# Avanti pro saw blades at HD



## RJweb (Feb 25, 2011)

Was at HD today and now they are carry avanti pro saw blades and dado blades. Has anyone purchased and used these yet, Thx in advance


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

The Avanti and Avanti Pro blades are a cheap imitation product that's marketed in a way that I find disturbing. The knock off Avanti and Avanti Pro blades showed up in HD shortly after Freud discontinued their well regarded Avanti series in June 2009. The imitation blades are no longer made in Italy, have nothing in common with the original Freud Avanti designs, and no longer have any association with Freud, yet they retain a logo and font that's very similar to the former Freud version, and could easily mislead unsuspecting consumers into thinking that they're buying a reputable Freud Avanti blade. Aside from profiting on Freud's efforts, the blades are really poorly made, and I don't consider them suitable for fine woodworking. 

Here's the original Freud Avanti 60T blade made in Italy:









Here's the non-Freud Avanti 60T knock off made in China:









I'd look to the Freud Diablo series for affordable high quality saw blades.


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## Wood4Brains (Jul 25, 2012)

> I'd look to the Freud Diablo series for affordable high quality saw blades.


+1

Search on amazon for the diablo series blades and you will see they get great reviews.

another thing (and this could be good or bad depending on how you look at it) is that it seems like freud is a little bit strict in how much they will let the big box stores discount the prices on their blades.

So I was able to buy my blade at the LOCAL lumber store for the SAME PRICE as at the big box store. Since I try to support the small businesses in the area, I also had the double satisfaction of not worrying that I could have saved a few dollars by heading across town.

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It is scary that the new Chinese Avanti blades look so much like the old freud "Made in Italy" blades. I almost bought them for that reason, too.

However, it could be that Freud sold the design / name / trademarks to the new company, so it might be a mistake on Freud's part... I dunno.


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