Sawblade Advice

[gjmcneil]

What saw blade do you use when cutting Black Walnut, Sapele, and Jabota (Brazilian Cherry)? Please provide brand/kerf/number of teeth. As ya'll know that stuff is hard and eats blades. I'm cutting 2 inch material with my table saw. Don't have a bandsaw yet. Thanks for any advice provided.

Gary

 

[KenOfCary]

I've not worked with Jatoba, but I rip cut some Sapele for a cabinet top with my standard LM72R010 Freud 24T Blade. The cuts were clean enough to glue up the top without further preparation.

I often use this blade to rip 2" Maple and have used it with Walnut as well. It rips the maple with no burning, unlike the multi-purpose blade that came with the saw. (A 3HP SawStop PCS.)

- Ken.

 

[Tarhead]

Like Ken, I use a 24 tooth for Ripping and an 80 tooth for crosscutting. They are both made by Leitz and 1/8" kerf. Glue ready rips, almost no tearout when crosscutting and sawing plywood. The key is a tight Zero Clearance insert and a very clean blade.

 

[eyekode]

If you have a 3+ HP tablesaw a 1/8th kerf is fine for all wood.

If your saw is lower power you may want to consider a thin kerf.

24 tooth is good for ripping. But I usually use a 40 tooth woodworker II for both rips and crosscuts. Only if I have tons of ripping will I switch.

But any way you do it use a sharp blade. It makes a big difference!

PS: I find walnut very easy on the machines. Not in the same league as jatoba.
Salem