Talk to an Expert Get advice on the latest products and help with your projects. Sign Up. Cutting this stuff with an ATB blade will wear down its pointy tips quicker than most table saw blades for sale 32 wood will. Truth is, I do most of my crosscutting on the table saw with a tooth ATB blade. Better to simplify it by stating "with" blaees "against" the grain maybe.

I use my tooth ATB blade only when I need to do concerted crosscutting, mitering, or sawing of delicate sheet goods. Sheet goods include plywood, particleboard, melamine, MDF, hardboard, and plastic laminate.

Here, the best blade for the job depends on the material. Because of its thin veneers, plywood is prone to tear-out, particularly when sawing across face veneer. It is best cut with an ATB blade, and the more teeth the better. However, a good quality all-purpose blade will do fine in most cases.

I switch over to an tooth blade when cutting particularly delicate face veneers. Particleboard, melamine, MDF, and hardboard are all fairly dense materials that can be hard on saw teeth.

Cutting this stuff with an ATB blade will wear down its pointy tips quicker than most solid wood will. Plastic laminate is very dense and tough on the tips of ATB teeth. Otherwise, your ATB blades may take sooner-than-desired trips to the sharpeners.

This crosscut comparison shows the difference in cut quality between a cheap or dull tooth blade top , a premium-quality tooth ATB blade center , and an tooth ATB blade. The solid wood pieces display the edge cut, while the plywood strips show underside tear-out. Thin-kerf blades are a good choice when sawing thick, hard stock with an underpowered saw. The downside is that the thinner plate can flutter a bit, causing a slightly rougher cut. But keep in mind that excellent woodworking requires an excellent blade.

This is not the time to succumb to your frugal nature. However, if you can afford it, get a quality tooth blade for your chop saw and switch it over to your table saw when you need to make the best crosscuts or panel cuts possible.

Your ATB blades will thank you for not brutalizing them. You must be logged in to write a comment. Log In. Find a Store. My Account. My Cart. Go to Table Saw Dado Blades For Sale Home Page. Mobile Navigation. Same Day Shipping Find a Store. Search Go. Topics Cabinetry. Choosing Hardware. Dust Collection. Friends of Woodcraft. Getting Started with Woodworking. Make Something. Pen Kit Reference Chart.

Press Releases. Resin Casting. Shop Talk. Woodcraft Magazine. Woodworking Adventures. Download PDF. We cut through the confusion to show you the ones you really need. Basic Blade Types There are four basic blade types, determined by the shape, or grind, of their teeth.

Where Tooth Hook Counts Hook, also called rake, refers to the angle of the tooth face in relation to the center of the blade as shown in Figure 3. The Best Blade for the Job In addition to lumber, your woodworking projects may also call for plywood, particleboard, MDF, hardboard, plastic laminate and other materials. Blades for ripping When rough-ripping to break down a board into slightly oversized project parts, a tooth FTG blade is a good bet because it cuts through even thick hardwoods quickly.

Blades for crosscutting Sawing wood across the grain invites exit tear-out. Blades for sheet goods Sheet goods include plywood, particleboard, melamine, MDF, hardboard, and plastic laminate. The Right Blade for the Job. Recommendations So what do you really need for general woodworking? May 23, PM. For one, they reduce friction to keep the blade body and teeth from overheating, which can lead to warping, accelerated tooth wear and pitch buildup.

Coatings also prevent corrosion and make blade deposits easier to clean away. Good coatings extend performance and longevity. Increased burns Table Saw Blades For Sale Germany and swirls on the wood are telltale signs, too. Manufacturers outfit pro quality blades with thick teeth so that they can be resharpened five to 10 times before the teeth are spent.

But, you need to start with thick teeth in the first place and then choose a quality sharpening service for best results; blade companies often can recommend authorized sharpeners to keep your blade arsenal in tiptop shape.

Pitch on the teeth and blade body creates friction, and friction creates heat. That heat becomes extreme at the cutting edges, where it can break down the carbide on the molecular level. As pitch builds up on all the contact surfaces of the tooth, the problem just compounds itself, exacerbating heat buildup and reducing the ability of the teeth to cool themselves. Pitch deposits also can throw the blade off balance like a car tire, where wobbling at the rim will lead to poor cutting quality and yes, even more heat buildup.

A clean saw blade dissipates heat more evenly and spins true. So, an occasional cleaning is definitely worth the effort. The manufacturers agree that oven cleaner or other strong chemicals are altogether bad choices, regardless of how well they may seem to work. Strong acids and bases are too caustic for this application; they can Table Saw Blades For Sale In Canada deteriorate the blade coating and weaken the cobalt that binds the carbide particles together.

Neutral pH cleaners are best, say several of the experts I asked. Even a mild dish detergent and warm water can clean off pitch deposits, so long as the blade is coated to protect against rust. Soak the blade until the deposits soften up, then gently scrub the teeth clean with a nylon- or brass-bristle brush. Most of all, Table Saw Blades For Sale Singapore be patient.

You may have to soak, scrub and then repeat the process, but eventually, all of the baked-on crud will come off. Then dry the blade and apply a rust preventative spray or oil. Quality blades can be outstanding performers.

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