# What's the best resaw blade for the table saw



## americancanuck (Apr 4, 2011)

I do a lot of resawing on my table saw. I curently use a full kerf 40 tooth blade. I am not sure this is the best blade to use. would a thin kerf blade be any advantage? Any thoughts on this question would be greatly appreciated


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## tenontim (Feb 24, 2008)

Thin kerf would save you some wood. Also, less teeth in the blade would be better for a cut with less burning. Forrest has just come out with a 20 tooth, thin kerf (or regular kerf) blade that would work well for resawing.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

I work with all resawn wood and I use a "Woodslicer" blade to resaw with. Very sharp but does dull over time and use.


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

I'm guessing that your 40 tooth blade is a combination blade.

When you resaw you are ripping. I did a project recently (Tinker Toys made with oak) that required a lot of ripping. I find that a true rip blade is faster than a combination blade. My ripping blade has 24 teeth.

Also, I use thin kerf, but I add a stabilizer to minimize wobble. The problem for you may be that the stabilizer reduces your depth of cut.


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## JonathanG (Jan 18, 2010)

There are certainly pros and cons to going with a thinner kerf blade, as mentioned above. Whether you go to a thinner blade, or not, the lower TPI count would definitely help, since you're ripping the wood when resawing, as Rich also pointed out. At a minimum, I'd go with a lower tooth count per inch on the blade, probably somewhere in the 20s. This should be especially noticeable on the speed at which the blade will cut, since you're likely resawing thicker/taller pieces and trying to cut through more wood at once than if you were simply ripping something thinner like 4/4 stock.


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## JonathanG (Jan 18, 2010)

Just took a quick look at your workshop. A thinner kerf blade will be especially helpful if you are still using your Ryobi table saw that's in the picture, since it doesn't have loads of power to start with.


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## StumpyNubs (Sep 25, 2010)

Thin kerf, few teeth. For an affordable option, try one of the red Freud Diablo blades. They run about $30 and are the best mid-range blade, in my opinion. Another option is one of the Trend blades at woodcraft, great value for the price.

Of course you can't go wrong with a Forest blade if you have the cash!

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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

I usually use a thin kerf 24T ripper. Less burning, less resistance to the saw, less wood consumption. You're going to need to dress the surface with a planer, jointer, or handplane regardless of which blade you use, so there's not much advantage trying to use a blade that leaves a smoother surface.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

I use the Tenryu #RS-25524-U and have absolutely no complaints. 
Ultra thin (.079"), yet does not require stabilizers. 
Excellent carbide, great cuts and not as expensive as some others. I buy mine from a sharpener guy. I don't think his markup is as high as HD or Lowes.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

I love my Freud 24T for ripping and it actually does a GOOD job on hardwood (1320 Ash in my case) in crosscuts when using a sled. I am occasionally using a 50T Combo blade, but it burns quickly on my 8/4 cuts.

FWIW, I use ONLY full kerf blades since they match my riving knife and I have the 3HP TS to do so.


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## JonathanG (Jan 18, 2010)

Mike, I'm in the same boat as you as far as going full kerf blade width to work with my riving knife.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

The re-sawing I have done lately, well, a $$$ blade would be a waste. I went out and bought a cheap Skil rip (24 tooth) rip blade. About $14, out the door. Lasted about four months, I think. When one does re-claim timbers, one can expect the random cut nail to show up..























I use a full kerf, no riving knife, and an old "frankensaw" to cut things down to size. "Frankie' is pictured in my Woodshop pictures..


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

For "dangerous" work, I use a cheap Dewalt combo package. The TS gets one; the RAS the other. They're no Forrest but are a pretty good value.


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## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

I just picked up two 24t master mechanic carbide tipped blade from black and decker that seem to do a really decent job.


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## Numberjack (Oct 25, 2015)

Just to revive this thread, do you have any update on your favourite saw for resawing?


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

I just started resawing on my old band saw using that Highland woodworking woodslicer blade. Wow! That was money well spent!


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

Just today I decided to try to re-saw some 1"x6" eastern red cedar using my table saw instead of my band saw. I made an extension for the fence and re-sawed 26' of this cedar. Worked very well for me and a little quicker than re-sawing using my bandsaw. I keep a 24 teeth,10" Diablo, thin kerf, blade in my 1 3/4 HP ridged table saw and it did a fine job with this. A light pass through my planer after the cut and good to go.


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