Freud Glue Line Blades

I don’t know about Freud’s blades. I’m sure they’re good but I purchased a cheaper Irwin finish blade and the only saw marks that it leaves is if I negligently move the board away from the fence a bit.

-- There are three types of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't!

I’ve seen the Irwin blades, but have not used them. I’m using the generic blade that came with my saw. I always wondered why when you pay so much money for a high level machine, they stick the crappiest blades and guages on it. I suppose it is to keep the costs down and make the saw appear more affordable.

What about the Forrest Blades (WW1 & WW2, I believe). They cost a ton. Do they make a big difference compared to a middle of the line blade? I saw a podcast from the Shopnote guys that say stabilizers really do nothing unless you have a thin kerf. Is this a founded opinion?

-- Jeff, South Carolina

I have a Freud glue line rip blade and it works great. It’s a little heaver & thicker than their standard rip blade, and costs a little more, but I’ve had good results with it ripping red oak & maple. If your doing a lot of panel glue ups I don’t think you could go wrong.

-- Neil, Mpls

I have not tried the Freud glue line blade.
I have a Freud “Diablo” rip blade (24 teeth) in my “rip saw.” I have a Freud 80 tooth blade in my chop saw. They cut a super smooth line with no saw marks unless I goof and change the feed rate. It is very important to match tooth number and type (ATB, FTG, TC) to the material. I believe you get what you pay for; if you are not doing production work for hire than a mid grade $40-80 blade should be fine.

Another important thing of all is to make sure that the blade and table are clean and waxed, and that the blade and fence are perfectly parallel with the miter slot and use a consistent feed rate.

-- John

I have the Forrest WW2 blade. It cuts like a dream. For me I always see some wood movement when I’m ripping, especially longer board. I always end up jointing the edge if I’m gluing up. If you can get a prefect straight cut, then this blade will give you a glue line cut.

I bought the 40 tooth WW2 and it cost $95 at www.coastaltool.com. The other nice thing about it, it’s nicely balanced. My saw sounded different after I put it on. Less vibration and quieter. I’ll be buying Forrest blades from now on.

-- http://theinquisitivewoodworker.com/

According to the latest copy of Woodsmith, Vol. 29/No. 170, page 9, ”’Do glue line rip blades leave an edge ready for glue up’ I say ‘Yes.’ And the time you’ll save ripping lumber makes the blade a worthwhile choice.” The article covers teh glue line blade well enough for oyu to make an informed choice.

Woodsmith (www.woodsmith.com) is one of my favorite publications. it has NO advertising, and deals purely with the art of woodworking. The Freud Glue Line blade is a little costly, but the time saved by skipping the jointing step may well prove worth the extra cost.
Another thing to consider is, if you are cutting a LOT of wood, a higher-quality blade will pay for itself in lower strain on your saw as well as a quicker feed rate. And, Forrest blades, while seemingly costly, offer a lifetime resharpenning service which is very nice!

As for me, I don’t do enough high-level glue ups to justify the cost, so I will stick to my quality Oldham 40-tooth to get my dimensioning done, and a 60 or 80 tooth blade for when I need that fine cut on veneers or melamine.

I hope that helps.

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

I’m just getting into woodworking, so my shop is a little sparse right now. I’ve been trying to find ways to keep this hobby within my budget. Perhaps I should buy a good glue line rip blade instead of shelling out the cash for a jointer. I’ll take a look at that woodsmith article. I know my wife would prefer I spend $75 on a good blade instead of $400 on a jointer. The blade takes up a lot less room as well.

-- Joshua, Olathe, Kansas

You don’t want to pass on that jointer so quickly – if you have the money to buy one. If your wife is like most of our wives, once you tell them you don’t need something it’s tough to convince them that you do at a later time :-)). The glue line rip blade may or may not work well enough to skip the jointer. I have the WWII blade, with a stablizer on it and I still find the need to joint before gluing up panels. You will still need a jointer to flatten the surface of a board.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Joshua, I would also not throw away the jointer so fast. I don’t have one. I have a fence for my TS that had the blade partially embedded and a space behind to joint edges. Remember that TS blades only raise a couple inches off the table. It’s great for edges, but would require a very small face. A jointer is my next purchase. I almost bought a Delta benchtop jointer from Lowes for about $200. After listening to Marc and Matt’s WWOnline podcast (#2, I think), I am going to wait and get the 8”.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

I have a Freud glue line and a WW2. They are both fine blades. I did not use my jointer much after aquiring the Freud.
I use the WW2 90% of the time.
One thing I will mention, keeping your blade and teeth clean make all the difference. I don’t remember where I read it, but a good qualitiy carbide blade (C4) will cut about 7500LF before it needs to be resharpened. That is if it’s kept clean. I have found that to be pretty much the case. I’ve had the WW2 for about 4 years. No resharpen yet, still cuts like new. Just thought I would add those thoughts.

-- Jimmy

I have the freud glue line rip blade. It is fabulous. I also have some of the “Avanti” blades and they also are good. I think the freud’s are money well spent.

Ryan

-- Ryan Corrigan Sadieville, KY http://www.CelticCrossWood.com

Jeff, Good news!
Amazon now offers the freud Glue line blade for only 39.99, delivered! It is the silver colored “indudtrial” blade, not the red one. You have to enter a special code at the payment window. I think it is “20OFFMAY.” It is on the product page. You can pay the $20.00 more for the red one if you want, but at 40 dollars, I decided to give the silver one a try.

I checked all the comments and ratings at Amazon, and they all seemed to really like this blade!
I hope this helps.
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

I’m in the same boat as those with both the WW2 and the Freud. Love them both for the reasons I got them. The WW2 does the lion’s share of the work and I switch to the Freud when ripping long boards or don’t want to worry with jointing (cuz I don’t need to with that blade). Sometimes I will also use the combo blade that came with my saw to do ‘rough’ just to save some of the wear and tear. Not necessary too often though. I have to agree with Wooder that clean blades make the difference and will go longer without being sharpened…

Interesting side note about the WW2 I picked up when I bought mine. The guy at the store told me (after I had already purchased it) that even though they are super sharp he knows people who have just immediately sent them to Forrest and had the new blades sharpened. Their process is proprietary and so well refined after all these years that they can get a new blade even sharper. I did not do this but thought it was an interesting claim/story.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN