Table and Mitre Saw Blade Quality

[Sideways]

I've just had the blade from my sliding mitre saw sharpened, and happened to have this and a spare blade in my hands at once. It got me thinking about the quality of blades and what makes them different.

Photos always help so here for interest are some side by side photos comparing :

A 10" Freud - brand new, bought as a spare for my mitre saw
A 10" Metabo - original equipment on my Metabo mitre saw. Sharpened once.
A 14" Leitz Premium - bought used for my tablesaw and sharpened once
A 14" Swedex "Board Plus" - bought used for my tablesaw and sharpened at least once

The Freud is widely available aimed at trade and DIY. It has a 1.8mm plate thickness and rather wide laser cut expansion slots around the edge. It's also a positive rake blade so not ideal for a sliding mitre saw.
The Metabo is a trade quality blade fitted as standard to a higher end SCMS. It is made from 2.6mm plate and has lasered expansion slots around the edge and in the body of the plate.
The last two are full on industrial grade blades. Obviously greater in diameter but made of 4.2mm plate, laser cut expansion slots at edge and in the body of the plate, and very much bigger carbide teeth.
Leitz Premium are arguably the best mainstream blades you can get and the Swedex give next to nothing away to them.

Here are the 10" Metabo front, Freud middle and Leitz at the back

Here is the Freud for comparison against the Swedex

The remaining attachments are just the blade details.

So seeing the Metabo OEM was thicker, stronger and still had larger teeth than the new Freud after sharpening, I've put that back on to see me through the next few years.

Freud blades are popular and readily available so they make a useful reference for comparison. I would find it very interesting if anyone could add to the thread with photos of other mitre and table saw blades that they recommend or would advise us to stay clear of.

Sheffsaws, Atkinson, Walker, ... anyone ?

 

[powertools]

I recently purchased a new CMT blade for my cheap track saw and it has transformed the way it cuts. At the same time I purchased a 4mm and a 6mm grooving blade for my table saw also CMT I am so pleased with all these CMT blades that I am going to order a crosscut and a ripcut blade for my table saw also CMT.
Since the last Newark woodworking show must be 3 years ago now I have been using Trend craft pro blades in my table saw and have also been happy with them.

 

[deema]

Now, I might have been unlucky! But when I bought a Freud blade a few years back to try it ran in my saw for a few 10’s of meters of stuff before it was blunt. I didn’t bother to get it resharpened and added it to the metal recycling pile. Very little carbide on the teeth and what there was appeared to be poor quality. A Swedex, Omas or CMT will cut Kilometres of stuff before needing resharpening with pleanty of carbide to allow a number of iterations. I have added Freud to my list of products to be avoided.

 

[Chief Sawdust Maker]

I use Feud on my table saw, mitre saw, track saw and cordless circular saw
Over the last 20 or so years I think I have tried pretty much most makes and around 3 years ago I settled on Feud and haven't tried any others since.
I always have any new blades sharpened before I use them.
Keep the blades clean and free from resin and give them a spray with dry lube when you have cleaned them

 

[TRITON]

Trend used to have a clearance outlet on ebay, sadly shut now.
One of my lucky purchases were two industrial mitre saw blades, 216mm x 30mm bore, 80T with a kerf of 2.8mm ATB 1.8mm plate, negative rake obviously. They retailed at £76 each and i got them for £15 each
A glass like finish

 

[Doug71]

Just as a comparison here are two blades from my Festool Kapex mitre saw, 260mm, 2.5mm kerf, 60T (both need sharpening)

The top one is from Saxton Blades, about £19 never been sharpened. It's sold as for use in the Kapex but as you can see is positive rake but this has never caused a problem.

The bottom one is original Festool about £85 (think made by Leitz) with their strange tooth pattern (meant to make it quieter?) think it's been sharpened a couple of times but still got more carbide on the teeth than the Saxton.

The Saxton ones work well for the money and I treat them as disposable.

 

[Sideways]

Really useful Doug, thanks !
I've also read somewhere that Festool blades are made by Leitz. Certainly good blades.

 

[Reffc]

For the money I’ve found Shark pro and ultimate blades to be excellent and they do some serious work before needing sharpening, a testament to the quality of the carbide teeth ( possibly a c3 spec?). Outperformed axminster premium professional blades I’ve had and last ages. Sharpening them costs more than they cost to buy!