Well, I pulled the trigger on that Triton 10" sliding mitre saw and it showed up today. As expected the OEM blade isn't exactly top-of-the-line, although it is better than I thought it would be. Shopping for a good blade for trim and light cabinet work, will save the Triton blade for construction type projects. I have a Freud fusion in the table and I'm pretty happy with it but it's a little to agressive for a slider, and, I don't want to change blades every time I change saws. I've been using the Freud Avanti TK406 - 60 tooth fine finish blade in the mitre and it leaves some tearout unless you slow the feed down a lot. Otherwise, not a bad blade.
Right now I'm leaning toward the Freud LU79R series, specs in the link below.

http://www.freudtools.com/p-16-thin...amine.aspx

Any suggestions, opinions?

You've identified a minor problem with your slider - tearout if you don't slow it down.  If you are using this saw for trim and finish work, you'll just have to cut slowly.  Remember, you want nice sharp cuts, not fast cuts, when cutting trim.  Get a good 60 tooth or better blade and follow the saw's warnings.

For a Radial saw or Miter saw I always use a blade with a negative hook angle.  This blade allows you to pull through a cut faster without the grab of a positive hook blade. Freud LU 91 has a 5degree negative hook.

I switched to Freud years ago. And I agree with slowing down when cutting.

If you have wood that splinters easily, a wrap of painters tape help, just be careful when removing the tape - pull toward the cut, not FROM the cut.

Posted By Woodworks on 09-03-2010 07:58 AM
For a Radial saw or Miter saw I always use a blade with a negative hook angle.  This blade allows you to pull through a cut faster without the grab of a positive hook blade. Freud LU 91 has a 5degree negative hook.

Hi works - Thanks for the input. Those are exactly my concerns. The Fusion has an 18* hook and it does like to throw things.  If it has any shot at a kickback, it'll throw a board 20 ft and I wasn't about to put that thing where it has a shot at coming at me.
The Freud cut quality charts have been pretty good, IMHO, and I was going through them looking for a neg hook with the highest cut quality on crosscut, plywood, melamine and laminate. Closest I could get was the LU79 with only 2* positive hook. From the looks of the quality chart, the LU91 gives up laminate and plywood cut quality. Here are snips of the two charts






Bubba, Good tip on the tape, Thanks

Around a month ago I caught a sale on DeWalt 12" combo pack with a 80T and a 24T for less than $80. I installed the 80T and it cuts great on my 12" Slider. I've cut soft wood and hardwood both with no tear out. I do slow down near the finish cut on any board. I've not used the 24T yet but I'm sure it will do me just fine.
I do wish I had bought the dual 80T just for the 12" saw and buy the 24T blades for my 10" miter saw that is used mostly for construction type work and the 12" slider is used mostly for trim.

Posted By Oldman on 09-03-2010 10:10 AM
Around a month ago I caught a sale on DeWalt 12" combo pack with a 80T and a 24T for less than $80. I installed the 80T and it cuts great on my 12" Slider. I've cut soft wood and hardwood both with no tear out. I do slow down near the finish cut on any board. I've not used the 24T yet but I'm sure it will do me just fine.
I do wish I had bought the dual 80T just for the 12" saw and buy the 24T blades for my 10" miter saw that is used mostly for construction type work and the 12" slider is used mostly for trim.

Hi OM - I caught a similar sale on the deWalt 10" version. I use those blades for construction type projects and they do cut very well. Had something of an unnerving experience with a radial arm saw a few years ago when working at the furniture factory. The first time I used their radial arm saw, as soon as the blade hit the wood it climb right through the board and my thumb was 3-4" from the cut line. My hand was in a safe enough spot for a controlled cut but the unexpected jump from the saw got my attention big time. Now I pay very close attention to blade specs, especially in applications where the blade isn't fixed.

Oldman, Will the store you got the blades from exchange the 12 for a 10?

I've found excellent $$ prices on Freud saw blades at both Amazon.com and Peachtree Woodworking Products web sites:

Amazon.com Freud parts available:  (several pgs)
(Reading reviews for each blade type gives insight to usage and applications experience.)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_h...tbin=Freud


Peachtree Woodworking - Freud Products List:

http://www.ptreeusa.com/freud_saw_b...e_list.htm

Posted By Slug-Gunner on 09-03-2010 01:45 PM
I've found excellent $$ prices on Freud saw blades at both Amazon.com and Peachtree Woodworking Products web sites:

Amazon.com Freud parts available:  (several pgs)
(Reading reviews for each blade type gives insight to usage and applications experience.)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_h...tbin=Freud


Peachtree Woodworking - Freud Products List:

http://www.ptreeusa.com/freud_saw_b...e_list.htm

Good Price at Amazon Slug - Thanks for the heads up

John,
What do you think of the specs on the following:  (Amazon.com  Pg 6, 2nd row)

http://www.amazon.com/Freud-LU96R01...6&sr=1-126

Freud LU96R010 10-Inch 80 Tooth TCG Thin Kerf Laminate Cutting Saw Blade with 5/8-Inch Arbor and PermaShield Coating

About the TCG Laminate Cutting Saw Blade
This 10-inch, 80-tooth thin kerf laminate blade from Freud gives you ultra long life and excellent finish on both the top and bottom of laminates, melamines, and plywoods. This blade is specially formulated with thick, MicroGrain carbide teeth -- so it's great for underpowered benchtop saws or contractor saws that need full kerf stability. The triple Chip Grind-Tooth design has a negative hook angle for superior life in abrasive manmade materials, and the Perma-Shield permanent non-stick coating prevents heat build-up, gumming, and corrosion for long life. This blade's laser-cut body has anti-vibration and expansion slots to keep it running straight and true.

Applications
he LU96R is a thin kerf blade that is designed to give long life and excellent finish on the top and bottom of laminates, melamine and veneered plywood -- with no scoring blades needed.

Hi Slug - Depends on what you want to use it for and what machine you are planning on using. Looks to me like that one has been optimized for melamine and laminates. Particle board is the normal substrate hence the extremely hard carbide (which is likely pretty brittle as well). 3* negative hook would make it a good one for a Radial Arm or slide mitre but look at the quality rating on wood rips, wood crosscut and plywood. I assume by chipboard they are talking about OSB. I don't get all that concerned about cut quality on that stuff. I've noticed that TCG blades are generally higher rated for particle board applications, melamine and laminate. I suspect that is because the tooth profile doesn't rake the sides of the cut the way the ATB and HiATB's do.
For my purposes, I'm still thinking the LU79 is the best option. I don't do a lot with laminates and when I do it usually sees the router before it leaves the shop anyway. I was reading some posts on one of the woodworking forums, Lumberjocks maybe(?) and the consensus seems to be anywhere between +5 and -5 is a decent hook for sliding mitres or RAS.
Thanks for the input. I like the LU79 for $57 and free shipping.