Circular saw blade recommendations please.

[dfps]

Hello,

Looking for a good quality but reasonably priced rip saw blade for my 230mm/235mm hand held circular saw x 30mm centre

I mainly use the saw screwed up underneath a flat board surface clamped into my workmate so in effect its a very basic table saw but has the flexibility to to remove the saw from the table use a s a normal circular saw freehand.
I have a basic fence that I clamp to the wood to be able to run down timbers parallel to the blade.
I mainly use the saw for ripping down timbers to size for rough construction work so a fine finish blade is not really required.

I do my very best not to hit nails and check the wood over as much as I can ....but it has been known to happen occasionally.

Maybe there are blades out there that cope better with the occasional small nail ? ( although I appreciate it's not ideal and I should try to avoid nails ! )

Recommendations please ?

 

[Myfordman]

Freud blades are a good compromise of availability, price and tip size allowing several re-grinds.

 

[shed9]

I find the Trend CraftPro blades to be good value. You can often buy them in triple packs which drops the price again. If you are carcassing then putting anything of higher value is probably lost cash. As for the occasional metal work, I'd invest in a detector as opposed to a universal-material blade. I'm not a fan of the Evolution blades myself but I'm sure others can advise on that aspect.

 

[dfps]

Freud blades are a good compromise of availability, price and tip size allowing several re-grinds.

Hi Myfordman,

Thanks for the reply.

Is it possible to regrind tungsten teeth ?

Is it a specialist job that would be more expensive than buying replacement blades ?

Thanks

 

[Myfordman]

Hi Myfordman,

Thanks for the reply.

Is it possible to regrind tungsten teeth ?

Is it a specialist job that would be more expensive than buying replacement blades ?

Thanks

Yes it is a specialist job but it is not expensive compared to the cost of throwing out a blade and buying new. I think I pay about 25 per tooth.
These people are near you I think Dragon Elite Sharpening Services - Home Page
These places can even fit new teeth if you lose one

 

[Trevanion]

The odd soft nail here and there won't do much harm to a TCT blade, hard screws on the other hand will wreck them in short order.

I find with blades it's always worth spending just that little bit more for a much higher quality blade. I really rate CMT blades as best value for money, excellent quality. This is probably the one that would suit you best:

CMT 290 Rip sawblade D=235 B=2.8 d=30 z=24

 

[Three x]

I buy TCT blades from Amazon for my saws they come with inserts for different size shafts

 

[cutting solutions]

Never good to hit any nails as Trevanion says it will wreck a blade if you hit something very hard.
Its a very specialist job to sharpen blades and you shouldnt be paying more than £6.00 for a 20 tooth blade + vat, so as a 230 x 20 tooth blade would only cost £17.00 + post and VAT its always cheaper to have a blade sharpened. with a good quality blade you should get at least 10 sharpens.
if there are a few teeth completely damaged its also possible for them to be replaced.

 

[dfps]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. Much appreciated.

 

[Ollie78]

For cheap but good I get the dart ones, good jigsaw blades too. Cheapest place I found is speedy hire.

 

[shed9]

I really rate CMT blades as best value for money, excellent quality. This is probably the one that would suit you best:

CMT 290 Rip sawblade D=235 B=2.8 d=30 z=24

+1 for CMT. Most of my router bits and spindle tooling is CMT with no complaints yet. As with S+S I have found Appleby Woodturnings a good source for CMT products. Both know what they are talking about within that range.

At the end of the day it's calculated risk - do you use a +£30 blade to rescue a bit of pallet wood or reclaimed timber that very likely has detritus embedded within it? If the wood is suspect be prepared to sacrifice the blade or part of it's functionality essentially.
On the topic of risk mitigation and I don't mean this from a safety police perspective or want to divert the original question, we are all adults and will do what we want with our lives but screwing a circular saw under a board seriously needs to be reconsidered. I appreciate the work is rough cutting but given how cheap basic table saws are right now, at least stop and think if this is the right way to achieve what you want. Again, not telling you how to live or cut wood but I've seen too many accidents to know this is one waiting to happen.

I'll get me coat.........