How to choose a circular saw blade: fit first, then teeth, grind, hook and kerf

01What decides which circular saw blade you need?

Two groups of attributes decide it: fit attributes that the saw dictates, and geometry attributes that the material and cut dictate. Fit covers the blade diameter, the bore or arbor hole and the maximum speed marked on the blade. Geometry covers the number of teeth, the shape each tooth is ground to, how far the teeth lean into the cut, and how wide a slot the blade cuts. A blade can have perfect geometry for your wood and still be the wrong blade if any fit attribute is off, so fit always comes first.

Tooth geometry is the part that makes one blade rip, another crosscut, a third cut veneered sheet goods cleanly and a fourth cut laminate and non-ferrous metal. Each tooth is carbide on most woodworking blades, and Freud and Diablo describe their carbide only as proprietary blends without grade numbers, so carbide grade is not something you can compare across brands from published data. This page walks through each attribute in the order you should check it. For the blade categories by saw type, the saw blades by tool hub groups circular, table, miter, jigsaw and reciprocating blades.

02What types of circular saw blade are there?

Saw blade types are named for the cut they make: rip, crosscut, combination or general purpose, fine-finish blades for plywood and melamine, triple-chip blades for laminate and non-ferrous metal, metal-cutting blades for steel, and specialist blades such as the polycrystalline diamond (PCD) blades used on fiber cement. Each type is a bundle of the attributes covered below, mainly tooth count, grind and hook angle.

• Rip blades have few teeth with large gullets and usually a flat top grind, for fast cuts along the grain.
• Crosscut blades carry more teeth with alternate top bevels and a lower hook, for clean cuts across the grain.
• Combination and general-purpose blades sit between the two. Diablo describes combination blades as designed to crosscut and rip, and general-purpose blades as suited to most wood cutting, including plywood, laminated wood and melamine.
• Fine-finish and plywood blades use high counts, often with a steep bevel, to limit splintering on veneer.
• Laminate and non-ferrous blades use a triple chip grind and usually a negative hook.
• Ferrous metal blades are carbide or cermet blades made for steel, covered in their own section below.
• Fiber cement blades have only 4 to 8 teeth with PCD tips, made to cut that material and limit its silica dust.

A type name on the packaging is a starting point, not a specification. Makers label the same grind differently, so read the tooth count, grind and hook figures on the listing.

03How do you choose a circular saw blade, step by step?

Work through these checks in order. The first three come from the saw's rating plate or manual; the last four come from the job.

1. Read the blade diameter from the saw. Fit only the diameter marked on the saw or given in its manual. A smaller or larger blade on the same arbor may not be guarded properly.
2. Match the arbor size and shape. US 5/8 in round arbors are standard on full-size handheld saws, worm-drive saws use a diamond arbor, and many European saws use metric bores. The blade's hole must match exactly.
3. Check the speed rating. The maximum RPM marked on the blade must equal or exceed the no-load speed marked on the saw.
4. Choose a tooth count for the cut. Fewer teeth for fast ripping, more teeth for smooth crosscuts and sheet goods, and a middle count for one blade that does both.
5. Choose the grind for the material. Flat top for ripping, alternate top bevel for crosscuts and general work, steep bevel for veneer and melamine, and triple chip for laminate, plastics and non-ferrous metal.
6. Set a hook angle for the saw type. Positive hook for fast hand-fed ripping, low or neutral for clean crosscuts, and low or negative on sliding miter and radial arm saws.
7. Pick thin or full kerf. Thin kerf for lower-powered saws, full kerf for powerful cabinet and contractor saws, and never a thin kerf on a riving knife that is too thick for it.

04Which blade size, bore and speed does your saw take?

Your saw takes the diameter marked on it, a bore that matches its arbor in size and shape, and any blade rated at or above its no-load speed. US 7-1/4 in handheld saws use a 5/8 in arbor, US 10 in table and miter saw blades use 5/8 in, and compact trim saw blades use 10 mm. Worm-drive saws such as the DeWalt DWS535B use a diamond arbor, and a blade must have its diamond knockout removed to fit. In Europe, saws in the Bosch GKS 190 class commonly take a 30 mm bore and track and plunge saws commonly a 20 mm bore (Festool's TS 55 takes a 160 mm blade on a 20 mm arbor), with some Makita models changing bore by country version.

Speed is a simple comparison once you have both numbers. Diablo marks its 7-1/4 in wood blades for 8000 rpm; the table below shows the published no-load speed of each circular saw in our fact base, every one of which sits below that figure. The full size-by-size tables for both systems are in our guide to arbor and bore sizes for circular saws.

05How many teeth should a circular saw blade have?

Fewer teeth cut faster and rougher, more teeth cut slower and smoother. For 10 in blades, published bands are as few as 24 teeth for ripping, 40 to 50 teeth for combination and general-purpose blades, and 60 to 80 teeth for crosscuts. Rip blades pair low counts with large gullets so chips clear quickly when cutting with the grain.

Handheld saws follow the same pattern at their own counts. For framing and fast rip and cross cuts with a 7-1/4 in saw, makers fit 18 to 24 teeth; for smoother finish cuts, 36 to 40 teeth; and for ultra-fine cuts in plywood, melamine and MDF, Diablo and DeWalt both sell blades with 60 teeth. Cordless 6-1/2 in saws step through 24 / 40 / 60 teeth for framing, finish and ultra-finish work. Diablo's 8-1/4 in blades, the size used on compact jobsite table saws, step through 24 / 40 / 60 teeth in the same order; that range is Diablo's only, as no second maker's figures were read. At the large end, 12 in blades from Freud and Diablo run 30 rip / 44–60 general / 80–100 fine.

These are typical maker steps, not hard limits. Diablo's own 7-1/4 in range shows the pattern: the D0740A has 40 teeth and is sold as a finish blade for crosscuts in hardwood, softwood and plywood, while the D0760A has 60 teeth and is sold as an ultra-finish blade that adds veneered plywood and melamine to the list.

Miter saws have their own guidance. DeWalt's manuals for its DWS713 and DWS780 miter saws list tooth counts by application, from construction blades for general cuts to high-count blades for fine woodworking crosscuts, shown in the table below.

06Which tooth grind suits which material?

Flat Top Grind (FTG) suits ripping solid wood, Alternate Top Bevel (ATB) suits crosscuts and general work, High ATB suits veneer and melamine, and Triple Chip Grind (TCG) suits laminate, MDF, plastics and non-ferrous metal. The grind is the shape of the top of each tooth, and it decides whether the tooth chisels, slices or chips its way through the material.

• FTG teeth are square across the top and cut fast with the grain.
• ATB teeth are bevelled left and right in turn, so they slice fibres across the grain.
• Hi-ATB teeth use a steeper bevel of about 30–40 degrees for chip-free cuts in melamine and veneered plywood.
• TCG alternates a taller chamfered tooth with a flat raker, which chips a hard surface away rather than tearing it.
• Combination (ATB+R) groups teeth as 4 ATB + 1 flat raker, with a large gullet before each raker, so one blade can rip and crosscut.

Makers do not always label grinds the same way. Freud calls its combination grind COMB, Diablo lists its combination blade simply as ATB, and Makita describes the A-93681 as alternate top, alternate face (ATAF). Read the description, not just the abbreviation.

07What hook angle should a circular saw blade have?

A positive hook suits hand-fed ripping, a low or neutral hook suits clean crosscuts, and a low or negative hook suits sliding miter and radial arm saws. Hook angle is how far each tooth leans forward into the cut. Positive hooks of about 10 to 22 degrees pull the blade into the wood; low or neutral hooks of about 0 to 6 degrees give more control; negative hooks of about -2 to -6 degrees reduce grab and climbing.

Makers differ for the same job. Freud's plywood blades sit at the low end, while Diablo's 80-tooth D1080X uses 15 deg. On miter saws the saw maker's limit wins: DeWalt tells owners of its DWS713 and DWS780 not to use blades with hook angles over 7 degrees, while Diablo lists the D1080X for miter saws. Freud's own sliding miter blades use -5 degrees. Check your saw's manual before fitting a positive-hook blade to a miter saw.

08Thin kerf or full kerf: what is the difference?

A full-kerf blade cuts a slot of about 1/8 in, and a thin-kerf blade cuts a narrower one, with published 10 in examples of .087-.098 in. Kerf is the width of the cut, set by the teeth, which are wider than the steel body. Plate thickness is the body itself. On Diablo's 7-1/4 in D0760A, the kerf is 0.059 in on a 0.040 in plate, which is why searches for saw blade width and saw blade thickness return two different numbers for the same blade.

Thin kerf removes less wood, which helps a lower-powered saw keep its speed. Rockler says saws above about 1-1/2 HP have ample power for full kerf, and that thin kerf brings no significant advantage on contractor or cabinet saws. That corrects a common belief that thin kerf is an upgrade for every saw. The table compares published kerf and plate figures for 10 in blades.

10Which blade cuts steel in a circular saw?

Steel needs a carbide or cermet blade made for ferrous metal, never a wood blade. For medium-gauge steel such as studs, angle iron, conduit and all-thread on a 7-1/4 in saw, Diablo and Milwaukee both list blades with 48 teeth. For thin steel such as roofing, siding and sheet, Diablo's thin-metal blades of that diameter have 56 to 70 teeth, and Diablo reserves the highest count for thin mild steel. Dry-cut metal saws use a larger blade with a 1 in arbor, and Diablo and Milwaukee list blades with 72 teeth for them.

Speed ratings on these blades differ sharply from wood blades. The table shows Diablo's handheld steel blades rated at different maximums for the same diameter, so a metal blade must be checked against the saw's no-load speed like any other. Diablo rates its dry-cut saw blades at 1800 rpm, far below the speed of an abrasive chop saw, so they belong only on a saw built for them. Before cutting steel with a wood-cutting saw at all, check its manual: DeWalt's DWE575 manual, for one, says not to cut metal with that saw.

11When does a blade choice go wrong?

A blade choice goes wrong when fit is assumed rather than checked, when a geometry suited to one saw goes on another, or when a dirty blade is blamed for being the wrong type. These are the cases the saw and blade makers warn about most.

• Same arbor, wrong diameter. A 7-1/4 in blade does not belong on a 6-1/2 in saw just because both use a 5/8 in arbor. Saw makers require the marked diameter, because a wrong-size blade may not be guarded properly.
• A rip or combination blade on a miter saw. DeWalt says to use crosscut blades only on its miter saws and rules out rip and combination blades. Blades with deep gullets can deflect and hit the guard.
• A US blade on a European saw. A blade with a 5/8 in hole is not a direct swap on a saw with a 30 mm bore, and third-party spacers are not allowed.
• A wood blade on steel or fiber cement. Both need blades made for them, and some wood-cutting saw manuals, such as DeWalt's DWE575, rule out cutting either with that saw.
• Burning blamed on the blade type. Burning often comes from pitch build-up, a dull edge, feed rate or fence alignment rather than tooth count. Our guide to fixing scorched cuts lists the causes in order.

12How do you clean a saw blade without damaging it?

Clean it off the saw with a neutral-pH blade cleaner or mild detergent and warm water and a nylon or brass brush, then dry it and protect it from rust. Rockler warns that strong acids and bases such as oven cleaner can damage the coating and weaken the cobalt that binds the carbide to the blade. Makita's manuals name gum and pitch remover, hot water or kerosene for the job, and rule out gasoline; hardened pitch slows the saw and raises kickback risk, according to Makita.

Clean before you decide a blade is dull. Baked-on pitch hides sharp teeth and causes the same symptoms as a worn edge. Store blades so the carbide teeth do not touch other blades, because carbide is brittle and chips if knocked.

13What if the job needs a different saw blade?

If the work is mostly sheet goods, our picks of circular saw blades for plywood compare high-count blades by kerf and hook. Demolition, nail-embedded lumber and pruning are reciprocating saw jobs, and the comparison of reciprocating saw blades for demolition covers them. For table and miter saws, start from the saw's own sizes, and for anything else the tool accessory lookup lists published blade sizes by model. The how-to guides section has the other technique pages.

14Questions readers ask