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I actually purchased this blade for my 10" Delta Contractor's Saw and plan on setting up a sacrificial fence with all but about 1/32" of the blade buried in the fence. I haven't tried that yet but the blade certainly seems capable of making a very smooth cut. If the board you rip comes off the saw with a straight edge then it will be ready to glue. With a piece of thin laminate glued to the face of the fence on the out feed side I hope to be able to use this blade as a joiner. This blade is well worth the money. No jointing necessary. This blade won't do much to straighten a board with a bow in it but it will certainly be smooth enough to glue up.
Unfortunately this is not the case. I have since found that a number of other woodworkers have had similar problems with the glue-line rip blade which have been difficult to resolve. The quality and performance have always been excellent.
After carefully checking both for parallelism using a micrometer, I was still unable to obtain a satisfactory surface. I should note that the ripped surfaces glue up with a nearly seamless gap and it is only the finish quality on exposed surfaces which is a problem. Replacement with a Freud combination blade produced markedly better results and I will continue to use it in preference to the glue-line ripping blade.
I am a serious woodworker and have purchased a number of Freud circular saw blades over the years. I contacted the technical support folks at Freud and was told that the relief distance of the carbide teeth from the blade was kept small by design (about half that of their combination blades)and that the problem was probably the result of misalignment of the blade and/or fence which caused the interior of the blade to rub on the workpiece. If the latter is a priority, buy a good combination blade instead.
I recently purchased Freud's glue-line ripping blade (LM74R101)with the expectation that the ripped surfaces would be 'finish-smooth' and not require and additional touch up with the surface planer (a claim made by Freud). The surfaces have significant swirl marks and must carefully sanded or planed prior to finishing.
The biggest concern for me though is the "permashield". Bare metal was showing through in spots. First of all I'll admit I didn't read the fine print. I cleaned the blade with some CMT pitch cleaner and got a red towel when I wiped the product off. Doesn't sound too "perma" does it. This blade will only produce glue line rips in material up to 1". I tried it in 1 1/2" oak and got saw marks and yes, my Unisaw is well tuned.
You simply cut and glue.Warren This is an outstanding product, you do not need an edge planner prior to gluing your wood pieces together.
However, I don't do a lot of glue ups. Saving time and giving you and your customer superior results.
I suggest you buy at least 2 so you have one to swap when the other is being sharpened. Unless I am involved in framing, this blade stays on my table saw.
Advertised for glue ups without using a jointer. This is great for finish carpentry and trim work.
My oldest blade has been sharpened 3 times now (they stay sharp for a long time) with results just like new. Yes, it will do that.
What I like is the great looking rips I get in any type of lumber.
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