Decent mid-grade TS blade

[Bushmaster]

Just bought a new TS3650, and I want to get a good mid-grade blade to go with it. I am not doing anything fancy yet, but I might get an inexpensive set of dado blades and see what I can do. Any recommendations? Any sales that you have seen or are ongoing?

[Popeye]

Home Depot sells a Freud 40t combo blade for about $29. I can't remember the number but it's the best blade I've found in that price range. I've built alot of furniture start to finish with it. Pat

[NJFrank]

Agree Freud

[Bushmaster]

Thanks

Thats one of the ones I was looking at. Do I need to go with more teeth? Thinner kerf? Just curious. My experience so far has pretty much been with a miter saw, and I know what blades I like for oak 1x3's or 1x4's versus oak panel molding. My TS exerience is pretty slim.

[Sawatzky]

I bought a hitachi 40 tooth blade on Amazon for $15.00. It has been a great blade and has pretty thick carbide. If you can still find it on amazon for that price I think it is worth buying 2 and getting free shipping.

[Knottscott]

Note that Freud has several series of blades aimed at various markets and various quality levels. For literally a few bucks more, you can step up to their Industrial line. Amazon sells the LU86R010 40T TK for $35 shipped....nice all around general purpose blade that's a great value. If you want a slightly cleaner cut and don't cut alot of 2" material, the 60T LU88R010 for $45 shipped is the cat's meow IMHO. I'd pick either of these over the Diablo, Avanti, or Ridgid Titanium... all by Freud.

I'm hearing good reports about the DeWalt Precision Trim series, which appears to have replaced their excellent Series 40. The DW7150PT 50T combo TK is $37 shipped.

For more money you can get into an excellent Infinity Combomax "Lite"...~ $65. For ~ $80 shipped, the Forrest WWII 30T TK will cut just about anything you'll encounter. Forrest review

[Ken Massingale]

The WW II is my favorite, but not in the mid price range. I agree with Scott about the LU86R010.

BTW, Happy Birthday a day late, sorry I missed you yesterday. Hope you had a great one.

[pecker]

I've been using this Tenryu blade on mine, and am happy with it for the price...$30 delivered.
http://www.holbren.com/product.php?p...&cat=54&page=1

[AlanWS]

I have the 50 tooth combination Freud LU83R010. It's $45 from Amazon, thin kerf, and cuts everything very cleanly.

[Knottscott]

I've been using this Tenryu blade on mine, and am happy with it for the price...$30 delivered.
http://www.holbren.com/product.php?p...&cat=54&page=1

I've used this blade and can vouch for its performance as well...great bang for the buck. I will point out that it's not really a thin kerf though...IIRC it's in the range of 0.111" vs 0.98" for most TK's, and 0.125" for most standard 1/8" full kerfs.

You can actually get it for close to ~ $27 shipped using the "BT310" discount code on Holbren's site.

[John Hunter]

I use a Freud 50 tooth Combination I get at Lowes for $34

[LarryG]

I've used this blade and can vouch for its performance as well...great bang for the buck.

I've been scouting for a budget blade to use on MDF, largely being cut for shop jigs and fixtures, so I don't have to use my good blades on this tough-on-carbide material. I've been using a cheapie 7-1/4" circular saw blade in my TS but, being so thin, it deflects too easily.

Sounds like this Tenryu might be just the ticket. Agreed?

[Knottscott]

I've been scouting for a budget blade to use on MDF, largely being cut for shop jigs and fixtures, so I don't have to use my good blades on this tough-on-carbide material. I've been using a cheapie 7-1/4" circular saw blade in my TS but, being so thin, it deflects too easily.

Sounds like this Tenryu might be just the ticket. Agreed?

$27 is pretty inexpensive for a good blade, and I'm sure it'll do a nice job for a while. MDF cuts easily but is tough on blades as you know, and will dull the Tenryu pretty quickly just like any other, thus your $27 will be history pretty quickly. I'd think a triple chip grind or even a flat top grind would hold up a little better.

As much as I like dealing with Brian, I think for your application I'd consider something less expensive if you have alot of it to cut, and there are some viable options now... I believe Mike Jackson still has some German made Leitz/Delta Industrial blades left....for MDF, most will do a similar job as the Tenryu for less money. I'd check into this one first if you don't need full cutting height: (get two for < $30 shipped) 35-590 8" z48 5/8" bore TC/F .110 kerf,0 degree hook $10. I'd guess you'll get at least twice the mileage from that deal...