Is the Stock China Blade Worth Sharpening?

[JoeyGee]

Is it worth it to have the stock BT3 China blade sharpened, or would it make just as much sense to buy an Oldham combo blade (or similar) at the BORG for the same price or slightly more? I don't have the scratch to put down on a WWII or something similar, but I need a sharp blade. I don't use my saw to much, so the sharpening/new cheap blade will last me awhile.

[Sawatzky]

I never got good cuts with the stock china blade. I only use it for MDF. I will probably never sharpen mine beacuse it never cut great to begin with. If you have had good results with yours, then you may want to sharpen it, beings that you already own it and don't use it that much. The origanal blade was a Freud blade, but the new one is made in china. Maybe I got a bad one as others have had good luck with theirs.

[Cheeky]

Is it worth it to have the stock BT3 China blade sharpened, or would it make just as much sense to buy an Oldham combo blade (or similar) at the BORG for the same price or slightly more? I don't have the scratch to put down on a WWII or something similar, but I need a sharp blade. I don't use my saw to much, so the sharpening/new cheap blade will last me awhile.

get a freud industrial on amazon. there are some great deals now w/the 20% off deal going on.

here's a couple thin kerf combi blades for ~$32-36 (discount at checkout). will be better than anything at the Borg.

Freud LU83R008

Freud LU83R010

[Knottscott]

I'd opt for a replacement. In addition to Cheeky's excellent suggestion, I'll add the LU86R010 from their industrial line...40T, TK, C4 carbide, Permashield coating, on sale for ~ $28 shipped after 20% discount.

Epinions.com/LU86

You could have the stock blade resharpened sometime as a backup or for cutting suspicious wood...prolly cost ~ $15.

[BearPipes-1]

There's a lumber yard near my office that has a blade exchange kiosk with sharpened blades of varying (and no great) consequence; if you can find such a service near you, you may be able to upgrade from poor to fair for about the same price as resharpening. Plus, there's no downtime -- you walk away with a usable blade.

[ragswl4]

I'd opt for a replacement. In addition to Cheeky's excellent suggestion, I'll add the LU86R010 from their industrial line...40T, TK, C4 carbide, Permashield coating, on sale for ~ $28 shipped after 20% discount.

Epinions.com/LU86

You could have the stock blade resharpened sometime as a backup or for cutting suspicious wood...prolly cost ~ $15.

buy this blade and never look back. you won't be sorry. $15 to sharpen that blade when you could get this one for $28.........smart, very smart!

[Cheeky]

buy this blade and never look back. you won't be sorry. $15 to sharpen that blade when you could get this one for $28.........smart, very smart!

great recommendation guys!

thin kerf is a great marriage for underpowered saws!

[dkerfoot]

I've actually been pretty happy with my china blade, but I agree about buying new instead of sharpening.

[sdk1000000]

One thing to watch out for with a "thin-kerf" blade is that you might experience more resistance pushing stock past the anti-kickback riving knife. You might be able to adjust it with the shims but if the knife is too thick for the smaller kerf you might need to discard it for another anti-kickback mechanism.

[Knottscott]

One thing to watch out for with a "thin-kerf" blade is that you might experience more resistance pushing stock past the anti-kickback riving knife. You might be able to adjust it with the shims but if the knife is too thick for the smaller kerf you might need to discard it for another anti-kickback mechanism.

Isn't the stock blade a TK too?

[ragswl4]

Isn't the stock blade a TK too?

I used a number of thin kerf blades on my BT3100 and never had a problem with the riving knife. Once it was shimmed properly, worked perfect.