Every woodworker needs three table saw blades. 

More links to help you► Video about blade tooth features: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0J1pRBiVKbI.html Video about specialty joinery blades: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PZXg5KA0P-Q.html Video about dado sets: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ex4UgxzaB0Q.html Video about setting blade height: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JL8-1bmt7XY.html Video about thin kerf vs. full kerf: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-s0UtOpRRaO4.html Video about aligning a table saw: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tNfvtStKkFA.html -Your table saw isn't the problem, you're using the wrong blade! The 3 blades I recommend► Ridge Carbide (Use coupon code SNWJ10): goo.gl/z8TP0k -40-tooth combo blade: ridgecarbidetool.com/saw-blades/ridge-super-blades/table-saw-blades/10-ts2000-super-blade.html -80-tooth crosscut/plywood blade: ridgecarbidetool.com/collections/miter-radial-saw-blades/products/10-x-80-ar-4-1-5-hk-087-115-rs1000-super-miter -24-tooth rip blade: ridgecarbidetool.com/saw-blades/ridge-super-blades/table-saw-blades/10-ts2000-full-kerf-rip-super-blade.html Specialty blades I recommend► Ridge Carbide (Use coupon code SNWJ10): goo.gl/z8TP0k -True flat-kerf joinery blade: ridgecarbidetool.com/saw-blades/ridge-super-blades/box-joint-finger-joint-blades/10-ts2000-box-joint.html -High quality dado set: ridgecarbidetool.com/dado-sets/8-dado-master.html -Miter saw blade (10-inch): ridgecarbidetool.com/collections/miter-radial-saw-blades/products/10-x-80-ar-4-1-5-hk-087-115-rs1000-super-miter -Miter saw blade (12-inch): ridgecarbidetool.com/saw-blades/ridge-super-blades/miter-radial-track-saw/12-rs1000-super-blade-80-tooth-5-8-arbor.html When you use this link to visit our sponsor, you support us► Ridge Carbide (Use coupon code SNWJ10): goo.gl/z8TP0k

i hope you know how much us garage shop woodworkers appreciate all the time you put in to teaching us to get better!! thanks man, another great lesson

So, how I’ll explain this to my wife is “Honey! James from Stumpy Nubs on RU-vid says I need 2 more table saws!!”

There’s no one on RU-vid who delivers information in a better more understandable way! Thank you!!

Hey stumpy, I was able to pick up a 1997 grizzly G 1023 table saw for 300 bucks. The motor was replaced in 2009 and it came with a Delta unifence I’m so excited and I think you’re the only other person who might care. I’m trying to find the old riving knife that bolted on the back of the saw, but I haven’t had luck. However, your video showing how to make an arriving knife came in handy. Thanks for all your videos. Keep up the great work.

A long story ending with an extra tip for fellow amateurs: Years ago I mentioned to a coworker that I was thinking of getting a table saw. He said he'd give me his father's old saw that had been willed to his brother but his brother was moving across the country and my coworker already had his own saw. So I took the saw, cleaned off layers and layers of sawdust and pitch and dust and grime and after I tried a simple cut on some plywood I went back to my coworker and complained that it smoked like a chimney. He blushed and nodded and admitted his brother had kind-of mentioned that but he had forgotten about it. A neighbor of mine had an expensive cabinetry shop in his garage so I asked if he could help me kerf my newly acquired ancient table saw because whenever I cut anything it seemed like a steam train had gone by and left behind all the pollution from its smokestack. He came by, ran a couple test cuts, agreed with me about the smoke, and then noticed, "Why are you mounting your blade backward? The teeth are supposed to face the other way!" I flipped the blade around, tried a few cuts, and then marked the table and the throat clearly so I'd never wonder which way the motor spins. I've never had a problem since! --RKL

Years ago I took a woodworking course at a local high school and got used to the high power cabinet saw. I was thinking of getting a new table saw since mine seemed under powered and burned a lot of cuts. Fortunately I remembered the teacher saying something about how often they got the various tools sharpened. I got my combination blade sharpened. All of a sudden my saw had more power and cut much better.

I'm sitting at the home depot watching this. Lol. Hate the thought of changing blades a bunch. I've had so much trouble. I have walnut oak and cherry slabs.

You’re so good James. Thank you.

Thanks for a much needed refresher course.

Once again, a clear and concise tutorial 👍🏼👍🏼

Great video and very helpful as usual! Glad to have found your channel, it's been a big help to my start into woodworking. Always looking forward to your newest videos.

Thanks for the great information James 👍👍!

Great explanation on blades, one of the most concise I have seen, thank you

REALLY well done - straightforward, concise, clear / balanced sound and images; an excellent intro to blades, thank you!

Thanks, as always your presentations are very smart and straightforward.

As always, excellent info in a great presentation.

Love your channel. I love that you provide so much information, concisely. You manage to put more information in a shorter amount of time than most of the videos I've come across. Thank you.

Loving/binge watching your videos. Thank you. It has been decades since I touched a table saw.

You have the best channel of this type on this site, by far. And I'm not easily pleased. Thanks for being yourself.

Thanks for the reminder video. I don't consider myself a beginner but reminders videos are great and necessary.

Great info, I was aware of the blade types, but not that level of detail, thanks!

Excellent! Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 👍

Super tutorial! I’m off to ordering new blades for my Ridgid table saw.

Thanks for sharing James.

I have blades from Ridge Carbide (thank you James), they’re top notch indeed.

Thanks so much for all these quality tutorials. I've been struggling for a while make rip cuts, and not knowing why. I'll put this new information to good use as soon as some blades arrive. Thanks again.

Good stuff, this is the best woodworking channel I've ever found.

Great tips and advice changed my blades with fantastic results. Also used your advice on sharpening my chisels have never been so sharp. Owe you a cold one you definitely deserve one. Thanks keep up the great videos

Thanks! Cleaning the blade improves performance, too. I think you had a video on that. Made me a believer.

Thank you for doing the breakdown at the end. Helps for those of us with learning disability.

As always, excellent advice, logically presented and guaranteed to improve the viewer’s woodworking experience. Thank you very much.

Very nice explanation!

Great info. Great video. Thank you for sharing.

I am fairly new to wood working, and I appreciate all the work, and info you have put together in your videos.

We're hooked on your videos. We learn a lot and appreciate the time you take to do these. We're taking a look at the Ridge bales. Will let you know what we think.

Just about to go shopping for a blade. Glad I found your information first! Thanks Stumpy 😃

Great information, saved to my ”table saw’ RU-vid folder.

There Is No One Blade to Cut It All...ah. So Combo, Fine tooth count and Rip blades would make sense. Always great tips from you, Stumpy!

Really good explanation!

Thank you. Well done.

This teaching made a big difference in my work. My medium-powered saw struggled in rips of hard wood, but with even an inexpensive home-center ripping blade I no longer have that struggle. Many thanks to Stumpy Nubs for such consistent and effective teaching.

I love the tips and advice you give. I am not a professional woodworker but consider myself pretty well rounded in most things such as carpentry, electrical, plumbing, mechanics, etc. So I have a good assortment of tools with the exception of shop tools. We recently bought a new home that had a shop built on the property. I was getting ready to build a 20x30 shop this one was 30x60. Looking forward to setting it up to put it to use. Thanks again and keep up the good work.

Very insightful. Thanks!

Love your tutorials!

Great content, as usual, James. Based upon a previous video from you, I bought a dedicated rip blade. Couldn't afford the RC, but was sorely tempted. I was amazed at the difference for ripping even 3/4 pine on my Delta Contractor saw. Just in terms of the reduced burn marks (and reduced need for sanding), it is worth the spend. I will definitely be investing in some upgraded blades, and it appears that RC is about the best bang for the buck for quality blades.

Although I am just a woodworking novice, I have been watching your channel now for about 2 months and was impressed with the manner in which you presented your material. As such, I am learning a great deal and have rated you as one of my favorite subscriptions; I will do whatever I can to support you. Thank you for all you do.

Ahhhh! A cup o' coffee and a morning James Hamilton video! Getting smart and motivated - you can pick which does which. Have you considered making a PDF which we can print out, laminate to hang in our shop, perhaps framed next to our autographed pic of Mustache Mike! It would be worth a contribution for your handy lessons on a printout.

Another good video, James. Some time ago, on your advice, I bought a 24 tooth rip blade to cut thick blanks for hardwood bench planes and guitar necks. This made a huge difference. It overwhelmed by dust collection gear, but what the heck..

You were right. That Ridge Carbide blade that you recommended makes a big difference on my underpowered contractor's table saw. Cuts wood like butter, smooth and clean. My miter saw will be the next to get one.

This one video explains so much! Thanks for clearly articulating why these things matter. I'm sure the makers of my saw envisioned it as being used on primarily on job sites to cut 2 X 4s. This explains why I have tearout on plywood crosscuts.

I ended up buying the ridge carbide straight tooth joint blade and man am I impressed with the smooth cut. The cut it made looks like it doesn't need sanding and is so smooth. I didn't realize it could produce those kind of results. Amazing blade. Thanks for the recommendation.

As usual, very informative video. With my 8-1/4 table saw I thought I was destined to purchasing the only blades available for a small saw Cheap, low quality blades. Was pleasantly surprised to see 8-1/4" blades available from Ridge Carbide. Thank you!!!

I love your videos. You do such a wonderful job in explaining things and the differences and why they are different. Seriously, the detail you go into is so appreciated. Keep up the excellent work you are putting out there.

I am happy you endorsed my own approach since years ago with Freud Industrial 50T combi, 80T plywood/MDF and 24T rip blades, full kerf. I am plenty glad with them for their performance and sturdiness. Recently I missed three (very hard and brittle) drywall screws in a recycling wood project and cut them with the combi blade. When I say some sparks coming from the cut I prepared my soul for the worst. I was extremely surprised as I couldn´t find any damage signal in the blade´s teeth even with a magnify glass. Either these blades are from other world or I am incredibly lucky.

Thanks stumpy awsome info your the best

Thank you for another thorough, easy to understand explanation . I recently changed my table saw blade to a fine 60 tooth and was wondering why I was having a harder time ripping through hardwoods as I assumed more teeth meant a better cut. Your channel has been my go to for all woodworking related questions. As a novice woodworker it’s nice to know quality advice is just a quick search away.

Heck, even having a blade that is clean and sharp can make a world of difference. Premium blades will stay sharper longer unless you abuse them. If you're buying cheap blades, think about how often you have to replace them and consider that when you are shopping around. Great advice here, I'll definitely be checking out those blades next time I need a refresh. Thanks for sharing!

1) Crosscut Blade 2) Rip Cut Blade 3) Fine Finish

Great advice, could not agree more. Now onto testing some brands... seen the difference in the cut quality.

Thanks for this video

Thank you, Stumpy!

As usual great info. I am not a fan of changing blades but I have experienced every last point you made and yeah those blades definitely solve the problems. Blade burns suck. I love my general proposes blades but nothing beats an 80t blade when you need it. 👍👍🍻

Very important information 👍👍👍

I’ve followed your advice and I bought a thin kerf combo blade from Ridge Carbide and it was the best thing that I could ever done. The quality and the ease cut was outstanding. I’ve been cutting 2in wide beech and my fairly underpowered table saw takes it like nothing. You’re absolutely right when you said that before to change the saw we must try a better saw blade. Thanks!!!!!!!

Hey Stumpy. Again great work. A suggested video (if you haven’t already) is teaching us about equipment speed. Wood lathe, drill press, various sanders, router’s free hand and table mounted etc…

Thank you!

Всегда очень полезные советы, спасибо!!!

I absolutely agree with this information. I have this set of blades and I don’t mind changing blades knowing that it will produce the quality of cut that I am wanting.

Thanks, i'll do so.👏👏👏

Thankyou for your presentation,I noticed the amount of views you had after watching,so I'll continue to comment all the same,you held my concentration due to the fact you spoke clearly, at a continual pitch & rate, your props were laid out well & by those alone were great, your confidence in what you were sharing was at a good instructional level, you are well suited to the classroom at this task,well-done. Ps I've got a load of blades not cutting well,I watched another guy telling us to remove pitch,tar,resin & then maybe re sharpen.

Excellent video

Very true. I would just add that I quite often find that even the cheapest tools (Harbor Freight specials) can be vastly improved with a better blade.

I am huge Stumpy fan. It was this channel that got me back into woodworking after a 30 year hiatus. The way you explain things is perfect and I have learned a lot. Since the first Stumpy video I watched i have had a burning question. How many hand planes do you actually have? Do you use the ones behind you are are they just part of your "collection"?

Thnx. Well explained

After watching this video since I was going to make an end grain cutting board from hard maple and walnut. I decided maybe my combo blade that came with my dewalt jobsite saw might not cut it. 😃 on the tips I need to do. I’m sure that old blade has hit a nail or two in the last few years of work. so I bought a full kerf Freud 24 tooth blade. I tested it on a small piece of 1-1/2” hard maple. HOLY COW!!! I thought I forgot to raise the blade and didn’t cut anything. But I cut a 1” deep cut in the maple it was incredible. And that blade looks like it wants to cut your arm off. Wow

For those of us with tiny saws, CMT Orange might help you. They fit and cut well on my Dewalt

A little patience and taking time to switch out the blades leads to overall productive and enjoyable time! Thanks for breaking down the details!

Cool video!

Great advice. When I started I was using the 40T blade that came with the saw and soon learned it wasn’t ideal so I bought a premium 60T blade. It was great on crosscuts but not on much else and didn’t last too long before sharpening. I soon learned by my mistakes and now use 3 blades and never buy premium cost blades, I buy premium quality and it’s one area in woodworking where you don’t need to spend top money. I use a 24T Freud Pro for rip cutting and general tear down, a 40T general blade for ripping down sheet materials and an 80T ATB tct blade for all fine work. Those 3 do everything I need. Cost of each is no more than £40 each. Freud Pro or Shark Blades are all I use now. They are as good as blades many more times expensive and last as long and have very low run out. One thing I’d add is it’s worth buying ptfe or other coated blades to slow down resin build up and burning and not to be tempted to thin kerf blades unless using cordless or low power (sub 1.5 hp) motors. Thin kerf blades have more deflection so you’ll always get more precise cuts using blades of 2.8 to 3.2mm kerf. I just take that into account when ordering and tearing down sheet materials.

Over 50 years, always had rip, combination, and cross cut blades. Kept them clean, polish with ptfe spray or equivalent. Take to saw sharpener when needed. Some still going for saws I rarely use now

Brand new Grizzly tablesaw with the supplied NEW blade would burn when ripping. Changed to an older used blade (not knowing a thing about different blades) cut beautifully. No burns. Thank you.

I've been a fan of you for a few years now. and really like all your videos. Great content with just the right amount of humor. Keep up the good work. And please be safe.

thank you

You are right; Ridge Carbide is a well kept secret. Until this video, I hadn't heard of them. A while back you compared Amana to SawStop and Freud in a shootout. Amana was the better one then. So maybe Ridge Carbide is comparable to Amana? For you to recommend these gives quite a lot of confidence. I've been a Freud and Forrest blade user so far but was looking at Amana blue blades and now these Ridge ones. Maybe time for a new shootout!😁 Thanks for another great video!!

Thanks for the info

I'm a fan of this channel 👍 NOT a day in day out wood worker/carpenter etc BUT over the years used to using power tools on a domestic home build project scenario. As you say the different types of blades can be an important factor in how good, bad or indifferent your cuts are but of course, BASED on the TYPE of WOOD / materials you are cutting. Understanding your ie WOOD types, varieties, grain and etc is equally as important as the blade. RESIN can be a serious problem or almost non existent for example. Outdoor or indoors use of the timber/materials? Treated or non treated timber, laminates? Metals? Plastics? The curse is of course swapping blades out as you mention.. BUT I totally agree with you on having at least THREE (and yes I do have the blades you mention in my drawer. ) for the timbers/materials I regularly use. The whole subject when you get into using a circular saw (as with other power tools such as a router, drills etc) can be a little overwhelming considering for some, you've just got over buying your base unit or hand held unit in the first place ! I always tell those who ask on buying units to check out the comprehensive guides on WHAT (yes the make should have an impact on what you buy, cheap or ??? makes can be a real costly mistake, though that applies to most of what you buy and not necessarily power tools!) I found with my hand held it had a standard blade hole but fastened with an allen key and oh boy it took a dammed wrestler / body builder to release the blade let alone re tighten the new blade etc BUT solved with a length of metal tube I now keep with it.. It's important that blade is TIGHT so the blade does spin properly!! OR it will SLIP!! As always thanks for the brilliant vids ... 👀👍Lastly don't get hot under the collar re overthinking this IF as I do, you only occasionally use ie a hand held circular saw etc Just pay attention to WHAT timber/material you are using and use a blade based on good, not so good cut wise asking yourself "Does it have to be a perfect cut as it will be visible OR needs to be accurate and good OR its just a rough cut for ie outdoor shed refurb ETC fencing / general. Pointless using a blade that delivers a smooth perfect cut for a piece of shed timber ? Furniture and similar however?!! Likewise of course - is it to save you TIME?!!! If you are cutting up ie a number of panels etc then yeah I use an circular saw rather than a hand saw.. ?!! The odd cut probably not.. 👀👍

I have a 10" 60 tooth fine finish blade on my miter saw and swap between a 10" 24 tooth ripping blade, a second 60 tooth blade, and a 180 tooth plywood/osb blade. All Craftsman. My circular saw has one of their smaller ripping blades as well. Great quality imo.

Spot on. Thanks.

My neighbor sharpens blades. He gave me a triple ground rip blade and few years later asked why I hadn't brought it back for sharpening. I didn't know how to tell it needed it, gave it to him, and when I got it back the skies opened up, a rainbow terminated on my table saw, and birds started singing whenever I turned it on. The difference was amazing, and now I swap blades all the time and they're always sharp. Such a huge difference in cut quality.

I don't have a large workshop space which I can dedicate to woodworking. Several years ago, I bought a DeWalt table-top portable table saw. The first thing I did was to buy a Diablo 60 tooth (fine finish) blade to replace the 24 tooth construction blade that came with the saw. Then I made a zero-clearance insert. Now my little table saw is one of the most valuable tools in my shop........

Good info. Thanks!

I use just two blades: an 80 tooth Diablo cross cut and a 24 tooth Diablo rip. I only use the rip blade when ripping large amounts of thick hardwoods. I use the cross cut for everything else.

Great Content

Darn, I thought I’d get some ideas for convincing the wife I needed more saws. 🤣 But, very nicely presented information. Gonna save this video for later reference. Thanks.

The trick that I use to eliminate tear out in my plywood cuts is to lower the blade until it will just barely score the piece. Run all pieces through at this height then raise the blade to make the complete cut. This completely eliminates tear out regardless of the blade that I have installed and doesn't take much more time.

I started with big box saw blades, got a deal on a good blade buying good blades ever since. Big box blades are for 2x4s etc. .

Somehow I have all three. I feel special.

I seem to have pretty good luck with Oldham blades, 80 tooth ATB for table & chop saw fine cuts. A 40 tooth ATBR combo medium cuts. For initial rips & rough crosscuts a Vermont American X2 laser (24 V shape teeth) is cheap, scalpel sharp & self scoring. I'll use blade stabilizers as needed to clean up the cuts. Hope that helps someone.

So what your saying is. 1. I need a bigger shop 2. I need 2 more table saws so I don’t have to change our blades.🙂