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I'm partial to my WWII, but I've heard that Delta makes a great blade. I tried searching for the specifics, but dang there has been so many discussions on this topic. You might try Pm'ing Bruce for his thoughts on this. He's the one that recommended the Delta blades. I got some Delta blades from Letz tooling that are very fine and around $20-30 but they are close-out sales so you are limited in your choice.
Dave
Dave
Wood Magainzine (I think, or Workbench, or... one of them) rated the Ridgid combo blade a "Best Buy" a while back. I've not been able to afford a WWII so I can't compare them directly but I can say it's an unbelievable blade for around $40. I highly recommend it if you're on a tight budget.
Travis
IMHO, Forrest blades are over- over rated and over priced. I have yet to see a production shop running Forrest blades. Probably the best bang for the buck is a Delta 7657 from Cripe Distributing. Costs $17, and delivered for about $28. If you want to borrow one to try out your new saw, let me know. I have a couple of spares. I run this blade on my saw most of the time. Also, when you are ready to upgrade your fence, let me know. Bruce
Freud Fusion, IMO better than the current WWII's. Available from Klingspors for $72 TK, $90 FK. 10% DQ discount also I beleive.
The quality of the cut is determined mostly by the quality of the blade so cheaping out will only cost you in the long run. That having been said, you must also keep the blade clean and SHARP!
IMHO, the Freud Fusion is the best blade for the dollar.
I bought the Rigid after seeing the reviews and figured I would give it a shot. So far I have had great results. I was cutting some cheap borg plywood scraps for some jigs on Friday. I noticed one of the sides had a lot of chip out from what ever blade I used last. (I think it may have been an old scrap from the cheap rigid blade that came with the saw when I got it two years ago.) Expecting some tear out on plywood I was surprised to see none. Even at the end of the cut. Don't see much difference between it and my Freud cross cut blade. Now if your going to rip some serious stock you will want to put on the rip blade.
Careful with the Avanti. Freud discontinued the line, and if you can still find one that Freud made then it's good.... but the Avanti's at Home Depot are reportedly made by some other company now and aren't nearly as good.
For smaller saws (~1.5HP), I've found thin kerf blades to work best. My favorite is the Freud LU88R010. It's 60T, but rips almost as well as it crosscuts, and leaves a great finish. Amazon has it on sale for $45 on a regular basis. For larger cabinet saws (3+HP), Delta blades are hard to beat in terms of value.
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