Choosing the correct saw blade for your project is difficulty. The thought of choosing the correct saw blade makes many peoples feel like they are in a drawer full of mysterious metal discs. When you walk into a hardware store and look at the saw blades, there are so many option.
Some promise that they will cut faster. Others promise that they will cut the wood much cleanly. There is a distinct difference between finding the perfect saw blade and finding the perfect saw blade for the job that you has.
If you choose the wrong saw blade, you will end up wasting material for no good reason. Your motors will burn out, and you will have to spend extra time sand the wood. If you choose the correct saw blade, your saw will feel effortless in work with your project.
No saw blade is perfect for doing every job in the world. Manufacturers create saw blades and design each saw blade for a specific job. Once you understand the many task that a saw blade can do, your saw will deliver dramatically better results.
The following will explain the many types of saw blades used in the workshop or on the job site. Each saw blade has its characteristic and its specific use. Each saw blade can do a specific job, and each will have certain limitation regarding what it can and cannot do.
By understanding the specific detail of each saw blade, you will save money and frustrations in the workshop. Circular saw blades come in many different design. However, a few different designs of blades will cover most of your need.
Common Types of Saw Blades for Woodworking
1. Rip Saw Blades
For cutting through solid wood, you should use a rip saw blade. These saw blades will have fewer than thirty teeth and feature teeth that are shaped more like chisels. These saw blades will feature flat tops on these saw teeth.
The space between the saw teeth, or the gullets, will be large enough to allow the saw blade to remove the wood in long strip. These saw blades will not overheat or bog down when cutting through solid wood. When you use a table saw with a rip saw blade to cut solid wood, the cut will be fast, and the saw will remain cool.
However, the saw blade will create a rough edge on the solid wood. This is the desired outcome for a rip saw blade. Save the sanding for later in your project.
2. Crosscutting Saw Blades
For crosscutting, you will use a saw blade with eighty or more saw teeth. These saw teeth are ground to have a sharp point. These saw blades will leave a smooth surface for furniture parts that you make.
If you use saw blades to cut plywood, the bottom part of the wood will have tear-outs. For any other project, such as miters, picture frame, or cabinet faces, use a saw blade for crosscutting. These saw blades will create finer teeth on the saw blade that will cause the wood to scorch and saw motor to labor when used to rip boards.
Do not use these saw blades for ripping projects. Use saw blades for crosscutting to create the glassy edge on the wood.
3. Combination Saw Blades
Combination saw blades were created for those who would like a saw blade that can do both ripping and crosscutting job. These saw blades will have fifty teeth and the teeth will come in sets of five. Each set will have four saw teeth for crosscutting and one deeper saw tooth for the raker to remove waste material from the saw. These saw blades will leave a middle surface quality between ripping and crosscutting saw blades.
It will be good enough for framing or rough cabinet projects. Professionals in the trade may roll their eyes at these saw blades. However, many carpentry professional will find a place for one of these saw blades in their portable saw.
4. Plywood and Fine-Finish Saw Blades
This saw blade will handle ninety percent of the projects that they complete in a day. For cutting sheet goods, you will use either a plywood saw blade or a fine-finish saw blade. Both saw blades will have between sixty and ninety saw teeth.
Saw blades for sheet goods will feature alternating top bevel saw blade grinds. These saw teeth will shear the veneer of the sheet goods rather than chopping at the veneers. When you use the sheet goods saw blades, there will be no chipping of the sheet goods.
These saw blades will cut slow and create more dust than other saw blades. However, the time saved from not sanding sheet goods will make up for the slow cutting speed. Use one saw blade for cutting sheet goods.
Do not nick a saw tooth on the sheet goods saw blade with a blade that has an embedded staple.
5. Trim Saw Blades
For projects that involve miters or trim work, use a dedicated trim saw blade. These saw blades will have one hundred teeth or more.
These saw blades will have an negative hook angle for the blade to not grab the workpiece while being sawn. The negative rake on the saw blade will also prevent tear-outs on trim work such as crown molding or baseboards. The cost of the trim saw blade may be higher due to the extra number of saw teeth and laser-cut slots for the blade to stay true to its work.
Use this saw blade for trim work. For saw blades with finer saw teeth, take care in feeding the workpiece into the saw blade. Push the workpiece too fast with the saw blade, and the blade will create heat that will discolor hardwood.
6. Track Saw Blades
Track saws and saws that can break down large sheets of wood will require a specific saw blade that is designed for the track saw system. These saw blades will be thinner than the standard saw blades. The thin saw blades will reduce the kerf of the wood and the power that is required to cut the saw blade.
Many of these saw blades has an anti-friction coating that allows the blade to glide easily through the cut wood. Track saw blades must remain true to the aluminum rail that the saw moves along. A wobble in the saw blade will be visible in the cut wood.
Purchase a saw blade that is specifically made for your track saw system. You will enjoy cleaner edges from your cut wood and there will be less dust that will escape from the track saw.
7. Dado Blades
For table saws that are used for joinery work, use a dado blade saw.
A dado blade is different from the other saw blades. The dado saw features two outer saw blades for scoring and multiple chipper saw blades. These saw blades can cut grooves that are one-quarter of an inch to three-quarters of an inch in width.
The flat-bottomed cut from the dado saw is perfect for shelf dados, tongue-and-groove flooring, and tenons. Good dado saws will also have shims to allow the saw to cut undersized plywood. Use caution when using dado saw blades.
Never use the dado saw blade without a throat plate. Always unplug the saw before adjusting the dado saw. One moment of distraction and your dado saw blade could be scrap saw blades.
8. Bandsaw Skip-Tooth Blades
For projects that require a bandsaw to cut intricate scroll work or for projects that feature tight curves in the wood, use a narrow saw blade with skip-tooth saw blades. The skip-tooth saw blades will feature spaces between the saw teeth that are wider than the spaces on standard saw blades. The space between the teeth will allow the chips to be cleared out of the way of the saw blade.
A quarter-inch saw blade with fourteen teeth per inch will allow furniture makers to cut curves as small as three inches in radius. Saw blades that is wider than a quarter-inch will make straight cuts. These saw blades will not turn corners.
Saw blades that are narrower than a quarter-inch will allow the saw blade to follow the line that is drawn in the wood. However, these saw blades will often wander if pushed too hard with the bandsaw. Finding the perfect balance for the saw blades and the saw requires some time and patience.
However, once found, the bandsaw will perform best for the projects that you design.
9. Carbide-Tipped Specialty Blades
Certain materials require the use of saw blades that have specific features. For instance, if you are using a saw blade to cut materials such as aluminum, plastic laminate, or cement board, the saw blade will have teeth made from carbide.
These carbide teeth will be able to handle the abrasive nature of these materials and will not dull in a few minutes of sawing. These saw blades will often look more like a grinding wheel. They will also have fewer saw teeth and negative rake angle to the teeth.
The saw blades will make fine dust instead of chips. Proper dust control is essential when using these saw blades. Do not use a saw blade that is made for wood to cut these specialty materials.
You will burn through multiple wood saw blades before finishing the project with one saw blade. Use the correct specialty saw blade and the project will be completed without any issues. Finally, look after your saw blades.
Proper maintenance of saw blades is essential. A sharp saw blade will cut the wood more easily. A sharp saw blade will leave the wood with a cleaner finish.
A sharp saw blade will also allow the motors on the saws to remain cooler. Most woodworkers will send their saw blades to a professional saw blade sharpening shop every few months. Most saw blade sharpening shops will sharpen the saw blades after the saw blades have been used for approximately twenty hours of cutting.
Keep the saw blades sharp between sharpening visits by using a blade-and-bit blade cleaner to remove pitch from the saw blades. Pitch will act like sandpaper on the saw blades if it are not removed. A clean blade and a sharp saw blade is the cheapest upgrade you can make to your saw shop.
Mastering the various saw blades will take time. Start with buying one quality saw blade that is appropriate for the work that you do most frequently. Get to know the saw blade’s characteristic.
Then, purchase others as your projects become more complex. Your pile of offcut will decrease. Your saw joints will fit together better.
You will enjoy your work projects the most. Ultimately, the right saw blade will take your good workpieces into perfect workpieces.
