Tool Review: Amana Ripping Saw Blade
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Tool Review: Amana Ripping Saw BladeWe have three table saws in our shop. One is a slider, used almost exclusively for cutting sheet goods; one is a cabinet saw set-up with a dado blade, and the last one is a 3HP Rockwell cabinet saw that we use for every other cut we need to make.

The Rockwell has been in the shop for over 25 years and it truly is a work horse. Every board that needs to be ripped is sent through that saw, so it is imperative that we have a decent selection of saw blades for the various types of cuts. Just like having a good selection of drills can make an installation go more quickly and smoothly, the same thing can be said for saw blades. Choose an aggressive ripping blade when cutting through thick hardwood, switch out to a glue line rip blade when running S2S door material, and use a fine tooth blade when cutting plywood or melamine.

Tool Review: Amana Ripping Saw BladeThat leads us to our latest tool review, the Amana RB1020 ripping blade with the brand new Electroblu coating. The 10″ model has 20 teeth, anti-vibration copper plugs, cooling slots and anti-kickback wings.

While using this blade, it did just what it was designed to do, which is to rip thick heavy boards with ease. While ripping two dining tables worth of 8/4 Alder and Red Oak, we were able to keep a normal feed rate through the saw without experiencing any bogging down or straining of the 3HP motor. We also ran 200 bf of S2S hickory through the saw, and it did very well, cutting a very hard wood with ease.

Remember, this is a ripping blade, not a glue-line rip blade. The cut edge will have to be jointed. But, in the case of thicker 8/4 material for a dining table, the edges will have to be jointed after ripping no matter the saw blade is used. With the S2S hickory we may have been able to use a glue-line rip blade and achieve a glue-ready cut edge, but the Amana RB1020 made feeding and cutting the hickory so much easier, that it was a worth-while trade-off.

On softer S2S material, like alder, cherry, or walnut, the cut is too rough to allow this blade to be a general use blade, but by adding it to your existing blade collection, you will have a perfect blade whenever you have to rip thicker material, or take more aggressive cuts.

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