I really enjoy face offs, especially in the world of woodworking :) Here’s a face off that showed up in WoodNet in which a member asked the following question: “Freud Fusion vs WWII? Prices about the same – Amazon 20% off each, $50 in Amazon bucks burning a hole in my pocket – What should I do?”
I waded out onto the battle field and counted up the “votes” for each blade… Note that a Freud representative actually joined the fray, though only to answer questions about his blades not to bash Forrest ;)
34 responses later (most comments were not actual votes) I tallied the following:
Forrest WWII: 6
Freud Fusion: 4
I would call this far from conclusive, but if you’re considering dropping upwards of 60-75 on a table saw blade you should definitely read through the post. It’s going to give you an idea of how you can best spend your money.
Check out: Freud Fusion vs WWII? in the WoodNet forum
For some balance I’d also suggest you read Saw Blades from TheWoodshop.20m.com. In it the author states (for those WWII fanatics out there ;):
“The primary advantage of the Forrest blade is in its sharpening. Most sharpening services do their final grind/hone at 400 grit. For cabinet making, you really want your blade sharpened and honed to 600 grit. Several sharpening services (Forrest and Ridge to name two) sharpen/hone to 600 grit. As a test, I sent my Systematic blade to Forrest for sharpening and it cut as well as the WWII.”
I’ve got a Forrest WWII which is on my Saw Stop TS. Cuts are wonderful, but one issue came up while visiting my local Woodcraft. It was brought to my attention that the WWII is shy of a full 10″. So much that the riving knife is slightly proud of the top of the blade. I sent a message to Forrest to see if they would do something to rectify this but no response. Maybe you can get them to respond to you and then relay info to us regular guys. Thanks and keep up the great podcasts.
i have used forrest sawblades for 20 years now and try many other including freuds. in my opinion forrest is the top saw blades out there, if you have a change go see the guys demo the forrest blades at thewoodworkingshows.com and you will see why forrest is the best out there. they really stand behind there blade. trust me on this, guys go look, it took me 2 years to buy one , but when i did oh wow wow, i will never go back to the dark side again. LOL
Even though the Freud Fusion and WWII are both considered 40T general purpose blades, they’re very different from each other. Which is better is really best determined by what you’ll be doing. The Fusion has a 40T “Hi-ATB” grind (30° bevel) with a double side grind. The WWII has a 40T “ATB” grind (15° bevel) and a single side grind. The Hi-ATB grind slices more cleanly across fibers than the standard ATB, and hence offers cleaner crosscuts and better sheetgood performance, while the standard ATB grind offers more efficient ripping in thicker materials. Both have low side clearances, but the dual side grind puts more carbide to the edge of the cut leaving a more polished look. A glassy edge is often desirable, but is not without potential downsides….if the feedrate is too slow, the “burnished” edge becomes a “burned” edge more easily, so is not necessarily the best choice for thicker ripping. Also, the sharp tips of a Hi-ATB are a bit more prone to abrasion than the standard ATB, so may dull a little faster. Both are great blades and have their place. The Infinity Super General (010-044) is the only other blade I know of that has similar geometry to the Fusion. The WWII is more similar to the Ridge Carbide TS2000, Infinity General (010-040), Tenryu Gold Medal, or DeWalt/Delta 7657. Note that the WWII is available in both 1/8″ standard kerf and 3/32″ thin kerf, is made in the USA, and is also available in a 30 tooth version for more efficient ripping in thicker materials.
Very good site, where did you come up with the information in this summary? I’m glad I found it though, ill be checking back soon to see what other articles you have.