Excited, excited, excited, excited, NOT...

[matt]

Xcalibur 805 arrived on Tuesday. Waited all week to put it together today. Finished about 5pm and realised that it didn't come with a blade! Unless, of course, it's hidden somewhere? Any Xcalibur owners like to reveal the secret?

Assuming it's not there... I'll need to buy one. I think it's got a 16mm arbor (I'll have to check the spec) and I was recommended to buy some 30-16mm reducers to expand on blade choice...

Therefore... any recommendations for a good cross and rip blade for hard, soft, and manmade material?

Cheers

 

[jonny boy]

Matt,

I have yet to find better blades than the Dewalt series 60's. A little more expensive but last forever. A 30 tooth for ripping, a 40 for general use and a nice 60 or 80 for fine crosscuts. Superb!!

cheers,
jon.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

No blades comes with them the skinflints.

The arbor is 5/8", plenty of blades out there with this size.

Therefore... any recommendations for a good cross and rip blade for hard, soft, and manmade material?

At the moment I am using Perform blades in my 804 and getting a very satisfactory results and also 30mm to 5/8" reduction bushes from Axminster where needed

Enjoy your purchase Matt 8)

 

[johnelliott]

To not provide a sawblade with a saw is not just skinflintedness, it's downright naughty. To not inform the customer that he will need to buy a blade before he can use the machine goes beyond naughty into a region where only very rude words can adequately describe the culprits.

I must have bought at least a dozen saws of one sort or another over the years, and they have always had blades

John

 

[Scott]

That's disgraceful! Imagine if Veritas, LN etc sent you a plane with no blade!

 

[Anonymous]

Freud are pretty good


Xcalibur clearly are NOT

 

[Bean]

Hey John I bet the Festool came with one :wink:

I second Tony on Freud Blades

Bean

 

[Johnboy]

I agree that it should have been made clear that it did not come with a blade but both my Kity 619 and Electra beckum mitre saw came with blades which were useless and were changed and have never been used. Could argue that it is better not to supply one and let the customer choose a blade/blades suitable for their use.

John

 

[johnelliott]

Could argue that it is better not to supply one and let the customer choose a blade/blades suitable for their use.

Well, you could argue that but it wouldn't be a very good argument, would it, the custom and practice in this and every other country that I am aware of being to provide a blade so that the customer can use his machine right away.

Even if it were a decent argument, to not warn the customer..........


John

 

[Philly]

Matt
I'd give Woodford a call-they put two blades in with mine.
Have a moan-tell 'em Philly sent you! :lol:
Philly

 

[Paul Chapman]

I really think some manufacturers and suppliers are shooting themselves in the foot by supplying saws without blades or with rubbish blades. Those purchasers who are not aware of the huge difference between good and bad blades must be really disappointed with their purchases, particularly if they have cost a lot of hard-earned money.

And there's a lot of truth in the adage that if you buy something that you are happy with you will say nothing, but if you buy something that is a disappointment you will tell, on average, 10 people about it.

I think we should all do a lot more moaning about these things - there, that's my rant for the day :lol: :roll:

Paul

 

[Drew]

Phone them up and tell them you never got a blade. I did and got three sent up to me.

Drew

 

[matt]

Thanks, chaps. In fairness to Woodford, I've not spoken to them about it, therefore, it could be a simple mistake that they're happy to put right. Others with Xcaliburs have made reference to changing the blade supplied with the saw so I assume that it was just missed out.

In the meantime, I propose to order a decent general purpose blade. Freud seem like the make to go for (price v reputation). However, D&M's web site does not seem to state which are rip and which are crosscut and (in my case) which will do both.

I should confess that I don't know a great deal about blades. Perhaps if I did the specification (no of teeth etc) would tell me which was which?

Would be grateful for some pointers on specific blades (BTW - I propose to buy some reducing rings from Axminster, so 30mm is fine).

Cheers

(PS. Not that this is an excuse, however, I did get the saw for an absolute bargain price of £420 inc delivery. They had 3 on eBay a couple of weeks ago, starting price of £375. I bid £375 and was the only person to buy one!)

 

[tombo]

My 804 came without a blade, i called woodford and it was just an oversight i got one in the post the next day, but then it did not have the reducing washers. Yet another phone call though these were not as prompt. I love the saw now i have it working if only woodford didn't shoot themselves in the foot each time you deal with them.

As for blades the one supplied by woodford is ok for ripping but i would recommend a crosscut blade as well. I got a perform blade from axminster with a 5/8 bore for about 15 quid i had to call the tech line as its not on the website.

I intend to treat myself to a forest blade when i got to the states in a month or so, watch this space for a report.

Tom

 

[matt]

This sounds like the sorta thing I'm after.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/LP60M 001

 

[matt]

:? 60 or 80 teeth for general purpose (with a decent finish)??

 

[frank]

matt go for freud you know it makes sense as the man says .

the woodford blades are ok for cutting rough timber but as tombo says they will keep making ++++ups .

frank

 

[tombo]

just been browsing the wealdon site and they have a good selection of saw blades and most are available in 5/8 bore. If the quality of the cutters is anything to go by then the saw blades should be pretty good too.

Tom

 

[matt]

Thanks for the tip-off about Wealdon. However... they've got "General Purpose" saws with 42 teeth. Suggests that choosing between 60 and 80 is perhaps too far up the scale for a general purpose blade with a good finish?

 

[Anonymous]

Well, at least two'' oversights' :roll:

Seems that Woodford's practice is don't include a blade and when/if the cusomer complains, tell them is was an oversight and you'll post one out. Must save quite a lot of money for them as many won't complain and then wait for a blade. Rather, they nip out and buy a decent one instead.
Nice business practice eh? Wonder what level of customer care one could expect from them if this is the case.