Circular Saw Blades Explained – review

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Wood cutting Saw Blades

Circular Saw Blades ExplainedWhen purchasing equipment that uses circular saw blades this article aims to have circular saw blades explained and to enlighten what to look at when making the purchase. 

To be able to have a good cut in woodworking projects it is essential to have the correct saw all blades for the job. Not only the correct saw blade. It must be sharp and clean. To be able to cut without tearing. Therefore not burning the cut piece.

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Saw Blade Types

There are two main circular saw blades types snd these are for rip sawing with the wood grain and cross cut for cutting across the grain.

Rip Saw blade

This type of blade has fewer teeth and this gives a deeper gullet on the blade which allows it to clear the saw dust material away. The rip saw blade doesn’t give a clean finish but will allow the wood to be cut fast.

 

 

 

 

Cross Cut Blade

When cutting wood across the grain the structure of the saw blade is such that the alternate teeth of the blade are set off from the centre of the blade.

This means they cut with a kerf, circular saw blade thickness, and have a chisel action of cutting which produces a much finer finish, they also have more teeth than and so have a slower cutting rate than a rip saw bade.

 

Combination Blade

This is common type of blade that is capable of performing cross cut and rip saw cuts, it is available in a variety of number of teeth.

The fewer the number the more aggressive the cut and rougher the finish.

Certainly a high tooth count gives a cleaner cut. So the slower cutting speed.

Dado blades

These are a speciality blade the is designed to stack several blades together to perform a dado.

They are more for the operator to cut repetitive dadoes, just to cut a few then it is better to make several passes, time consuming but much cheaper than buying special blades that may be only used occasionally.

Dado saw blades for circular saws, are only for use with a table saw or a radial saw arm.

Blade Sizes

There is a variety of blade sizes ranging from around 4” or 5” up to a very large size for commercial usage.

The home woodworker the sizes are concentrated on:

6.5” Blades

7.5” Blades

10”  Blades

 Therefore the handbook recommends the best saw blade size.

Saw Blade Care

With use, a saw blade will naturally becomes dull. It requires  sharpening. If carried out by a professional saw sharpener. Then blade works again like new.

For the reason that high pitch wood makes a blade ineffective. 

Also the saw blade is very dirty. Then recourse to purchase a commercial blade cleaner. Hence remove the material causing the problem.

Therefore probably the cause of burn marks:

  • Build up of dirt.
  • Saw blade and fence not parallel,

This can cause the piece being cut to be push at an angle to the saw blade this will allow a rubbing action and may even result in a kick back.

Saw Blade Cleaner click here…

 

 

Feed Speed of Wood

There are some woods that are subject to scorching/burning if the feed speed is incorrect. Such as soft maple or cherry. They tend to require to be fed a little faster than normal. But it is necessary to establish the correct speed with practice.