| Review by knotscott | posted 1277 days ago | 1842 views | 2 times favorited | 7 comments |  |
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- Freud LU86R010 40 Tooth 10" ATB Thin Kerf General Purpose Saw Blade
- Brand: Freud | Category: Saw Blades
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This is a very good blade at a fair price (~ $42). Freud’s Industrial series (denoted by an “L” in the prefix) offers a step up from their entry level Diablo and former TK/Avanti series. The larger teeth are C4 micrograin carbide and are very sharp. They feature an alternating top bevel grind (ATB) and a fairly steep 15 degree hook angle that helps it rip reasonably well. The blade has anti-vibration slots and a Permashield coating.
I bought the LU86 as a back up to my Forrest 40T WWII TK some years ago. It cuts cleanly on a wide variety of cuts and materials, and rips well up to about 2” thick material. As expected from a general purpose blade, it’ll do a very good job of alot of cutting tasks, but does not cut as well in the extreme regions as a good dedicated blade will. The advantage is that it’s versatile enough to leave in the saw for about 90% of my applications. I find it crosscuts well enough for most of my needs…nearly as cleanly as my Forrest, and rips easily through most of the stock I cut. I found the LU86 cuts cleaner than my LU84 did, and cleaner than my Leitz 40T and 50T blades. Neither of these blades rips as aggressively as a good dedicated 24T TK ripping blade, so when ripping lots of material or very thick stock I switch to a rip blade. The thin kerf on the LU86 is an excellent choice for saw’s under 3hp.
If you’re looking for one good blade that doesn’t break the bank, the LU86 is a great choice in a general purpose thin kerf blade.
-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....
7 comments so far
Scott Bryan
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27262 posts in 1993 days
#1 posted 1277 days ago
Scott, thanks for the review.
-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine
SteveMI
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806 posts in 1465 days
#2 posted 1277 days ago
In November issue of Wood magazine they rated the best TS blades under $50. That blade was rated near the top. It was the thinnest kerf they tested.
Steve.
Jim Bertelson
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3337 posts in 1336 days
#3 posted 1276 days ago
Thanks Scott, will keep that one in mind. I have a Freud D1080X on my radial arm saw, a dedicated cross cut machine in my shop. The D1080X was bought without research, but looking at the reviews they all duplicate my experience of it being an extremely fine cutting blade.
I use a WWII on my table saw, and so far haven’t seen any reason to change it.
In general, my experience with Freud is very good so far.
-- Jim, Anchorage Alaska
USCJeff
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1041 posts in 2239 days
#4 posted 1275 days ago
Have used this one for a few years myself. It worked well on the table saw for most things. It doesn’t rip the difficult stuff as well as a blade designed to rip, but gets the job done. I ended up with mine in my miter saw and put a similar Freud combo blade in the table saw. Good review.
-- Jeff, South Carolina
lilredweldingrod
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2498 posts in 1278 days
#5 posted 1274 days ago
I just bought three of these at HD on sale for $29.00 each. I have an old one I saved to cut stuff that might have nails etc. My CMS had a Ridgid 12” that was junk. (cut the nicest arc you ever saw) I replaced it with a 65 tooth Freud and love them. I’m stuck on Freud!
lilredweldingrod
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2498 posts in 1278 days
#6 posted 1274 days ago
I just bought three of these at HD on sale for $29.00 each. I have an old one I saved to cut stuff that might have nails etc. My CMS had a Ridgid 12” that was junk. (cut the nicest arc you ever saw) I replaced it with a 65 tooth Freud and love them. I’m stuck on Freud!
knotscott
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4206 posts in 1547 days
#7 posted 1271 days ago
lilred – I think you may have grabbed 3 of the Freud Diablo 40T blades, as I don’t think HD carries the Freud Industrial series. Very similar blades, same brand, but different lines. If you did get the LU86 for $29 each, you did very well….I haven’t seen them that low in quite a while.
-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....
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