Saw Blade Choice Help

David Agnew

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Good morning. I hope y'all can help me with some suggestions.

I have a Ridgid 3650, 1.5 hp contractor saw. I've got two blades, a Ridgid R1060c (60 tooth, ATB, thin kerf) which is a little dull and a Freud LU87 (24 tooth, Flat grind, thin kerf) which is almost brand new.

I'm going to build a simple make-up table for my kid using BORG white melamine shelving, exactly like this Lumberjocks project: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/33646

I realize an LU96r (80 tooth, TCG, thin kerf) is the correct tool for the job, but a new saw blade is not in the budget.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have enough waste material to make practice cuts. Which of my two blades would y'all recommend? Any tips or tricks for cutting melamine?

Thanks.
 
david more teeth is better for melamine, the frued 24 tooth blade sounds to me like a good rip blade i use 30tooth for ripping, as for the ridgid 60 tooth goes dont use them so can justly rate it, but you can got the frued diablo series for a reasonable price. and a bad blade isnt worth spoiling a project..ask for a junk piece of melamine to practice on they must have a broke piece some where.

David read this first before cutting:) LINK
 
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Depending on your definition of "a little dull", the 60-tooth Ridgid blade may be fine as-is. I've found the pre-made melamine shelf material is pretty easy stuff to cut. You might be able to get a smaller piece of the melamine shelving (like a 2' shelf) to try the cuts on if you think it'd help.

That said, from the looks of the desk plan, it appears all the the cut surfaces will be somewhat hidden in the joinery. A minor amount of chipping of the melamine will likely never be seen.
 
Get it sharpened if you can, but use the Ridgid and make sure you cut with the good side up to minimize chipping. If a perfect edge is required, you could always cut it a bit over-size and finish it off by taking a final cut with a router.
 
Melamine can be chippy. An old trick I learned was to tape the cut line (masking tape is fine), draw your line, and cut. So the blade is cutting on the tape. Just .29 cents worth.
 
Thank you for all the suggestions.

Turning lemons into lemonade - it turns out the 8' material, even though it's labeled as "Edge Banded on 3 sides for durability!" is only banded on the front. Therefore, I've got 4" of waste I can play with before having to make a good cut.

I'll attempt manually scoring it w/ a utility knife, then tape over it. See how it goes w/ the ATB blade.
 
Of those two, the ATB blade is definitely preferred. If it's not sharp enough, and you need to keep the price down, keep in mind the blade need not be 10". A 60 tooth 7 1/4" Diablo D0760X is about $20 at Amazon, and would be useful for cutting sheet goods either in the tablesaw now, or with a circular saw and guide after you have your tablesaw blade sharpened.
 
Budgets were meant to be busted, right?

I couldn't get any good results on my test cuts. Not horrible, but tiny chips, every 5"-6". I think every time I paused pushing the work through, it chipped. It's white melamine and will be mating at a 90* angle to same... no matter how small, those chips are gonna show unless I caulk the finished piece, which I'm not going to do.

So, $70 later, the aforementioned "right tool for the job" a Freud LU96r made perfect cuts. Perfect.

Kreg holes are drilled, I'll be assembling in situ. I've got a little electrical and painting to do then this baby will be done.

Lesson learned... again. :rolleyes: Use the right tool for the job.
 
Budgets were meant to be busted, right?

Well done David. It rarely makes much sense to spoil $40 worth of material and waste an entire afternoon trying to save $70 on something you will benefit from over many projects beyond the current one. The old saying "right tool for the job" comes back to haunt us all now and again as we enjoy our woodworking.
 
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