Calling all Woodworkers

I'm getting into woodworking and am currently working on a project with hardwoods (maple, cherry, walnut). I'm looking for a decent blade that can cut through these (rip and cross) without burning the edge of the wood. 
What's a good brand and tooth count? Anything else I should be looking at blade-wise, kerf, coatings, unicorn dust?

Honestly anything sharp should be fine!

You're probably not worried about speed so I'd get a higher tooth count blade for your tool and just go slow if needed. 

As with anything you can really geek out about blades. But it's also kinda like autox. There's "best" and then there's all the people actually out there doing it. Usually it's better to be in the latter group.

I keep Diablo blades in my saws at the shop.  Certainly not the finest blade ever, but great for what I do.  The first several cuts will leave red scuffs on things, so send a few scraps of pine through first.   What size blade?  A 40T ten inch blade is a differnt pitch than a 40T twelve inch.

The table saw has a diablo 50T 10" General purpose carbide.  I used it to cut Maple and Walnut for cabinetry and finish pieces.  Walnut cuts and machines a lot like pine but a little harder.   Hard maples like Norway I never found a blade that didn't burn

Chop saw has a diablo 60T 12" General purpose carbide.  Doesn't burn anything I've tried so far.  It's basically the same pitch as the 10"

Both blades are a mix of fine pitch teeth and a few gaps.  The fine pitch helps with nice smooth cross cuts and the gaps make it not hateful when ripping.  I find that I have to approach slowly when cutting thin stuff so the gaps don't catch and tear

I'll second the Diablo blades.

I've also been pleasantly surprised with the ultra cheap Craftsman 24 tooth 10' rip blade I bought for my tablesaw. It leaves a much better finish than expected. 

Carbide is a funny material, it seems to be very difficult to make poor quality carbide tools.

China can make terrible high speed steel but all the Chinese carbide I've used has been great.

Diablo blades are nice, but I've also been really happy with the DeWalt carbide tipped blades, but they have the same problem except with yellow paint instead of red :)    What type of saw and blade size, as Curtis asks?

The saw is an old Craftsman table saw, and I have 10" blades, not sure of it'll take a 12" or not. 

It won't 

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Honestly anything sharp should be fine!

You're probably not worried about speed so I'd get a higher tooth count blade for your tool and just go slow if needed. 

As with anything you can really geek out about blades. But it's also kinda like autox. There's "best" and then there's all the people actually out there doing it. Usually it's better to be in the latter group.

With the maple, I'd be a little concerned with a high tooth count if he's ripping.  Small teeth hold the sawdust and it can make for slow going.  In maple, that's a recipe for burns.  I was really surprised how much my Norway Maple got scorched with a 50T.

I suppose the real thing here is that none of them will leave a flawless edge.  You'll have to sand it anyway.  If you're doing joinery you'll have to make a couple passes on the joiner as well.

Build a saw guide tool... go slow.

One thing I did with my maple was to make two passes.  The first one I made about 1/16" or 1/32" too big, then set for the actual width I wanted and re-ripped it to a final size.  That way the second pass isn't taking a whole kerf and it was much less likely to burn.  It also removes any burns you got the first time.

I've also experimented with thin-kerf blades.  I personally don't like them.  The blade is too flexible and any sideways input usually causes more pattern/gouges on the kerf.

Maple burns really easy, that's why I bought the 24t blade.

Have to slow the router right down when working maple with it too.

I was looking at saw blades last night on Amazon. There were a few different brands (i think dewalt was one) that sells a two pack with a fine and a coarse blade, like one 40 tooth and one 60 for quite a bit cheaper than buying them individually. Unfortunately diablo didnt sell them that way, that's what I was hoping to buy. 

One thing I've noticed is that if I cut stuff that has glue in it like plywood or MDF  the blade acts like its getting dull, but really it gets a build up on the front of the teeth. I scrape that off with a pocket knife and it's good as new. Just something to look out for.

Curtis, I like the idea of sneaking up on the cut. I'll do that for sure. Thanks!