Comparison of #7 Blades in Thick Red Oak

[Sycamore67]

               Stoney recently posted a topic wondering if anyone had experience with the FD XL #7 blade.  I had cut a number of compound cut Christmas Ornaments and had noticed differences in how they cut.  I thought it might be useful to run a test comparing several blades.  The list of blades that were tested are shown below along with a close up picture of the blades. 

               I posted a similar comparison before and someone replied that cutting speed was not the most important criteria for a blade and that other characteristics such as how they turn and how long they last were much more important.  While it might be nice to try to compare other characteristics of the blades,  I found it would be difficult very time consuming to design and run a test for turning or wear.   I hope that the person who suggested this in another post will do a test and post results.  I am certain it would be very interesting and useful.

For this comparison, it was a simple test of cutting straight along the grain.  For the test----

1.      Quarter Sawn Red Oak 1-1/2” thick was used with the cutting direction along the grain.

2.      A spring loaded device was made to be able to keep similar pressure on the piece during cutting.  The spring provided a similar pressure as I typically use when cutting.

3.      The tests were done on a Hegner Scroll Saw with the speed set at maximum

4.      Each test consisted of seeing how far each blade could cut in 30 seconds.  Multiple tests were done with each blade and the results averaged. 

The blades tested were as follows –

And a picture shows the difference in the teeth.

 

But, the proof is in the cutting….

The PS Woods Super Sharp was the fastest cutting blade of the four.  The Pegas Modified Geometry and FD Polar were fairly close in how fast they cut and the FD XL was clearly the slowest. 

 

Of course this is not meant to say you should use one blade of another and these results may not be important to you.  They are a simple measure of how well these blade cut in thick, tough wood.  For me, based on this, I tried cutting compound ornaments with the PS Super Sharp and was very happy with the way it performed especially in oak or ash.  In poplar or softer woods, the differences may be small.

[kmmcrafts]

Cool and very interesting test.. I bought some polar blades years ago when trying to do some puzzles and someone recommended them to me.. I wasn't all that impressed with the performance over the Ultra Rev.. ones.. Now that I've used the Pegas they been my go to blade..like to try those super sharps.. but wow.. I'm afraid I'd like them too much and be stuck paying that premium price.. LOL  I am going to give them a try.. just to see.. I've heard good things about them.. and could be a money maker for those of us that sell and where time does matter.. 

 

[Dan]

Thanks for posting this. Did you notice if there was a difference on the underside where the reverse teeth cut? I'm always looking to improve and may have to give the PS Super Sharps a try. 

[Sycamore67]

In general, there was no tear out or splinters on the underside.  But when cutting with the grain, this is true with most blades.  With compound cutting, I don't have any splinter type problems because the project is in the inside of the wood block.

[Sam777]

Larry, thank you for taking the time to do this comparison.

This will many of us deciding which blade to use and when.

My go to blade has been the #3 Pegas mg from 1/4 to 3/4.

Thank you

Sam

[orangeman]

Ouch.

18 blades comes to $18.45 with shipping.

Over $1/blade.

They should be terrific at that price.

bb

[Dave Monk]

OMG those PS blades are expensive. I don't think I could justify the price to try them.

[OCtoolguy]

What's a bummer is that I just placed an order for a gross of the FD XL blades in different sizes. Now I find out they aren't any good? Oh well, lot's of practice blades I guess.

Ray

 

[Sycamore67]

I do not think that this says the FD XL blades,are bad. However, they just did not perform as well under these circumstances.  I think cutting 1-1/2" thick red oak is a pretty difficult task.  I think cutting other things and 3/4" thick wood will be just fine.  

[orangeman]

1 hour ago, octoolguy said:

What's a bummer is that I just placed an order for a gross of the FD XL blades in different sizes. Now I find out they aren't any good? Oh well, lot's of practice blades I guess.

Ray

 

Too bad Mike is not around. great guy!

I mis - ordered one time and he made it right!

And I have lots of FD blades gathering dust because I switched to Pegas Modified Geometry blades as my go to blades for 3/4" hardwoods.

But I still use the FD superior puzzle blades for 1/4" plywood!

bb

[fredfret]

I can't justify the price.  I know they are good/great blades, but I can get far less expensive blades that do the same thing just not for as long. 2 at .30 each is easier to justify for me. 

Fredfret 

[Sycamore67]

Quote

8 hours ago, fredfret said:

I can't justify the price.  I know they are good/great blades, but I can get far less expensive blades that do the same thing just not for as long. 2 at .30 each is easier to justify for me. 

 

I would be really happy to know of a blade that does the same thing for such a low price.  I am certain others would like to know.  Hopefully, fredfret will let us know the name of the blade and the source for these blades.

[fredfret]

NPegas mod geo, Fdur, Olson mach, all will make the same cut. It will take longer but the end result will be the same. I do not have a need for speed while I can adjust the aggressiveness of my saw (hawk) I have it set for minimum. If I need fast, aggressive cuts the bandsaw or the table saw get used. Sorry if I confused you.

fredfret

[Scrolling Steve]

Thanks for the info......good to know !

[WayneG]

seems the Pegas mod geometry would be the way to go as a compromise and a middle ground for economics and performance.

I use almost exclusively hardwoods and normally 1/2- 1 inch thick so this is informative 

 

thanks