooth replacement. The Delta blades that
>came with my saw aren't really up to snuff- a few teeth are now
>chipped, and the cuts were never really very smooth to begin with.
>I've got another one of the same that came with the saw, but I'm
>planning on just keeping that as a backup when I send the nice one for
>sharpening.
>
>Any thoughts?
>Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 23:11:11 -0600, Prometheus
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>....... Has anyone used the Oldham "signature" series
I have two of these blades. One is the 40 tooth, $40 model, the other
one is the $80 model with the laser cuts (obtained free by
participating in this NG). I am quite happy with both of them. They
seem to be the same blade except for the laser cuts. I have cut a lot
of oak and maple (some ply and MDF too), and have only needed to touch
the teeth up a little here and there with diamond stones.
I have only used these, and a total crap 24 tooth Crapsman blade, so I
can't compare them to the likes of a Forrest, Freud or DeWalt. They
do leave a nice smooth cut though.
Tom notes:
>Aren't the Freuds made in Italy, and the DeWalts in pretty good Britain? Go
>Forrest, mon.
No longer know where DeWalt blades are made: used to be US. Freud and CMT in
Italy, Amana in Israel, Bosch, Delta, Forrest, Infinity (most), Porter-Cable
made in US. Vermont-American made in the US.
Charlie Self
"Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of
nothing."
Redd Foxx
I have use a lot of blades in my time but will only use Forrest blades now.
They are the best made, best cutting and longest lasting blades I have seen.
The cut is a s smooth as a jointer, no tear out crosscutting ply and pretty
much the only blade you need. I am starting up a little shop again and the
first and only blade for wood is the WW11 thin kerf.
I had a nice cutting Freud, (it was red and had lots of teeth) but when we
had it sharpened, I was told there might be enough carbide for one more
sharpening. We ran a Forrest blade all day long and went somewhere between 6
months to a year between sharpening.
Highly recommended.
max
> On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 23:11:11 -0600, Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I bought two 10" Oldham Signature Series blades in Ebay for about $15 each
> including shipping last year. I believe these 10" 40T blades were
> discontinued,
> the seller acquired 400 plus pcs and selling it cheap in Ebay. I have
> forgotten
> his email. You may want to contact a seller below (NO relation to me) in
> Ebay's
> current listing 10" 80T Oldham Sing nature Series blade and he might be the
> same
> seller, ask him if he have any Oldham 10" 40T Signature Series carbide
> blades.
>
> http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQgotopageZ1QQsassZtpav1QQsorecordsperpageZ50QQsosor
> torderZ1QQsosortpropertyZ1
>
> I suggest you check very carefully with the seller, satisfied yourself before
> you part with your money.
>
>
>> I found blades from DeWalt, Freud and Oldham, along with your usual
>> assortment of crap. I've heard a lot of good things about the Freud
>> blades, and that may be the route I'll take, but the Oldham signature
>> series looked pretty nice as well, and they have the advantage of
>> being a US company. Has anyone used the Oldham "signature" series- if
>> so, how well do they work, and how do they compare to DeWalt and
>> Freud? I'd like one that can withstand moderate (3-6 hours a week)
>> use in dense hardwoods (mostly maple and walnut) and only require
>> occasional sharpening and/or tooth replacement. The Delta blades that
>> came with my saw aren't really up to snuff- a few teeth are now
>> chipped, and the cuts were never really very smooth to begin with.
>> I've got another one of the same that came with the saw, but I'm
>> planning on just keeping that as a backup when I send the nice one for
>> sharpening.
>>
>> Any thoughts?
>> Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
>
>
"patriarch [email protected]>" <<patriarch> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> The Forrest are decent blades. $89 show price, last I noticed, not that
> I'm in the market. When I've used them, just back from resharpening, on
> other folks' saws, I still wasn't convinced the extra cash was worth it.
> YMMV.
I have 2 Forrest blades. One replaces the other when one goes to Forrest
for resharpening. FWIW, I sent the Forrest to my local sharpener. He uses
several computerized sharpening machines that do all of the work. The
machines will even recognize your blade if it has been in for resharpening
before.
Anyway I thought that he offered a good service and had been satisfied for
year and years with his work. Until I got my Forrest back. While the blade
was truly sharp, it needed more. Back to Forrest it went 1 week later with
instructions to bring back to factory spec. When it came back, it was like
new.
The problem with many local sharpening services is that they only sharpen or
replace teeth.
Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
<snip>
> Any thoughts?
Find a good, local professional sharpening service. Since they cater to
production shops, they will have blades that can stand abuse. Since they
are local, they are available to listen to customer feedback.
Buy what they sell and repair. They can also probably make your Delta
branded blade healthy again.
Mine sells FS Tools blades. I've been very pleased with the product. And
the service.
Patriarch
Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>>Buy what they sell and repair. They can also probably make your Delta
>>branded blade healthy again.
>
> Not a bad idea- I just thought a better blade would work better when
> resharpened. Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, after all.
Your blades aren't necessarily sows' ears. Every blade I've taken to Bay
Area Carbide comes back working as good as, but usually better than, new.
CNC sharpening and 30 years of experience can do that for you.
Oldham Signature, 40T and 80T crosscut are good blades. Mine are thin
kerf, purchased when I used the Shopsmith as my primary tablesaw. I use
the FS Tools 50T and 60T much of the time now. These are .125" and .13x
kerf, and very stiff. Miter cutting is far less prone to burning with
these blades.
The Forrest are decent blades. $89 show price, last I noticed, not that
I'm in the market. When I've used them, just back from resharpening, on
other folks' saws, I still wasn't convinced the extra cash was worth it.
YMMV.
Patriarch
In article <[email protected]>, Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>I spent about 3 hours tonight looking at all the usual haunts
>(Menards, Farm and Fleet and Sears around here) for a replacement
>blade for my 10" Delta table saw. I'd like to upgrade as much as
>possible, I'd prefer American made (I'm in manufacturing, so buying
>Chinese is like kicking myself in the nuts) and I'd like to get the
>smoothest cut I can for under $100. While the best way to do this is
>more than likely to use a different blade for ripping and crosscuts, I
>still just kind of prefer combination blades since most of my projects
>are fairly small, and changing the blade every day seems like too much
>hassle.
The Forrest WoodWorker II is right around $100, made in the USA, and cuts
*beautifully*. You won't need anything else.
Check out the blades from Ridge Carbide, too. If their regular blades are as
good as their dado sets, you can't go wrong. Also made in the USA, and less
expensive than Forrest.
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
Get a copy of my NEW AND IMPROVED TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter
by sending email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com
You must use your REAL email address to get a response.
On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 05:14:13 -0800, "AAvK" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>I recently bought a set of Oldham's "Hickory woodworking" forstner bits,
>I thought as I read: "hmmm, old U.S. company, HSS, guaranteed forever, and
>only 39.95 for the set... SOLD!". And when I got them, yep, "made in China".
>Couldn't tell 'til then.
Boy, you can't trust any of them these days, I guess. I just saw the
"made in USA" tag on the package.
>Alex
>
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 23:41:11 -0600, WD <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 23:11:11 -0600, Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>I bought two 10" Oldham Signature Series blades in Ebay for about $15 each
>including shipping last year. I believe these 10" 40T blades were discontinued,
>the seller acquired 400 plus pcs and selling it cheap in Ebay. I have forgotten
>his email. You may want to contact a seller below (NO relation to me) in Ebay's
>current listing 10" 80T Oldham Sing nature Series blade and he might be the same
>seller, ask him if he have any Oldham 10" 40T Signature Series carbide blades.
>
>http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQgotopageZ1QQsassZtpav1QQsorecordsperpageZ50QQsosortorderZ1QQsosortpropertyZ1
>
>I suggest you check very carefully with the seller, satisfied yourself before
>you part with your money.
Oh, no I can buy them new- I was just wondering if they're worth it,
or if I should just get the Freud Blades. It's only about $50 to get
one that still in the package, and I don't have to worry about whether
or not is has been mistreated in the past that way.
>>I found blades from DeWalt, Freud and Oldham, along with your usual
>>assortment of crap. I've heard a lot of good things about the Freud
>>blades, and that may be the route I'll take, but the Oldham signature
>>series looked pretty nice as well, and they have the advantage of
>>being a US company. Has anyone used the Oldham "signature" series- if
>>so, how well do they work, and how do they compare to DeWalt and
>>Freud? I'd like one that can withstand moderate (3-6 hours a week)
>>use in dense hardwoods (mostly maple and walnut) and only require
>>occasional sharpening and/or tooth replacement. The Delta blades that
>>came with my saw aren't really up to snuff- a few teeth are now
>>chipped, and the cuts were never really very smooth to begin with.
>>I've got another one of the same that came with the saw, but I'm
>>planning on just keeping that as a backup when I send the nice one for
>>sharpening.
>>
>>Any thoughts?
>>Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
>
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 15:30:14 GMT, "Frank J. Vitale"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Take a look at Ridge Carbide www.ridgecarbidetool.com/ . They only sell at
>woodworking shows or form their New Jersey factory.
Ridge makes nice stuff. Our local Woodcraft carries them as well.
Since Woodcraft is a franchise, some store owners carry items in
addition to the franchise catalog. Our local store carries Shapton
stones, Ridge blades, a very large H. Behlen's selection, CMT cutters,
etc...
Barry
On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 16:54:54 GMT, patriarch
<<patriarch>[email protected]> wrote:
First off, thanks everyone who responded- a few good bits there to
chew on. Looks like the Forrest is the way to go? I'm gonna have to
special order it, but it's not the first time I've had to do that.
I'll get the Deltas repaired too, and that should be enough... I
think...
>Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote in
>news:[email protected]:
>
><snip>
>> Any thoughts?
>
>Find a good, local professional sharpening service. Since they cater to
>production shops, they will have blades that can stand abuse. Since they
>are local, they are available to listen to customer feedback.
Yeah, my cousin owns one- I was planning on getting the Delta redone,
but I'm still looking for something with a few more teeth. The big
problem is that *since* he's my cousin I'd get a good deal- but I'm
probably looking at a bit of a wait for them to get to it.
>Buy what they sell and repair. They can also probably make your Delta
>branded blade healthy again.
Not a bad idea- I just thought a better blade would work better when
resharpened. Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, after all.
>Mine sells FS Tools blades. I've been very pleased with the product. And
>the service.
>
>Patriarch
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
Assume everything being sold today including your next meal is being made in
China. FWIW the next big export product from Chine is going to be US style
vegetables.
--
Rumpty
Radial Arm Saw Forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/woodbutcher/start
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"AAvK" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:AqHnd.111732$bk1.19176@fed1read05...
>
> I recently bought a set of Oldham's "Hickory woodworking" forstner bits,
> I thought as I read: "hmmm, old U.S. company, HSS, guaranteed forever, and
> only 39.95 for the set... SOLD!". And when I got them, yep, "made in
China".
> Couldn't tell 'til then.
>
> Alex
>
>