The Bottom Line
The Final Cut Saw Blade is an idea that I'm surprised nobody thought of before now. The premise is simple: adhesive-backed sandpaper applied to both sides of the saw blade, so that both sides of the stock are sanded at the same time the stock is cut.
When I first learned of the Final Cut, I had a few questions: Does it really work? Does the sandpaper tear off or wear down within a few cuts? What happens when the sandpaper eventually does wear down?
Well, the Final Cut responded to all these questions with flying colors. It worked so well, that it would be hard to go back to a regular blade after using the Final Cut.
When I first learned of the Final Cut, I had a few questions: Does it really work? Does the sandpaper tear off or wear down within a few cuts? What happens when the sandpaper eventually does wear down?
Well, the Final Cut responded to all these questions with flying colors. It worked so well, that it would be hard to go back to a regular blade after using the Final Cut.
Pros
- Makes miter joints nearly invisible, as the sanding perfectly matches the angle of the cut
- Can be used on miter saw, table saw or radial arm saw (with a deep cut)
- Helps reduce kick-back and binding of saw blade
Cons
- Currently only available in 10" sizes - Other popular sizes to be made available soon
- Blade only available as 40-tooth and Sanding disks as 100-grit paper
Description
- Works great for moldings, particularly crown molding. If the cut angle is precise, the finished joint is nearly invisible.
- Sanding disks are on both sides of the blade, so both sides of the cut get sanded.
- Additional sanding disks are available, and can be trimmed to fit any size of saw blade.
Guide Review - The Final Cut Saw Blade
The Final Cut Saw Blade is a combination of a 40-tooth, .104" kerf carbide tipped blade and a 100-grit adhesive sanding disc on each side of the blade. This actually means that the sanding portion of the blade assembly is thicker than the kerf of the saw blade.
This has some benefits: not only does the sandpaper engage the cut fully and sand effectively, but it helps keep the blade from binding during the cut (which drastically helps reduce dangerous kickback).
It also raised a concern for me: if the sandpaper is wider than the kerf of the cut, wouldn't the sandpaper simply get ripped off the blade by the wood as it's being cut? I was surprised to see that this wasn't an issue. I made a substantial number of cuts using the Final Cut, and didn't see any fraying of the edges of the sanding discs at all.
While the body of the cuts were a lot smoother using the Final Cut, the benefit I didn't expect was that tearout along the edges of the stock appeared to be considerably reduced as well. While I'd like to see some other options available (particularly a finer blade with some finer grit paper for finish work), the results with this current setup was very good.
It appears that the Final Cut Saw Blade is currently only available at their website, www.finalcutblade.com, but they also sell sanding discs that can be used with other sizes of blades (such as 12" or 7-1/4" circular saw blades). These sanding discs can be cut down to fit almost any size of blade. For the best results, try to use on a blade that is as close as possible to the .104" kerf blade offered by Final Cut.
This has some benefits: not only does the sandpaper engage the cut fully and sand effectively, but it helps keep the blade from binding during the cut (which drastically helps reduce dangerous kickback).
It also raised a concern for me: if the sandpaper is wider than the kerf of the cut, wouldn't the sandpaper simply get ripped off the blade by the wood as it's being cut? I was surprised to see that this wasn't an issue. I made a substantial number of cuts using the Final Cut, and didn't see any fraying of the edges of the sanding discs at all.
While the body of the cuts were a lot smoother using the Final Cut, the benefit I didn't expect was that tearout along the edges of the stock appeared to be considerably reduced as well. While I'd like to see some other options available (particularly a finer blade with some finer grit paper for finish work), the results with this current setup was very good.
It appears that the Final Cut Saw Blade is currently only available at their website, www.finalcutblade.com, but they also sell sanding discs that can be used with other sizes of blades (such as 12" or 7-1/4" circular saw blades). These sanding discs can be cut down to fit almost any size of blade. For the best results, try to use on a blade that is as close as possible to the .104" kerf blade offered by Final Cut.
