Replacement blade(s) for BT3K

[DaveinFloweryBranchGA]

Hi All,

Been a long time since I've posted on the forum. Had some life's ups and downs, returned to college at 47 and resolved some employment issues, moved a couple times. During that time, I sold a cabinet saw I had and with it, the original blade that came with my BT3K.

I'm back into some woodworking on a smaller scale now using my BT3K. Needing a decent blade, I picked up a couple Freud Diablo blades from Home Depot and I'm hoping one will be a good replacement for the original BT3K all around blade while the other works for finer cross cuts.

Here's the blades I picked up:

D1040X, a 40 tooth thin kerf general purpose blade. Will this blade be a good replacement for the 32Tooth blade that came with the saw?

D1060X, a 60 tooth thin kerf fine finish blade. Will this be a good blade for the purposes of making glue able cross cuts or do I need to take it back and get a finer tooth blade such as an 80 or 100 tooth?

Finally, I was considering picking up one of the 25 tooth blades in the same brand/line for ripping purposes. Would this round out a set for a "basic" woodworker?

Note: In skill level, I'd managed to make it above the average Joe building a bench for his garage before the life changes and was just considering making a few decent but basic shelving units, end tables, etc. for the house while a storage cabinet or two for the garage. I'm ready to start on some of that now. This time I'm going for more hand tools though and less machinery, so I'll be using wood that's more processed than before.

Thanks for the help,

Dave In GA

[chopnhack]

I just picked up the 1040x for replacing my ancient stock blade. I am sure it will run like a champ, if I am not mistaken, the stock blade was made by Freud as well. I have had great success in cutting veneer ply with the 1080x. I had it on hand from my miter saw and liked it so much that I bought a new one (along with the 40t) just recently.

[Pappy]

I can't speak for the blades you have but the tooth count is good for the purposes you mentioned. Frued is a reliable brand of blades. I was able to pick up some of the Frued Avanti blades before the name was sold.

I have the 24 tooth Diablo for a rip blade and it has performed well for me.

[jabe]

What U suggest all would work but, I would go with a 80T or 100T blade for cross cutting. In the end it's what U can afford and what type of material you'll be cutting.

[LCHIEN]

I keep a Forrest WWII 40-T Thin kerf on my BT3 for most stuff, change to a 24T ripper for challenging rip jobs. I keep an 80-T Freud TK on my Miter saw for most cross cutting.

There's other good blades, but the Forrest is dependably a top notch blade for general work.

[Knottscott]

Dave - I think you've made good choices, and your plan to add a 24T ripper is always prudent for thick ripping....it'll spare your saw's motor some tough going. You may still find some sale bargains on the Freud Avanti TK206 ripper (be sure it clearly says "Freud" though...HD is selling a non-Freud cheap Chinese knockoff under the "Avanti" name)....I've seen it in the $20-$21 range.

The D1040 is a good all around general purpose blade, a great bargain, and a good match for your saw. It'll handle the majority of needs well, but may struggle a bit with thick ripping and fine ply and crosscuts. I've long been a fan of the Freud Industrial LU86 and LU88...the D1040 and D1060 are very similar with slightly smaller teeth. Both will leave glue ready edges, but the D1060 should leave a cleaner edge and slightly less tearout. The D1060 may not cut quite as finely as the 80T D1080 but it's more versatile and will pose less resistance to your saw...it may also cut cleanly enough for your ply and finer hardwood cutting needs, negating the need for anything finer. For a 60T blade, the D1060 has a fairly steep hook angle (13°-15° IIRC), so it'll actually rip very cleanly and fairly efficiently to upwards of ~ 6/4" depending on the material, setup, etc., which makes it a very good fine cut general purpose blade too. You could actually get by nicely with just a D1024 and D1060, but for $30 there's no harm in having the D1040 around too as a workhorse.