Best reciprocating saw blades for demolition: picks by tooth material, TPI and body

01What should a reciprocating saw blade for demolition have?

A demolition blade should combine a coarse tooth pitch, a stiff body and a tooth material that tolerates hidden nails and screws. Rip-out work rarely meets clean timber: studs carry nails, sill plates carry anchors and old floors carry staples, so the blade has to keep cutting after it hits steel. Each requirement below names the published figure behind it.

Tooth pitch: coarse enough to clear chips

Blades sold for wood with nails and general demolition typically sit at about 5–7 TPI. Fewer, larger teeth clear wet or dirty wood quickly and leave room in each gullet for chips. That pitch is far coarser than the 18–24 TPI used for thin sheet metal, which is why a metal blade clogs and stalls in framing. Variable or progressive pitch, as on the Diablo and Bosch picks, mixes tooth sizes along the blade so that some teeth bite quickly while others smooth the stroke.

Body thickness and height: thick and tall

Manufacturers make demolition blades thicker and taller than ordinary wood or metal blades so they resist bending, cut straighter and break less often. Lenox gives its demolition blades for nail-embedded wood a thickness of .062 in (1.6 mm), the heaviest of the thicknesses it lists (.035, .042, .050, .062 in (0.9, 1.07, 1.3, 1.6 mm)). Milwaukee and Diablo both describe a body 1 in tall on their demolition picks. A taller blade also resists twisting when you lever the saw against a stud.

Tooth material: bi-metal or carbide

Bi-metal blades put a high-speed steel cutting edge on a spring-steel back, which lets the blade flex instead of snapping. Carbide-tipped blades weld hard carbide to the edge for tougher work such as nail-heavy wood, thick metal and cast iron. Lenox and Diablo both state a life figure for carbide-tipped blades of up to 50x vs. standard bi-metal (manufacturer claims); treat it as a maker's claim from their own applications, not an independent result.

Length: longer than the work, but not by much

Reciprocating blades commonly come in 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 in (102, 152, 203, 229, 254, 305 mm). Lenox sizes the blade as material width + 3 in (76 mm), so the tip stays in the cut through the whole stroke. All four picks below are offered at 9 in, a length that covers doubled studs and most framing without the whip of a much longer blade.

02Will a demolition blade fit your reciprocating saw?

Yes, in nearly every case: demolition blades from Diablo, Milwaukee and Bosch use the universal shank that most current reciprocating saws accept, regardless of brand. Bosch describes its shank as a 1/2 in (12.7 mm) universal shank, and Diablo says its blades fit all corded and cordless reciprocating saws. A Milwaukee blade therefore fits a DeWalt, Makita or Bosch saw, and the same applies in Europe, where Bosch sells the shank as the S-shank. For older clamps and the few exceptions, see our guide to which recip blades fit your saw.

Stroke length matters more than brand. Current full-size saws travel about 1-1/8 to 1-1/4 in per stroke; for example, Milwaukee 2722-20 lists 1-1/4 in and Makita XRJ05Z lists 1-1/4 in. The blade has to be long enough that its teeth stay in the material at the back of the stroke, which is the reason behind Lenox's rule of the work width plus a margin. A blade that leaves the cut on each stroke slaps against the work, and that vibration loads the body. If your saw's stroke is not listed, the manual gives it.

04How do the demolition picks differ from each other?

The picks split first by tooth material, carbide against bi-metal, and then by whether you buy one blade type or a mixed kit. Pitch and length are close across all four, so those two choices decide most of the difference.

Carbide or bi-metal: which edge for nail-embedded wood?

The Diablo DS0906CWS3 is the only carbide-toothed pick. Diablo sells it for nail-embedded wood and rough-in demolition, and carbide is the material makers recommend for the hardest reciprocating work, including cast iron and thick metal. The Milwaukee Ax and Bosch RDN9V use bi-metal, whose spring-steel back flexes rather than cracks. If a blade will be bent, levered or pinched often, bi-metal tolerates that abuse; if the risk is dulling on nails, carbide is the published answer.

The Ax vs the RDN9V: fixed or progressive pitch?

Milwaukee gives The Ax a fixed 5 TPI pitch and a FANG TIP shaped for plunge cuts. Bosch spaces the RDN9V teeth progressively at 5–8 TPI. Both sit inside the 5–7 TPI band used for demolition. Choose The Ax when you start many cuts in the middle of a panel, such as cutting openings in subfloor or sheathing; choose the RDN9V when cuts start at an edge and you want a smoother entry.

Single-type pack or mixed kit?

The Milwaukee 49-22-1129 kit contains The Ax for wood with nails, The Wrecker for general-purpose demolition, and The Torch for metal, in shorter and longer lengths. That suits a renovation where you cannot see what is inside the wall. A pack of one blade type suits a job where you already know the material, such as stripping out a deck frame. The kit's metal blades are finer-pitched and thinner, so they should not be pressed into framing work.

05When is a demolition blade the wrong choice?

A demolition blade is the wrong choice for thin metal, masonry, and clean cuts where finish matters. Coarse teeth and a thick body are a trade-off, and in the jobs below the trade works against you.

• Thin sheet metal and conduit. Thin and medium sheet calls for about 18–24 TPI, and thick metal for 8–14 TPI. Lenox advises keeping 2–3 teeth in the material at all times; a coarse demolition blade on thin sheet has too few teeth in contact, so it snags and tears the edge.
• Brick, tile, stone and cast iron pipe. These need a toothless carbide-grit or diamond-grit blade, as the table above lists. For slabs and block walls, a saw or grinder with one of our diamond blades for concrete cuts deeper and straighter.
• Clean wood, pruning and plastic pipe. Lenox lists a separate clean-wood blade for these jobs with a thinner body than its demolition blades, and pruning blades use fleam-ground teeth made for green wood. A demolition blade cuts them, but the dedicated blade suits the job better.
• Long, straight finish cuts. A reciprocating saw is a rough-cut tool. Where a cut must be square and smooth, a circular saw with a finish blade does the job; the saw blade hub groups blades by tool.

A common belief is that a thin blade is better for demolition because it cuts faster. The makers say the reverse: demolition blades are the thickest and tallest in their ranges, and Milwaukee states that its thicker body resists fracturing and bending. Another belief is that the longest blade is always safest. Lenox sizes the length to the work instead, because extra length adds whip and bending without adding cutting depth that the job needs.

06Which blade should you use for clean wood or PVC pipe?

For clean wood and plastic pipe, use a wood blade rather than a demolition blade: Lenox's application table lists a clean-wood blade with a thinner body than its demolition blades. Many buyers searching for reciprocating saw blades for wood really need one of these, not a nail-rated demolition blade.

Plastic pipe such as PVC cuts cleanly with a wood or multi-purpose blade, and a finer pitch leaves fewer burrs on the cut end. Reach for a demolition blade only when the wood is likely to hide fasteners, for example fence rails, pallets, old decking and framing. If you cut mixed materials in one session, a multi-purpose blade such as Milwaukee's Wrecker sits between the two, and the kit above includes it.

Whichever blade you fit, keep the shoe on the work and let the saw's speed do the cutting. When cutting metal with any blade, DeWalt says forcing the blade shortens its life and breaks it, and both DeWalt and Makita call for a thin film of oil or coolant on the cut line.

07Which reciprocating saw blades suit trees, limbs and roots?

For trees, limbs and roots, use a pruning blade: a coarse reciprocating saw blade of about 3–6 TPI sold for limbs, branches and green wood, rather than a demolition blade. The low end of that range is carbide, as on Diablo's pruning family and Milwaukee's carbide AX pruning blade; the higher end is steel or bi-metal with fleam-ground teeth, as on Milwaukee's 48-00-1301 and Lenox's pruning blades.

Why fleam-ground teeth?

Steel and bi-metal pruning blades use fleam-ground teeth, which Milwaukee says cut cleanly in both directions in green wood. A demolition blade's job is surviving nails; a pruning blade's job is clearing sappy fibre, so the two are not substitutes even where their pitch overlaps.

What length for limbs?

Pruning blades come in 6, 9 and 12 in (152, 229, 305 mm), and the two longer sizes are the common choice for limbs. Lenox's rule of the work width plus a margin applies here as it does in framing: pick the length from the thickest limb you plan to cut, not the longest blade in the shop. Milwaukee sells its carbide AX pruning blade for branches and roots, including cuts that run into dirt and rocks, which is the case where a carbide edge earns its place over steel.

The table lists the pruning blades the makers publish, with length, pitch and stated use. All of them use the universal shank, so any of them fits the saws the demolition picks above fit.

08How do you stop a demolition blade bending or snapping?

Most broken demolition blades come from a loose shoe, forcing the cut or a blade that is too long or too thin for the work. The fixes are mostly technique, plus choosing the body and length described above.

• Keep the shoe tight to the work. DeWalt says this stops the saw jumping and vibrating and reduces blade breakage.
• Let the motor reach full speed first. Starting under pressure stalls the stroke and bends the blade.
• Match the length to the cut. A blade much longer than the work flexes more on every stroke.
• Choose a thick, tall body for demolition. The makers design these blades to resist bending and cut straighter.
• Do not lever the saw sideways. Twisting a carbide-toothed blade can chip the teeth, and twisting any blade bends it.

A full list of causes and checks is in our guide to reciprocating blade breakage. For other blade categories and product comparisons, the buyer guides section lists every guide on the site.

09Questions readers ask