Swapped the Chinese blade

[Jamb]

I bought my BT3100 last week and it came with a blade made in China. I knew that the BT on display at HD had a blade made in Italy. I went back to the store last night and inspected the blade for damage. I did not find anything wrong with it so, as many of you suggested, I asked the manager to swap my blade for the Italian made one in the demo machine. Guess what? He did it.

Now I have the Italian Freud blade. Just by looking at them, they seem to be identical to me. My question: Is it really a better blade? Has anyone done a comparison between those two?

[Joe DeFazio]

Hi Jamb,

Mine came with a China blade as well, so I bought a used Freud/Italy blade from a member of this forum. My basic reason for buying the Freud blade was to compare the two, and, hopefully, to end up with a bit better rips and a bit better blade.

There are definite differences between the two (at least, between the two I got...). The Anti-kickback shoulder is shaped slightly differently (that's the thing behind the tooth that points at the next tooth). Though I can't verify it quantitatively, the plate seems flatter around the S-shaped expansion slots on the Freud blade (on the China blade, the plate seems to pucker in towards the slot ever so slightly). The anti-stick coating near the teeth seems different (more like paint that wears off easily on the China blade). Also, the tensioning ring (the concentric circular depression a bit more than halfway out the blade) seems more pronounced on the China blade. Here are two pics (China on left, Freud on right):




As for how they cut, I was very pleased with the China blade's crosscuts (very smooth). My rips were slow as molasses, though (yes, I did have the saw on its own 20 amp circuit, no extension cord, and fence parallel to blade). I was pretty surprised to read on this forum that many had gotten excellent ripping performance from the stock blade. When the Freud/China disparity surfaced around Christmas, I decided to get the China blade to see if the ripping quality improved. And the answer is:

Well, maybe, sorta. I guess rips do go a bit better, though surely my technique has improved by now, so it's hard to tell for sure. My Freud/ Italy blade does exhibit less runout (every blade is different, though, so I wouldn't extrapolate from that). However, I still have some problems with the saw laboring even ripping a pine 2x4. If I set the blade height about one tooth above the top of the 2x4 workpiece, I still get burning. If I raise the blade another 0.5-1 in., though, it goes well enough (guard on, of course). I think I learned that less-teeth-in-the-kerf trick here, btw (thanks, whoever!).

So, as for what I'll do, I guess I'll get a Freud LU86 or WWII TK, or perhaps a dedicated ripping blade. As for what you should do, sorry I don't have a more clear cut "yes or no" answer as to whether the Italy blade is really better than the China blade. More like "could be, somewhat, I think."

Joe

[LCHIEN]

Thanks, Joe, that was an interesting comparison, and probably the best way we'll find out. I had some pictures I took of a Freud Italian blade and some anothere user took for me of the chinese blade but the comparison was hard to make and the Word file too hard to post.

Regarding rips, sometimes they do get hard to do. Some of the reasons can be:

1) the cross grain of a crosscut literally cuts the fibers whereas a rip cut peels the fibers away from adjoining fibers. For this reason rip blades usually have a steep angle of attack on the blade tooth (called hook angle) of around 20° or more. Crosscut-specific blades have a hook angle of -5° to +5° usually the miter saws use the negative angles. Combo blade like the 40T OEM blade will be like 10° or maybe as much as 15° (I think the Ryobi is closer to 15&#176 but this angle affects the ability to peel apart the parallel fibers in a rip cut.

2) the Long board you are ripping may be closing up around the blade and pinching it which adds greatly to the friction on the side vs. just the cutting force.

I would say feature for feature the China-made Ryobi blade is very close to the Freud-made Italian origin Ryobi blade, about as close as you can get for the anti-vibration laser cuts and reliefs as well as the tooth and gullet features. That is, judging from the pictures I have and htose you just posted. But there's more goes into making a blade, and that can be quality of finish and quality of materials and final sharpening. Those are hard to tell from the pics, altho from the shine you can see the Freud machining finish seems to be more uniform. And the hole finish from what you say is better. Generally I would judge a blade that looks better to have had the same care applied to sharpening and flattening (a dangerous assumption as it might be I would see little purpose in making a pretty blade but skimping ont he other stuff).

[kmk]

Frued LU86 is equivalent of Forrest WWII ?

[drumpriest]

I have used the china blade from the BT, and it's fine for a short while, but once it is dull, it's pretty useless. The freud blades that I've used have all been excellent, and long lived.

[Knottscott]

Frued LU86 is equivalent of Forrest WWII ?

I own both, and while I like the LU86 alot, find it to be in the "very good to excellent" range on it's own merit, and find it to be about the best bang for the buck on the market IMO, I don't quite consider it the "equivalent" of the WWII. At $36 from Amazon, it's a great choice for someone who isn't ready or able to spend $80 for a WWII, and it'll perform surprisingly close to the WWII...at least when new. Outstanding backup to the WWII, and very nice everyday blade if I want to save my WWII for more critical applications.