The combination steel blade pictured above is a hollow ground combination blade. As the attached description states, it is not recommended for general sizing cuts or general purpose use. I have one and found it OK for specific cuts, but it does have limited use. I seldom use it anymore since I got my carbide tooth blade.
The 60 tooth carbide tipped Craftsman blade should be a fine blade for learning ... perhaps a little finer cut with more teeth than necessary, but you have it and it should work fine.
My general purpose blade is Diablo 40 tooth carbide from HD.
Help Me Identify This Blade
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Re: Help Me Identify This Blade
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- blades 2.jpg (513.71 KiB) Viewed 2786 times
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- Diablo 40 tooth general purpose.jpg (209.59 KiB) Viewed 2786 times
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Re: Help Me Identify This Blade
These blades will work for you to learn the machine and get comfortable with the different setups. I chose which blade I want to use based on the project I want to make. Like Dusty, really good blades for fine work but otherwise, just about any blade will work. I picked up a set of two carbide tipped blades on sale for $10 last year at a big box store for a project using OSB that I did not want to use my good blades on. Cost me more to get the blades sharpened then to purchase new but worked really well for the project and I have used them since on general construction projects. FWIW, the cheap blades that I got had a better quality of cut after they were sharpened than new. What I took away from the experience was that cheap blades do not necessarily mean they can not be good blades not glue line quality for fine furniture but definitely good for most general use. There is less carbide in the tips so can not be sharpened as many times and after they are sharpened can produce a good quality cut. The biggest thing to consider when choosing which blade to use for a project would be cut quality and what you would accept as good. For this you need to actually try each blade in your machine then determine if cuts are acceptable for what you want to use it for. There is a big difference in what I accept as a good cut when making something out of plywood for the shop and making a table out of cherry or other hardwood also rough cutting to size versus cutting to final dimension.ehbowen wrote:I actually don't need help identifying these blades (I think!), but I'd like to hear more about recommended usages.
From the pictures in the Shopsmith manual, it appears that this first one is a 10" combination steel blade. It was mounted on the machine when I bought it and was in the best condition of any of the blades. Right now, due to some real-life expenses, it'll be difficult to get a Really Good Blade at the moment. So should this one be adequate for learning the machine and getting comfortable with the setups until I can get something of a better quality?
This is actually a brand-new blade; I bought it about a year and a half ago as part of a two-pack. The other (24-tooth) blade is on my Craftsman "flex drive" table saw right now. I have purchased a 5/8" arbor (but only one) for the Shopsmith. It claims to be a "fine finish" blade, although it's Big Blue Box Chineesium in origin. Would this be preferable to the plywood blade above (post #1) for hardboard, plywood, and similar sheet materials? Where is it best employed? (Please don't say dumpster!)
For What It's Worth, the carbide rip blade from post #4 and the plywood blade have both been sent in to be sharpened. I know what @jsburger said about sharpening steel blades but it was only twelve bucks, so.... The steel rip blade is now in the trash, along with a couple of 7-1/4" circular saw blades. All had heavy rust pits on their back side, so no great loss. If you were "tooling up" for some projects (cabinetry, etc.) around the house, what would you recommend purchasing to establish a good starter blade inventory?
Brenda
1998 510 upgraded to a 520, upgraded to power pro with double tilt and lift assist.
1998 bandsaw
2016 beltsander
jointer
overarm pin router
1998 510 upgraded to a 520, upgraded to power pro with double tilt and lift assist.
1998 bandsaw
2016 beltsander
jointer
overarm pin router
- dusty
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Re: Help Me Identify This Blade
Remember - cut quality and safety are both functions of BOTH the blade and alignment.
Trust me! Don't wait to get hit in the kisser with an "out-of-control" work piece to become convinced.
Trust me! Don't wait to get hit in the kisser with an "out-of-control" work piece to become convinced.
"Making Sawdust Safely"
Dusty
Sent from my Dell XPS using Firefox.
Dusty
Sent from my Dell XPS using Firefox.
Re: Help Me Identify This Blade
Carbide is what most people use now a days.