Shopsmith Forums

They sell a combination blade and individual ripping/cross-cut blades. What is the better recommendation ?Thanks..Joe

I don't want to take the time to change blades for each different cut so I use a blade that does a decent job either way. Right now I'm using a 60 tooth blade for crosscutting/ripping and I'm satisfied.

I have all three of the table saw blades Shopsmith currently sells, and they are all excellent. If you don't want to change blades (or don't want to make the investment individual blades), go with the combination blade, as garys says.

I don't mind changing blades on the Shopsmith (as long as I have them on their own arbors) and subjectively think the individual ripping and cross-cut blades do a slightly better job than the combo.

I use 3 blades all mounted on their own arbors. A thin kerf 48 tooth combination blade (Forrest) I use about 90% of the time. A 1/8" kerf crosscut blade (Freud) with 80 teeth I used for plywood and laminates. And a 1/4" kerf 24 tooth blade (Infinity 8" flat top) I use for making joints, rabbits and dados.

For just general cutting a comb blade saves you the effort and time of changing blades and they do a good job. For a lot of people that is all they will ever need.

Keep in mind you need to spend some money on blades if you want good ones. Yes a cheap blade will cut and yes sometimes that is all you need but as you start to get more into woodworking you will want to improve upon your efforts and a better blade is a great starting place. A $50 or $60 blade is about as cheap as a decent blades sells for. Figure on more like $100 or more if you want the better blades.

Of course as you get more into woodworking you will want both cross cut and rip blades. You will also want a dado set, and a multi-material blade and so on and so forth. Best to get them when you get to the point you think you need them, well actually slightly before that point.....

Blades become a personal thing and those of us who have favorite brands defend them with passion. I personally like Infinity blades and since I started using theirs I haven't wanted to even try another manufactures blades. This can be a whole other discussion.

Ed

I started using 10 inch combo blades with the 5/8 arbor a while ago, since I don't usually cut much over 3/4in stock on the SS,,,, they work great and the saw doesn't Seem to bog down as much when I do cut thicker stuff ,.

JMO

I use a Shopsmith Combo blade for almost everything that I build these days. I mount a rip or crosscut blade only when working on items that I hope to be real proud of; items like furniture and book cases. I have one Forrest blade in the shop now. All the rest are Shopsmith.

Now it is important to say that when not working on something that is to be "fine" I am building with either pine or poplar. I buy rough cut poplar for all but the really small jobs.

I have some older blades that I use for plywood, pallets and the like. When I do work with MDF, I use the Shopsmith Combo.

I agree with everyone. I have the cross cut and rip blades but I rarely use them. A good combo blade is my standard blade. I keep a combo blade on my cross cut sled SS and it is a SS combo blade which does very well. I use a Freud combo blade on the table saw. At a certain level they are all pretty good. At $60 or greater the limiting factor is usually blade alignment and not the blade itself.
Paul

I have rip, crosscut and combination blades but I rarely use anything but a combination blade. I do sometimes use a plywood blade. I have a power feed Foley/Belsaw planer/molder/ripsaw/sander that I do use a rip blade on the ripsaw attachment. It is a simple HSS blade but I have ran a lot of wood through it and it works very well. It about has to work. I'm usually just ripping and not ripping and planing at the same time so the 10" rip blade gets the full 5 HP. That is a lot of HP to just drive one 10" blade. That unit is only used on long rip cuts.
I may mount a good rip blade on a 500 arbor "just in case".
I bought that planer with the ripsaw attachment to edge cut lumber off of the first sawmill I had but with a bandsaw mill it is usually easier to just edge rip on the mill.


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