25 - Special Table Saw Issue, страница 27
SELECTING TOOLS to excel at one. I can live with a few ridges. I'd just rip the board a hair wider and run the edge across a jointer. • Anti-Kickback. A shoulder behind each set of teeth on the Freud and CMT blades helps limit kickback. wouldn't count on it if the fence isn't adjusted right and the work-piece gets pinched between it and the blade. Rip. Most blades left ridges on the edge when ripping (bottom) that need to be jointed smooth (top). [35 And what about the slots cut in the body of the CMT blade? Ken: They're supposed to absorb vibration and make the blade run quieter. (See photo at left.) And if you go by the "thunk" you hear when you flick the blade with your finger, it should work. To find out, I borrowed a meter that's used to measure sound. What I found is the CMT was two decibels quieter than the other blades when ripping IV2"-thick maple. But at 99 decibels, it's still too loud to cut without healing protectors. Noise Reduction. Slots in the CMT blade are filled with a special material that reduces noise. O One thing I'm curious about is the different "look" of the Freud and CMT blades. What gives? Steve: You mean the tall shoulder that sits behind each set of teeth? (See left-hand photo below.) It limits kickback by making the blade take a smaller "bite." That's a nice safety feature if you get kickback caused by feeding the workpieee too fast. But I Crosscut. When crosscutting, the Delta blade left sawmarks (left) while the Forrest polished the end (right). Recommendations Ken: To be honest, I'd be satisfied with any of these saw blades. But I picked the SystiMatic as the best. Whether crosscutting or ripping, it gave me a slightly cleaner cut than any other blade except the Forrest. Yet it costs half as much. A second choice? Probably the Freud. It's a good quality blade for a little less money. Steve: Eliminating three blades is easy. The Forrest is too expensive. And the Delta and DeWalt don't give me as smooth a cut as I want. Then things get tough. I can make a perfectly good joint with either the CMT, Sears, or Oldham. But the SystiMatic and Freucl have a slight "edge" in price and quality, so I chose them instead. Cary: The way I look at it, buying a saw blade isn't all that different than any other tool. Quality means more to me than price. So I picked the Forrest blade because of its quality of cut. Polished ends when crosscutting. And when ripping, it leaves edges smooth enough to glue up. That's nice since I don't have a jointer. fL Quality of cut Excellent Good Average Delta DeWalt Freucl No. 25 ShopNotes 27 |
