BT3, glue line or regular rip blade?

[LinuxRandal]

I don't have either, and the neighbor who doesn't have a pc, and bought the BT based on my recommendation, is asking about them.

Preference guys and reasons why? (I realize bargains could be a big reason)

Thanks

[Knottscott]

Depends on what's being cut, and how you define glue line ripper.

A good 24T FTG bulk ripper (Freud LU87, DW7124PT, etc) will rip heavy material to full blade height with low resistance to the saw and low burning. It will leave an acceptable edge for gluing most of the time. They leave a rougher cut than a glue line ripper (GLR) or a general purpose blade and don't crosscut well, but a bulk ripper is the only blade intended to rip thick heavy material, so it definitely can have a place in most shops. The typical 30T GLR (Freud LM75, CMT 203.030.10) is only intended to rip to about 1", will leave a highly polished edge, but is prone to burning much beyond that, plus is also unacceptable for crosscuts. It gives you very little benefit compared to the versatility of a good general purpose blade, but the triple chip grind (TCG) of most GLRs does wear very well, so is a good choice for high volume ripping of 1" materials or less.

A good 40T general purpose blade (LU86, WWII, TS2000, etc) or 50T (LU83, Infinity Combomax, CMT P10050, etc) combo blade will leave a clean edge suitable for glue up, will rip efficiently often to 2", and will leave acceptable plywood and crosscuts in most situations.

[JimD]

My input is not different but I will say it a different way. I think your first blade should be a quality all around blade. I like the 50 tooth with 10 sets of 5 teeth where 4 are ATB and I is a flat top ripper. I have a Freud and a DeWalt and use them interchangably.

You can definitely rip with these blades but it is kind of hard on the BT3100. It has no excess of power. So rips are definitely easier with a 24 tooth rip. Mine is Freud.

The other variable is width. Most of my blades are full 1/8 width. And my BT3100 works fine with them. But I saw a test in FWW recently that has me thinking that thin kerf blades might be just as accurate and reduce strain a little bit.

With respect to a glue line ripper I think it is a gimmick. If it has flat top teeth, it will rip pretty well but not as well as a 24 tooth blade. If it has any other grind (ATB or triple chip) it is really a coarse all around blade. In either event, I don't see the point. I glue up a lot with edges from either a rip blade or a 50 tooth all around blade. It works fine.

Jim

[Gator95]

Also think a good all-around blade would be a better choice than the 'glue-line ripper'. I've had very good results with the Forrest WWII 30 tooth GP blade in hardwood up to 2". There are a lot of choices out there.