Craftsmanship in Wood

Any favorites? Currently I need a spare blade for my Kapex, 260mm seems to eliminate Leitz which starts at 300mm and I don’t know if Kanefusa’s offerers one. I’m leaning toward Tenryu’s main line 80T.

I’ve gotten mixed reviews wrt Forrest blades, not in that they’re not good but in that they’re more/less similar to all other industrial type brands. At $65 more than Tenryu I’m curious as to what they’re doing if anything.

I’m curious as to who makes Festool’s house brand blades, as the 60T is ok but hasn’t really amazed me in terms of how neat the saw cut and of course it chips out the backside and bottom side very lightly (but still chips mildly). I probably should not judge the brand on the 60T which is a combination blade but I’ve really not been amazed by any of their blades on any of my saws.

My research tells me that Festool blades are made by Leitz.

Yes, the blades, the blades - - the blades

I've been using the Festool Kapex 80T blades and nothing else. They perform decently - -my impression is similar to yours - maybe you could try the 80T first to see if it is a sufficient improvement over the 60T.

"I’ve gotten mixed reviews wrt Forrest blades, not in that they’re not good but in that they’re more/less similar to all other industrial type brands. "

That's been my impression too. And to list another brand, I'm not terribly impressed by Guhdo's product so far either.

I imagine Kanefusa offers something that would work, and I would tend to think, from all I've heard from other woodworkers, that you couldn't go wrong with Kanefusa. You just have to wait 6 weeks or so.

That’s actually what spurred on this logic, I thought to order the 80T but then decided it was time to look around. It’s on the expensive side for a 10”~ blade and if the performance were really outstanding I would buy it. I wonder if it is truly representative of a Leitz product.

I will contact Kanefusa today and see if they make something that fits the bill.

The Tenryu miter pro seems promising.

Kanefusa said they can make them for me, they took my email address and did not actually send me the information promised.

In any case, 12 week’s custom made from Kanefusa, I decided to try Tenryu’s miter pro 80T. It’s part of their industrial line.

After I receive this I will send the Festool blade out for sharpening, when brand new it was something I could live with, currently it deflects mildly in the cut making for non-square cuts.

Part of this excercise is to help my mitered art frames to be slightly cleaner off the saw. Currently they are ok but make for a thick appearing glue line in white woods.

Brian wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:25 pm

Part of this excercise is to help my mitered art frames to be slightly cleaner off the saw.

Do you do any post-work on the miter after the saw cut, or is this intended as a saw-to-glueup workflow?

If they need it I can trim them with a shooting board. I just hate doing so, a shooting board doesn’t necessarily trim a thin miter in hard wood accurately. It tends to make a cut that has a whip to it. I’ve been aiming for ‘off the saw’ perfect.

They are pretty much there, less the smoother finish needed for a thin glue line.

They actually disappear until I cut chamfers which reveal the thicker glue line.

These are 'simple' frames, but I tend to make them a hair more complicated then the industry typical with detail and structure. I chamfer the inside and outside of the corners so I make these so that their is very little room for error. The half-lapped support frame is rabbeted about the outside edge, and the slats which make the perimeter frame are grooved to receive the support frame. The rabbet is made to an exact fit so that it self-jigs the perimeter slats which then self align.

This is how they present on the front:



The sides are perfect until they're chamfered, then they show a thicker glue line. I never get a complaint about this, it's more of a self-complaint in that I would like them to mate exactly so that the glue line is thinner.

I think, ultimately if 'off the saw' is what you are looking for, then your solution is a sliding table saw, with smaller-size blade and hefty plate stiffener. One of those Kyowa 'Petty Work' saws would also be ideal for the task, and suit a smaller shop space nicely.

Nicely illustrated, Brian, thanks. Relative to a shooting board, perhaps a miter jack would reduce or eliminate the whip in the cut? (Obviously, all moot if you can obtain near-as-perfection off the saw.)