A cut above—specialty blades and timely trends

A couple of months ago at a lumberyard, I had melamine panels cut to size on a state-of-the-art CNC panel saw. It’s a top-end machine, so I expected perfect edges that could be taped effortlessly. What I got was chipping top and bottom and, from several feet away, the problem was obvious. As expected, the blade was coated with resin and missing several teeth, but what was startling was that the store had installed a cheap, disposable rip blade in this magnificent cross-cutting machine. I was reminded of the adage, “garbage in, garbage out”. The store spent $20,000 on a saw, and less than $20 on the blade. Perhaps they should have spent a few more dollars training the operator.

Here, we’ll look at some specialty blades and a few timely trends that are designed to make it easier to choose the right blade for each job.

GDP Tooling (gdptooling.com) describes diamond as the hardest mineral known to man, and the company also notes that it has the highest thermal conductivity along with impressive abrasion resistance. So, it’s no surprise that there has been a huge expansion over the past decade in the number of tools that can be ordered with tips and coatings made from synthetic, lab-grown polycrystalline diamond, or PCD. GDP and other tooling manufacturers have now solved enough cost and technical problems that we see diamonds used on everything from molding and shaper knives to CNC router bits.

Diamond blades are also available for table, beam and panel saws, including scoring blades. Depending on the manufacturing process, the cut can still be a hair rough when compared to the silky smoothness of a high-end carbide blade, but PCD has its place when it comes to machining hard plastics and resins that can dull carbide teeth.

While they cost more than a carbide blade, diamond blades typically have a useful life that is dozens of times longer. Perhaps the biggest advantage to using one is that it can cut through so many different hard or brittle materials that it allows the saw to keep running without the operator needing downtime to make blade changes.

Diamond blades can look a bit different, too. For example, Peak Toolworks (peaktoolworks.com) makes a SuperSilent thin-kerf panel saw blade that’s missing the traditional deep gullets. The plate (the steel disc) is thick in the middle and steps down to a narrow profile about three quarters of the way to the edge, and then the diamond teeth step back up to full width at the point of impact. This leaves a ‘ChipBelt’ for efficient chip removal. The blade cuts a 2mm (just over 1/16”) thin kerf, and a matching 120mm scoring blade is also available with the same technology.

Diamond blades are ideal for long runs in sheet goods and would probably be an excellent choice for that lumberyard panel saw. They are worth exploring as an option for breaking down sheets that will be CNC routed to final dimensions. When it comes to solid wood stock and the need to reduce the time spent cleaning up saw cuts, my personal take is that some of the latest carbide-tipped blades might better meet the needs of small shops.

Forrest Mfg. Co. (forrestmfg.com) has added both a 260mm and a 10” Signature series crosscut blade to its Chopmaster line. The 10” blade delivers a 7/64” wide kerf and it has a 30-degree ATB+R tooth design. It’s available in nine bore sizes. Chopmaster blades are made with C-4 submicron carbide for longer life, and they have a heavier than normal steel plate for maximum stability, according to the company.

Among several new thin kerf blades from Oshlun (oshlun.com) are a 10” general purpose (rip, cross and laminate) blade with a high ATB tooth, plus both a sliding miter and a large beam saw blade that are available in different diameter and/or tooth count options. The miter saw blades have negative hooks for added safety, and the 16-5/16” beam saw blade has an anti-kickback ATB tooth design and a 0.118” kerf.

DeWalt (dewalt.com) recently added a 10” (DWA11060) and 12” (DWA11260) 60-tooth crosscut/finish blade, 24-tooth rip/general purpose blade (DWA11024), and 40-tooth general purpose blade (DWA11040). The crosscut blades feature the company’s patented body slot design for low vibration.

With the explosion in cordless tools, Makita (makitatools.com) has introduced three new 7-1/2” diameter tungsten carbide-tipped blades in its Max Efficiency line for miter saws. The new blades come in 25-, 45- and 60-tooth options, and they join a family of Makita miter/crosscut blades for 6-1/2”, 7-1/2”, 8-1/2”, 10”, and 12” saws.

The newest line from CMT Orange Tools (cmtorangetools.com) is called ITK Xtreme and the blades have a chrome plating that is designed to protect them from corrosion, rust and resin build-up. The teeth are brazed onto the plate using a special three-metal process that “allows teeth to handle high stress and impact, especially when cutting harder woods and composite material,” the company said.

Vermont American (vermontamerican.com) has developed a family of Xtend carbide-tipped blades for cordless circular saws. Ranging in diameters from 3-3/8” to 6-1/2”, they are designed for optimal performance in portable cordless saws.

Amana Tool (amanatool.com) has added an ElectroBlu eco-friendly, non-stick overlay to its Prestige blade. The coating, which is applied using an electrostatic bonding process, is designed to reduce resin accumulation and heat build-up so the tips stay sharper longer, according to the manufacturer. It’s available on crosscut, rip, dado, melamine-specific, glue-line and other specialty blade options.

Freud (freudtools.com) offers an astounding variety of blades, including 112 for ripping and 135 for panel scoring. The company’s LU96R is a thin-kerf, triple-chip blade that’s designed to deliver an excellent finish on both the top and bottom of laminates, melamine and veneered plywood. A laser-cut, anti-vibration design yields the plate acoustically dead, and Freud says that reduces the sideways movement of the cutting edge to prevent chipping. It comes in 160mm plus 8”, 10” and 12” diameters, and its bright red coloring is a Perma-Shield non-stick coating that “reduces blade drag, and it protects the blade from corrosion and pitch buildup.”

SawStop (sawstop.com) offers five blades and a dado set, none of which are restricted to use on its machines. Among them is the BTS-P-80HATB, a titanium-coated, 80-tooth blade for cross-cutting plywood and materials such as melamine and MDF.

Woodshops that are having a hard time finding specialized blades for specific processes or machines can probably find a solution from a custom manufacturer, such as Connecticut Saw & Tool (ctsaw.com).

Other sources include Baileigh Industrial, Carbide Processors, Charles G. G. Schmidt, Comsurge Tooling, Diamond Saw Works, Dimar USA, Everlast Saw & Carbide, Grizzly Industrial, Infinity Cutting Tools, Irwin, Leitz Tooling Systems, Leuco Tool Corp., RoyceAmerica.com, Specialty Saw, Total Saw Solutions, WEN, Woodcraft’s Wood River, and York Saw & Knife.

Here’s a final thought on that gummed-up blade at the lumberyard: a good cleaning rather than a full sharpening is often all that a blade needs. Products such as BladeKleen from Forrest, or even household oven cleaners can make a huge difference in performance. But even the cleanest rip blade won’t make a tear-out free crosscut, so it’s important to install the right blade for the task at hand.  

This article was originally published in the April 2023 issue.