Table saw and Mitre saw blade replacements / alternatives

[Gary_S]

Two questions, similar topic.
I have an Axminster 10 inch table saw which came with a nice blade but a bit "general". I want to get better cut, reduce tear-out etc. I do use sacrificial pieces occasionally but wonder if I shouldn't be thinking about different blades for different jobs. What I need is advice and guidance on what blades, what value and for what jobs.

Similar question about my mitre saw.

Gary

 

[MattRoberts]

First thing I do when I get a new saw is swap the stock blade out and get a Freud Pro. They're not cheap, but excellent blades.

I have the 96 tooth on my mitre saw, and on my table saw I have a 24 tooth for rips, and a 40 tooth for everything else.

If you don't fancy those, the diabolo blades have been well rated too

 

[deema]

The blade selection. Is very much dependant on the type of cut your making and the material thickness as well as composition. For cross cut you need a high tooth count and for ripping a low tooth count.

If you start to look into blade recommendations from the various suppliers you will find that different blade geometries work best for different materials. Start off by working out what type of material your going to cut and make a selection based on that.

Note, virtually all saw blades have carbide inserts welded at the points, although carbide does come in different qualities, for most hobby applications it makes little difference. The main criteria is to get a balanced and flat blade.

The only thing I would recommend is that you have a least two blades for each application. If you get say a 40t blade, general use have a least two of them. As soon as it's starts to get dull, swap it over for the new one and get the dull one sharpened. If you only have one blade you will use it when it's dull and that's usually when it gets very exciting!

 

[Alexfn]

another vote for Freud Pro blades.. dont think you can beat them for price and performance

 

[lurker]

another vote for Freud Pro blades.. dont think you can beat them for price and performance

+1

 

[Beau]

Freud are good as are CMT. A dedicated blades for crosscutting and ripping will give better performance than the usual combi blades machines come with.

 

[Mattatooi]

I am suprised no one has mentioned hook angle. Surely the blade that you use in your table saw will be alot different than what you use on your sliding mitre saw. I am looking at replacing my sliding mitre saw blade, and I am having difficulty finding good blades with a negative hook angle. All the Freuds on screwfix all have +15 hook angle, which, is quite frankly dangerous for a sliding mitre saw.

If anyone can find me a good quality blade with -5 hook angle, would be great. Mine is a 254mm blade, 30mm bore.

 

[MattRoberts]

I am suprised no one has mentioned hook angle. Surely the blade that you use in your table saw will be alot different than what you use on your sliding mitre saw. I am looking at replacing my sliding mitre saw blade, and I am having difficulty finding good blades with a negative hook angle. All the Freuds on screwfix all have +15 hook angle, which, is quite frankly dangerous for a sliding mitre saw.

If anyone can find me a good quality blade with -5 hook angle, would be great. Mine is a 254mm blade, 30mm bore.

I believe the hook angle isn't a big issue unless you're cutting metal

 

[OwenRS]

Hook angle is everything. Always aim for -5 degree for Mitre, Snip and pull on Cross Cuts. The negative blades don't snatch or walk/climb into your work piece. Most negative blades have a standard alternative top bevel (ATB) tooth that breaks the timber fibres before removing the middle and some high spec blades have a very very sharp angle on this top bevel to pierce through even better but can wear a lot in hard materials.

On a 254mm blade 60 - 80 teeth would be perfect. near the 60 for thicker materials

For ripping its a def thumbs up for a 15 degree positive blade. Golden rule is turn off your machine slide your preferred wood piece along side the blade, look from the side and the best blade will have 4-5 teeth in contact with the wood when cutting.

For the cross cut blade try Trend. don't be worried by the Craft brand name on a small diameter blade like that these will be brilliant. Another one to look out for on the ripping side would be the very cheap Axcaliber items. These tend to have a face bevel which slices through and helps small machines / motors take better cuts through thicker materials.

 

[shed9]

For the cross cut blade try Trend. don't be worried by the Craft brand name on a small diameter blade like that these will be brilliant.

Plus one for Trend, I had to get a Trend for my TS55 one weekend as I simply couldn't get hold of a Festool blade in time. I thought it would at least get me through the job I had at hand. However, I was so impressed I went out out and bought a few more since.

They turn up on Ebay for peanuts, comparative to other brand saws.

 

[Fitzroy]

I'm in the market for a new blade myself so went searching for Freud, fyi uktoolcentre seems to have a sale on this blade range at the moment.
£19.50 for 250 X 30 X 24T rip
£28 for 250 X 30 X 60T cross cut

 

[ScottandSargeant]

CMT produce some very good saw blades... Have a look at CMT part no:285.680.10M
It is a mirror finish chrome coated blade (less resin build up) with super silence (quieter)