Freud Reviews

The LU91R012 is a very good all around trim blade for all soft and hard wood trim. It works especially well with sliding miter saws. The thin kerf is a must for fine trim cuts and I wouldn't buy a blade without a perma-shield coating. I've been building custom homes for 25yrs. and know saw blades.

This blade rocks and was well worth the price. I use abs plastic and plexiglass quite frequently and I can honestly say that this blade is far superior vs. even my thin kerf 80 or 60 tooth freud blades. I used 1 inch thick lexan for its first test, no chipping it left very small fine shavings instead of little plexi chips. It is a very quiet blade as well. Overall I am very impressed with this product.

This is a great product, but, Amazon.com stinks. They misrepresent the availability of the products they sell. After three weeks and no shaper head I had to trick my cell phone in order to get a real person on the phone to explain why they shipped everything in my order except the shaper head after 3 weeks !. The person on the phone could offer no assistance and told me it was the supplier who was delaying the order. I had already spoken to Freud and was told they have plenty in stock and all Amazon had to do was request the order and they would ship it that day. I asked the person at Amazon for a Supervisor and was placed on terminal phone hold. I got tired of holding so I hang up and went back online to check the order and they extended the estimated delivery date another 30 days !!!, WOW, GREAT SERVICE !!!. I will make every effort to shop elsewhere online in the future, I do not like the fact that Amazon has virtually zero customer service and trains thier people to lie to the customers. Buy the tool it works well. I give it five stars and zero stars to Amazon. I cancelled my order an went elsewhere to buy it.

I purchased this set some years ago when it was a relitively new design and have never been dissapointed. for the money you cant beat the value. it has allowed me to seperate my work from the work of others by being able to offer a very wide variety of profiles. all cuts are superior to router bits and most other shaper cutters. at the time the set came with shims for creating the correct stub tenon thickness for the different profiles available and pinpoint accuracy is paramount with this set. It also allows a "full-cut" to be taken, this is handy when working with poorly joined edges as you can offset the fence to join on the shaper. obviously freud engineers realy did their homework on this one. The quality of cut rivals the work produced by many of the so called dedicated door manufacturers. if you are serious about making high quality doors then this set is worth the investment. setup can be a little tedious at first but after practice youll have perfection. good luck.

I installed one of these on my Dewalt 12 volt trim saw after wearing out the factory blade. It is a great improvement over the original. It cuts true and clean, clean, clean! It is not quite as smooth as my Forrest Woodworker II, but what more could I want for 1/5 the price? It does have a thinner kerf than the standard Dewalt blade, but I really can't tell how much better it performs due to that factor; just a new sharp blade may be most of the additional cutting capability I now have. Having said that, the Freud does cut cleaner and smoother than I EVER remember this saw cutting in the past. The look of the blade takes a little getting used to - instead of a solid silver disk, I have a piece of red swiss cheese spinning in there now.

This is a worthwhile upgrade, whether you're ready or not.

I bought this blade for my table saw. I intended to use it just for cutting thin aluminum sheets. I have been very impressed with this blade. I've cut aluminum, brass, polycarbonate plastic, and phenolic. It leaves a very clean edge on all these materials. I've even used it to cut 1/4 inch aluminum plate (slowly and very carefully). I did all this very well. Don't use it on wood though - wood needs some set to the teeth or it tends to bind and not cut cleanly.

One caution - be very careful of kickback when cutting thicker metal pieces. Make sure both pieces are guided when cut so they won't twist into the blade from the side. A 1/8 inch thick brass plate thrown back at you can hurt!

I installed this blade on my skil 77 worm drive last September. I've used it most days over the past 6 months. It makes very clean cuts. I couldn't believe how well this blade worked for only having 16 teeth. I've sent it out to have it sharpened I liked it so well.

These cutters are great, super sharp, and expertly engineered. I am a cabinet maker for over 40 years and find Freud cutters hard to beat. Would recommend them to anyone.

I bought this dado blade as the result of reading a review in a woodworking magazine. I needed it to make about 300 dado cuts in plywood for a project that needed to be done quickly. The blade made very clean cuts. In fact, another woodworker saw the results and though I might have used a router since the cuts were so clean. The bottoms of the cuts are flat and were fairly smooth.

The blade storage case is nice to have. It comes with plastic spacers to separate the chippers and blades from one another when the blade is stored in the case. These spacers are a little cumbersome to use and the blades had moved around in the case when I first opened the box.

The chippers are not labeled so I had to use calipers to figure out which chipper was which. Once figured out the thickness of chipper and labeled the chippers with a permanent marker, the blades were easy to set up for the correct thickness using charts that came with the blade. I was using 1 / 2" plywood and set the width of the cut to 15/32" and the width of the cut was perfect. The blade included metal shims for fine-tuning the width of the cut, but I did not need them.

The blade also includes a DVD that shows how to use it. I was able to use the blade without the DVD, but the videos were well done and contained useful reminders on how to use the blade safely.

One thing you'll need to use this blade is a new table saw insert. I made a new one out of hardwood using a planer and bandsaw. I then clamped a dado sled on top of it and raised the blade into the insert, creating a zero clearance hole for the dado blade. If you don't want to go to this trouble, you can always buy an insert.

This is an expensive dado set, but the results are excellent. Since I plan to use it to make nice casework (and wood is expensive), it is worth the money.

I bought the SD608 dado set a couple months ago for use with a Delta 36-717 hybrid saw. As someone else mentioned here, it's very difficult to determine before you buy whether it'll fit your saw, so I contacted Freud. I received the following from a company rep:

"Check to see what the specifications are for dados on your machine. Many manufacturers limit the diameter of the dado to 6" while others allow 8" but may limit the width of cut. If your machine is rated for a 6" or 8" stacked dado, then there is the consideration of the arbor nut size, inside flange diameter, and arbor length. Unfortunately there are too many saws for us to keep a list of what these specifications are for every machine and be able to keep it up to date with changes made by the manufacturers, but with some quick measurements you can determine if your saw is capable of running the Dial-A-Width.

1. Arbor Nut Size - The arbor nut wrench size can not be larger than 1 3/16" (30 mm). The set includes a 7/8" wrench. If your arbor nut uses a wrench other than 7/8" (22 mm), you will need to use a wrench other than the one that comes in the Dial-A-Width.
2. Inside Arbor Flange Diameter - If the inside arbor flange is under 2-1/2" diameter you are OK. If it is over that, the Dial-A-Width will not work on your machine.
3. Arbor Length - Measure the length of the arbor on your machine and subtract the thickness of the arbor nut from that measurement. If what you have left is at least 1 3/32" then you can cut up to a 3/4" dado with your saw. If you have 1 3/16" or more then you can stack all the components on the arbor at one time. Still keep in mind that you must comply with maximums that the manufacturer of saw has for dadoes.

We have also heard of a few saws on the market that have an interference problem with the inside blade. To check this disconnect power to the saw, and with a blade on the saw look down inside the saw beside the blade. If there is anything like belts or structural members closer than 1/2" from the sides of the blade then this could be a problem. If there is any question after this visual inspection the take an old saw blade (can be a 10" or a 7 1/4" as long as they have the same arbor as the saw) and on the side opposite the arbor nut hot glue 6 US Pennies in a stack about 1 1/2" from the center of the arbor. Put the blade on the saw (still with the saw disconnected) and rotate the blade using the arbor wrench. If the pennies do not contact anything then you should not have an interference problem."

On the Delta 36-717 hybrid saw, the arbor is just long enough to use the full set of dado blades. I worry about getting the arbor nut on incorrectly and stripping the arbor, so I'm really careful about it. It's a pain to arrange the blades so that the teeth of one blade don't interfere with others, but that's not unique to this dado set.

However, I was most concerned about whether a hybrid saw could push an 8-inch dado; some recommend at least a 3-HP saw with this diameter. But it worked great with the 36-717, a 1-3/4-HP model. To be safe, I still make deep cuts in a couple passes, but I've never had a problem.

The dialing mechanism requires some trial and error to figure out. I was dialing it in, dialing it out, and having trouble figuring out which way I was supposed to be dialing, because I could only see a difference after I'd made a cut. Then I figured out that by watching the threads on the inside of the dialing mechanism, I could get a better idea of whether I was increasing or decreasing the width of cut.

The quality of cut is excellent--flat bottoms, smooth cutting, and minimal tear-out. I'm quite happy with the purchase, especially at the price I got it for: $175 on Amazon in March 2006.

I'm very pleased with the way this dado set is working out. I was concerned with using an 8" stack with a 1-1/2 hp delta contractors saw, but so far it's working out great--even with all the blades installed. I don't have any experience with other dado stacks, but to my eye the cuts from the SD508 are superb. Clean, flat bottoms and sides. No chip out at all. The only thing that is a hassle (not unique to Freud) is that it IS a dado stack. Putting the both cutters and the chippers together for a cut can be a chore. Now I know why Bill Hylton says avoids using a dado stack in favor of using a router to make dados in some of his books. :-)

Other reviewers said that they had a hard time judging which chipper is which. There are 4 in the set. Two 1/8", one 3/32" and one 1/16". I found that looking at them carefully from the side made it easy enough for me to determine the widths without resorting to using a dial caliper or other measuring device.

The box the blades come in is nice, sturdy and protects the blades well. Just make certain the tabs to hold it closed are secure. Otherwise there's the potential for all your blades to fall out if you aren't careful.

There's a dvd with an intro on how to use the dado, as well as a chart that tells you which cutter and chipper combos will produce a certain size dado/groove, that comes with the set. The dvd is specific to the dial-a-width product and really doesn't cover much other than the 'basic of basics' on how to use the dado. It also has a plan on it for a dado sled.

One other thing. Using any saw blade can be dangerous; using a full dado stack the first time can be VERY intimidating and dangerous if you aren't careful. Make sure all your safety gadgets are in place so you can deal with the intimidating part so you don't 'accidently' experiance the dangerous part of while using it. That said, after making a full depth, clean bottomed dado in one pass, all I can think to say is "sweet"! Feeling intimidated by all those spinning blades quickly fades to healthy respect.

I have not used the bits yet because the box I received from Amazon was not new (and they have not even made an effort to make it look like new: scratches, fingerprints, wood dust, two bits switched, one bit with a damaged tip). I appologize for writing this in the review section, but there's no other place to do it and I believe buyers should be aware of this. We got a new house and I ordered about one dozen products from Amazon's Tool department in the last couple of months; almost half of them were not factory-fresh when I received them. Amazon should change their policies, charge restocking fees if necessary, and sell open-box items as such.

As soon as received these bits last month, I made several cuts with each bit on scapes of 3/4" plywood, two species of hardwood and several species of softwood. Each of the bits cut flawlessly. They are a beauty to work with. Since that time, I have used used three bits several times and I contintue to appreciate the quality of the cut.

The storage box is solidly constructed and well designed, I appreciate the functionality of the tilt-out bit holders, the clear plastic window, the cutting profile etched in front of each bit and being able to hang the box on a wall.

One of the bits did have some rust on the shank, despite the package of desiccant that came in the storage box and I was unable to open the instructional CD that came with the set.

I think the versatility of the set would be improved if a core box bit of the same diameter was substituted for the cove bit that comes with the set. They both cut the same profile and the core box bit would give the extra flexibity of being able to make surface groves, for cuts such as pilaster flutes, etc.

This is a great starter kit. It has one of everything someone with no bits would probably want. The construction is great. The wall mountable case that they came in looks nice and protects the bits well.

I have only used a few of the bits, but they are flawless.