Freud Track Saw Blades
Freud A Good Match For Festool
By Ethan Bickford
I’m always looking for ways to save some money and still provide an excellent product to my clients. Freud is well known for providing quality
bits and blades that provide clean cuts. Festool is known for making exceedingly well engineered and manufactured tools. So it’s no surprise that Freud started making track saw blades that are compatible with Festool (and other) track saws.
First impressions:
The Freud track saw blades look to be made with the usual Freud attention to detail. Their industrial line provides some excellent blades. They have Freud’s proprietary Perma-SHIELD® coating designed to reduce pitch and heat build-up. They have anti-vibration slots. The machining is excellent and the teeth are sharp. But first impressions don’t mean much with a saw blade. The proof is in the cut.
Using the thin Kerf General Purpose blade:
Working in a house that didn’t have access for full 4×8 sheets of plywood I needed to crosscut a pallet of ¾-inch subflooring. Not wanting to use my fine finish blade, I used the LU86R006 thin Kerf General Purpose Blade. I marked the cut line, lined up the top three pieces on the stack, put the guide down and cut through two sheets, and marked the third with the blade. The saw was definitely working but the blade gave me clean cuts much more quickly and easily than measuring, marking and free handing each sheet with a circular saw.
Overall Impression:
A solid blade that performs well at its intended purpose at a much more attractive price point than Festool blades. My only gripe with the Freud track saw blades is that the red coating often comes off on the cut surface. The vast majority of the time it doesn’t matter but once in a while it does, and that can be a little frustrating.
How Much And Where To Buy:
The Freud LU79R006M20 Perma-Shield Coated Thin Kerf Plywood and Melamine Saw Blade for Festool Saws, 20mm Arbor 160mm by 48-Teeth Hi-ATB sells online for approximately $ 40.63 here:
Freud LU79R006M20 Perma-Shield Coated Saw Blade Other style blades are also available.
