# Freud, CMT, Forrest......



## oldmacnut (Dec 27, 2010)

I have a few Diablo brand blades for my TS, and want to upgrade 3, maybe 4 of my blades.
I have a 24t rip blade, 50t combo, 60t finish, those are my most common use blades. Now I do have the Freud box joint dado set, and the Diablo dado set, I end up using the box joint dado for more common things like rabbits, and 1/2" or smaller dados.

Oh, saw is a ridgid r4512.

I've thought about full kerf blades, so when I upgrade to a "forever" saw I have the blades for it.

Question is..
How is CMT?, which Forrest should I go with?, should I run all 3 of those common blades Forrest?. 

Material I commonly cut.
Hardwood plywood
Walnut, ash, oak, pecan, cherry, maple, hickory, cedar, mahogany

Average large cut is about 2"-2 1/2" depending on how thick of material o need to mill.

All I know is that it is time for me to upgrade my blades to "forever" blades. The 150.00 cost of a Forrest blade no longer scares my wife, she does understand that you do get what you pay for.

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## troyd1976 (Jul 26, 2011)

Have you tried the Onsrud blades from ebay? IMO better than the diablo's, and they are a very reasonable price. One note i recently found out, if you email the man with multi. blades you want, he will give you a discount for quantity off his list price and set it up buy it now for you. i recently bought the top end dado set, a glue line rip, and a 50t combo and wound up with a 10% discount.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

+1 I now have four of the Onsrud blades (one is dado set) and all have cut like butter. Great quality at a great price.


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## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

My "forever" blades are Tenryu. Forrest quality at a more reasonable price.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

I use Freud blades, not their Diablo line, their regular thin kerf blades, in my table saw. I primarily use a combo blade (stays in my saw 90% of the time). I also have a thin kerf glue line rip blade I bust out when making a production run of cutting boards. Never had a problem. Usually get 2-3 resharpenings out of them too.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

I have not been impressed with my Forrest blade. It's not a bad blade but the blade doesn't live up to its advanced billing.

My forever blades are Anderson (Daphne St. Downey, CA) combination 50 tooth, 10 sets of 5 teeth. A second blade is a similar configuration from a local sharpening & supplier that doesn't do mail order.


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

I put together a blog a couple of years ago that might have some useful info before you buy your "forever" blades. 

In general, I'm not a big brand name loyalist. I prefer to buy the best tool at the best price that suits the need. Going with multiple brands increases your chances of getting the best blade for a given task at the best price....going with one brand usually ensures that you pay more to get comparable quality, unless you find a good package deal. Not to mention that not every top brand name makes the best of all types of blades. I've used some great blades from Forrest, but have also used some great blades from Ridge Carbide, Freud, Infinity, Tenryu, Amana, CMT and others. Forrest tends to cost more than others, but doesn't always give you more...in fact, it annoys me a little bit that my Forrest blades are more prone to rusting than some of the others, but that's a knitpick. I've never used a blade from Infinity that hasn't totally impressed me...from the performance, to fit and finish, and even the value, they're really excellent, so I wouldn't shell out big bucks without at least looking into the Infinity blades.


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## oldmacnut (Dec 27, 2010)

A lot more options for me to look at, this is good, and what I need.

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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

What ever happened to the Systematic blade? I used them a while back and loved them.

Can't make any money in wood


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

I have to second the Onsrud faction. The blades are quite the bang for the buck mainly because they are all discontinued though so the supply is limited. My understanding is that they continue to manufacture blades for other large brand names to their specs but didn't have the brand recognition for Onsrud to sell their blades at a profitable price. Great for us though! The blades have enough carbide on them that I expect to get 4-5 sharpenings from em but have only gotten to 2 on a few so far. 

In my opinion the Diablo blades are a good value too, but not 1/3 the blade the onsruds are for the price. 

I have a couple of delta industrial and Freud industrial blades but they are all full kerf and I find them to be excellent blades however I tend not to use them as my current saw just doesn't have the kahonies to perform well with full kerf blades.

I've never tried Forrest or symantec but I hear great things about em. I know that's not qualitative not having use them but all the same I at least haven't heard any negative reviews. 

Good luck with weeding through all the choices! BTW, I really don't think there is such a thing as "forever blades". By my standard that implies it out last the buyer's life span. It's doable with hand tool irons maybe but circular blades take so much abuse from normal use that they simply can't last that long under moderate use.

--------------------------------------------- one day I'll be so good that I won't need this forum any longer... then I'll know I have full onset Dementia! ~tom


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## troyd1976 (Jul 26, 2011)

Firemedic, great to hear the onsrud blades will easily take 2 sharpening. As of now for the price I'm just buying new rather than getting any sharpened because the 10x50 is only a few dollars cheaper for me to sharpen than replace, though once i can no longer get new plan to start getting the ones Ive stocked up on sharpened. (did i say stocked up or hording?).

sadly last i spoke with the fella he didn't foresee anymore 10x24 rip blades coming down the pike, and apparently the dado sets are getting in low supply as well.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

troyd1976 said:


> Firemedic, great to hear the onsrud blades will easily take 2 sharpening. As of now for the price I'm just buying new rather than getting any sharpened because the 10x50 is only a few dollars cheaper for me to sharpen than replace, though once i can no longer get new plan to start getting the ones Ive stocked up on sharpened. (did i say stocked up or hording?).
> 
> sadly last i spoke with the fella he didn't foresee anymore 10x24 rip blades coming down the pike, and apparently the dado sets are getting in low supply as well.





troyd1976 said:


> Firemedic, great to hear the onsrud blades will easily take 2 sharpening. As of now for the price I'm just buying new rather than getting any sharpened because the 10x50 is only a few dollars cheaper for me to sharpen than replace, though once i can no longer get new plan to start getting the ones Ive stocked up on sharpened. (did i say stocked up or hording?).
> 
> sadly last i spoke with the fella he didn't foresee anymore 10x24 rip blades coming down the pike, and apparently the dado sets are getting in low supply as well.


Yeah... I may have hoarded a couple too... As in a dozen of the 50T and an assortment of others

--------------------------------------------- one day I'll be so good that I won't need this forum any longer... then I'll know I have full onset Dementia! ~tom


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