Tenryu 40T Blade for <$25 from Holbren

[Knottscott]

For those in the market or who may not have had a chance to try out a Tenryu blade, Holbren is offering his 10" Tenryu "Rapid-Cut" RS25540 40T (ATAF grind) for $24.95 delivered. I'm finding this blade to be worth every penny....versatile, clean cutting, and has a decent feedrate. Not quite a WWII or Ridge Carbide TS2000, but it's at the top of the value food chain right now IMHO.


http://holbren.com/product.php?produ...4&cat=0&page=1

[MBG]

Wow! I paid $50 plus shipping about 3-years ago for this blade. Wood magazine rated it as good as WWII except for a slight edge for WWII when croscutting thin plywood. It also has as much carbide as my WWII. When ripping this thing leaves a clean enough cut for edge glueing w/o running it through the jointer.

[Knottscott]

Wow! I paid $50 plus shipping about 3-years ago for this blade. Wood magazine rated it as good as WWII except for a slight edge for WWII when croscutting thin plywood. It also has as much carbide as my WWII. When ripping this thing leaves a clean enough cut for edge glueing w/o running it through the jointer.

Are you thinking of the Tenryu Gold Medal 40T? (that's their top end that contends with the WWII and has the big toofers)

[Doug Jones]

For those in the market or who may not have had a chance to try out a Tenryu blade, Holbren is offering his 10" Tenryu "Rapid-Cut" RS25540 40T (ATAF grind) for $24.95 delivered. I'm finding this blade to be worth every penny....versatile, clean cutting, and has a decent feedrate. Not quite a WWII or Ridge Carbide TS2000, but it's at the top of the value food chain right now IMHO.


http://holbren.com/product.php?produ...4&cat=0&page=1

Can anyone else comment on this blade? I am a big fan of Holbren bits (have 4 different sets) and figured he would only sell quality items, but still need to hear from the public on their experience with the blade. I use Freud blades and am looking for a comparison.
Thanks,,,

[Knottscott]

Doug - Hopefully someone else who's tried it will offer a comment. When I first got my 25540 I did a direct comparison with my Freud LU86R010 which I also consider a great value @ $35. The Tenryu compared very well in all my unscientific side by side tests.

In case it matters to some folks, the TS25540 is not a standard 3/32" TK, but it's also not a standard 1/8" full kerf either...it's 0.118". The alternating top, alternating face (ATAF) grind is an interesting deviation from a standard ATB, that makes sense to me. IMHO to find more blade for less would very difficult. I guess I'd view this blade as a comparable value to Holbren's bits relative to other value oriented bits....hard to do better for the price, easy to do alot worse!

[MBG]

Can anyone else comment on this blade? I am a big fan of Holbren bits (have 4 different sets) and figured he would only sell quality items, but still need to hear from the public on their experience with the blade. I use Freud blades and am looking for a comparison.
Thanks,,,

See my comments above.

[Doug Jones]

Thanks guys,,, but just to clarify things, we are talking about the $24.95 Tenryu Rapid Cut 10" 40T Combination Blade, correct? This is the same blade that was compared to the expensive WWII blade? If so then this has got to be the deal of the century.
Thanks again,,

[Knottscott]

Thanks guys,,, but just to clarify things, we are talking about the $24.95 Tenryu Rapid Cut 10" 40T Combination Blade, correct? This is the same blade that was compared to the expensive WWII blade? If so then this has got to be the deal of the century.
Thanks again,,

My post was pertaining to the $24.95 Tenryu Rapid Cut 10" 40T RS25540. I don't know if it's ever formally been compared to a WWII. I personally don't think it's at that level, but I think it's very good for the price, and think that it compares well to the Freud LU86.