Thread: Varying quality of circular saw blades

Blades absolutely vary in quality and the difference between a cheap one and a good one is miles apart.

I believe the technical term for brands like Toolstorm (and most anything else out of China) is "gahhhhbage". Go to a proper tool shop and buy yourself something half decent from a real brand.

agree with elanjacobs...
the difference between a good blade and a cheap blade is huge...
I was given a cheapie blade for my tablesaw.. straight away upon mounting it and starting the saw i've seen one main problem.. blade wobbled.. and no it is not my arbour or saw as I'm using other blades.. (like CMT ones) and no wobble ..
another cheap blade was causing excessive tearouts.. (same number of teeth as its CMT equivalent) but with CMT (or better ones.. ) Now I've been mentioning CMT few times here not because of any preference.. It is just that those ones are the ones I've been using and comparing against much cheaper brands i've used...There are better blades than CMT but they are more expensive and at this stage out of my budget...
At the end of the day it is definitely worth spending bit extra and getting the blade that will give you good cuts and last quite a while (with a bit of care)

Definitely worth buying better quality blades the difference is slight but it makes a huge difference to the cut if you can live with a bit of waver in the blade go for the cheaper option but if you want repeatable clean cuts pay the extra if you are trying to get good miter's straight of the saw or nice tight fitting joints pay the extra it is well worth it.
Regards Rod.

I bought a Diablo 60 tooth blade for my scms from Mitre 10 and was surprised at the quality of the cut. I don't use this saw much so went for a middle of the road blade.

Might be worth a look.

Just had a look at the Toolstorm website. Looks like you may have got the two pack set for$39.99. A blade that costs only $20 is definitely not going to give a quality cut.

What are the better brands to buy, and where is the best place (read cheapest) to get them?

Freud is my preferred brand for a lot of things that they make, saw blades, router bits, sandpaper etc. The good news is that Bunnings actually stock some if their stuff

Originally Posted by cava

What are the better brands to buy, and where is the best place (read cheapest) to get them?

I always say Leitz, Leuco or Dimar; industrial grade with a price to match, but the cut is beyond comparison.

We currently have a Dewalt zero-rake on the drop saw at work which I would definitely recommend. Irwin blades (Bunnings) are decent too.

Henry Bros supplied me with a new blade and when I got it I found it was made in China and I said a few appropriate words about Chinese rubbish but decided to try it anyway. It is by far the best blade I have ever tried on a mitre saw bar none so I guess you can't judge a book by its cover.

I've found that all of the big box blades benefit from sharpening. Like a lot of people I'd accumulated a stack of dull carbide tipped circular saw blades over the years. I scared up a Foley sharpener last year and the re-sharpened blades perform better than they did when new.

There's a gang of retired farmers here in the city who set up a tool repair shop. Bearings, motors, worn out parts, those sorts of things.
They sharpen TC saw blades for $15 each. Lock the blade down, push the button and watch. I can't tool up and have the experience for $15.00.

In most instances, what I get for saw blades depends on how much I pay. Very few bargains.

Originally Posted by safari

Just had a look at the Toolstorm website. Looks like you may have got the two pack set for$39.99. A blade that costs only $20 is definitely not going to give a quality cut.

Yes, it was the two pack that I bought safari. I'll keep these blades for cutting firewood (and I've been doing a lot of that lately). I reckon that's all they're good for.
I've never really had a lot to do with replacement blades in the past and now I've learnt a lot thanks to you guys. I'll chase up on a decent brand name.
Thanks for the help.
Eric

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

I

We currently have a Dewalt zero-rake on the drop saw at work which I would definitely recommend.

Can you specify the rake when buying blades? What would be the advantage of having zero rake?

Hi Gestalt,
You can by blades with different rakes for different cutting jobs and materials. A negative rake blade is most commonly used for cutting aluminum and perspex. Blades for cutting melamine faced board are usually a slighter rake than those used for solid timber, I constantly get a very clean finish cut of my blades as I buy quality industrial blades Leuco and CMT they have thick sections of tungsten and can be sharpened many times which brings the cost back over the life of the blade as opposed to buying cheep quality and constantly replacing with the same the cost of sharpening is less than the cheep blade.
Regards Rod.