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You can have a top-shelf, envy-of-your-neighbors table saw — but you’ll still get burning and tearout if you’re not using the right blade.
The right saw blade can be the difference between clean, glue-ready joints, and charred wood that smells like toasted marshmallows.
If you want to level up your woodworking — and seize the full potential of your saw — you should know:
I’ll also tell you which blades are my personal favorites — and are now available in the Katz-Moses Tools store.
(Insider tip: use code KMT10CMT for an extra 10% off the brand new line of CMT Chromium Full Kerf and ITK Chrome Thin Kerf blades).
In a rush? Skip to my quick and dirty blade selection guide.
Before you can run, you must walk — but never run with saw blades.
Here’s a few basic terms for better understanding blades.
The sharp pointy bit that does the cutting.
High-quality blades have carbide tips brazed onto the teeth. The more carbide, the better, because the blade can be sharpened several times and last years.
Lower quality blades have either steel teeth or too little carbide to really be sharpened.
The more teeth a saw has, the cleaner and slower it cuts. The fewer teeth it has, the faster it cuts.
You’ll often see tooth count written as “T” followed by the number, so an 80 tooth blade is T80.
The scooped out gap between teeth.
Gullets help keep the saw blade from heating up during cuts in two ways:
The fewer teeth a saw blade has, the bigger gullets it needs. When there’s fewer teeth, each tooth needs to cut more material — and more sawdust needs to be carried out.
Not the forbidden dance you did in middle school, but how teeth are laid out, shaped, and angled.
Different grinds, or tooth designs, work best for different cut types.
The most common grind styles are:
I’ll cover these in more detail below — so I hope you like acronyms (IHYLA).
The angle at which teeth are ground, most notably in blades with ATB teeth.
These angles can range from 5º to above 40º. High angles, like 40º, are good for super clean cuts with minimal tearout — but the teeth dull more quickly.
Rake, or hook, is the angle at which the teeth tilt in line with the saw blade.
If the teeth are leaning forward, they have a positive rake. If they’re leaning backward (like on some miter saw or non-ferrous blades), they have a negative rake.
Rake can range from -5º to around 30º. Higher rake means a faster cut that takes out more material — but can lead to tearout.
Low rake will produce clean, tear-out-free cuts — but cuts more slowly.
The thickness of the cut line left in your stock. Full kerf blades typically have a kerf of ⅛ inch, and thin kerf blades hover around 3/32 inch.
The hole in the middle of the blade that slides over the arbor of your table saw.
The size depends on how big of blades your table saw takes. Typically, 12 inch blades have a 1 inch bore, and 10 inch blades have a ⅝ inch bore.
Cuts in the blade that let it expand with heat, and still stay safe and accurate.
In high quality blades, these are laser etched. In lower quality blades, they’re usually a stamped hole sometimes filled with copper.
On every type of blade, the teeth cut the wood, and the gullets carry sawdust out.
Different saw blades are designed to avoid heat buildup while cutting different materials and directions.
For wood, you’re either:
Why does grain direction matter for saw blades? Think of a rope made of individual strands.
Slicing a knife down the length of a rope is easy. Your knife glides between the strands, almost more separating them than cutting.
This is like a rip cut. Fewer wood fibers need to be sliced, and the cut’s easier.
That’s why ripping blades have fewer teeth and flat top grinds for quickly cutting lots of material. Plus, they have big gullets that let you make long cuts without burning.
Now, if you cut across a piece of rope, it’s going to take more effort and passes to slice every single strand.
This is like a crosscut. Your saw blade needs to do more cutting to sever all the wood fibers.
That’s why crosscut blades have a lot of teeth with beveled edges that come into the wood at an angle. As a result, it’s a slower cut — but produces less tearout.
Remember tooth grind and all those acronyms? Let’s dive in.
BEST FOR: crosscutting, milling, chip-prone materials (plywood and melamine), plastics, non-ferrous metals (aluminum, copper, brass)
ATB blades have beveled teeth, with a sharp point on the outside leaning down into the blade. One tooth is angled to the left, the next to the right, and so on.
The sharp point and long cutting edge slice wood fibers like a knife, minimizing tearout. This makes ATB blades ideal for crosscutting — but lower bevels can be used for ripping too (especially in thin kerf blades).
The bevel on ATB blades ranges from 5º-20º, with HiATB being 20º+. The lower the angle, the easier it is to push through the cut. The higher the angle, the cleaner the cut.
You'll typically see HiATB on general purpose blades and some Ultra Finish thin kerf crosscut blades with more teeth. In thin kerf ripping blades, you may see a lower angle ATB, as it helps the thinner teeth push through the cut. It really depends on the blade's main purpose.
While higher angles mean less tearout, the teeth can also dull faster.
If you’re not cutting through the full thickness of your stock, ATB blades leave a little triangle of waste behind. You’ll have to clean those up with a hand plane or chisel if you're cutting joinery, so it’s not recommended unless you’re making a full depth cut.
The most common ATB/HiATB blades are general purpose, crosscut, thin kerf rip, and ultra finish cross cut.
For miter saws, you want to stick to ATB blades (or sometimes combination blades if you’re rough dimensioning and want to cut faster).
Because you’re cutting into wood from the top, you want the knife-like edge of the beveled teeth — and a lot of them. This keeps the saw from wanting to “climb” in the cut and binding.
Typically, dedicated miter saw blades have a much shallower rake/hook angle, but crosscut blades can also work well in a miter saw.
BEST FOR: fine rip cuts, splines, joinery like half lap joints
The teeth on FTG blades have a flat cutting edge perpendicular to the blade. Also called rakers, these flat top teeth cut like a chisel.
They take off a lot more material in a single pass than ATB blades — making them ideal for rip cuts, along the grain of a board.
With fewer teeth, big gullets, and a steeper rake, these blades are designed to cut fast across long distances without heating up.
A high quality FTG blade can give you glue-ready rip cuts right off the saw.
The flat top also makes them great for cutting splines, since they don’t leave the triangle of waste ATB blades do.
BEST FOR: harder materials (plastics, acrylic, non-ferrous metals)
These blades have a chamfered tooth followed by a raker (flat top tooth). The chamfered tooth roughs out your cut, while the raker cleans it up.
In dedicated TCG blades, the grind, high number of teeth, and low rake make for really good cutting through harder materials like plastics, acrylics, and non-ferrous metals.
If you’re cutting up a bunch of aluminium t-tracks for jigs, switching to a TCG blade will save your ATB from getting dull.
TCG teeth are also sometimes used rather than FTG teeth in combination blades to help remove material in rip cuts.
BEST FOR: general crosscuts and rip cuts
These blades are a combination of ATB and FTG layouts. You typically have 2-4 alternating bevel teeth that start the cut, followed by a flat top raker that flattens it all out.
ATBR blades are often called combination blades, since you can use them for ripping and crosscutting.
They’re also great for cutting grooves, dados, rabbets, or lap joints where you need a flat finish to your cut.
LIMITATIONS: I would not recommend using them for plywood.
BEST FOR: general crosscuts and rip cuts
Basically identical to the ATBR above, but with slightly less material removal. They are also used in combination blades.
These aren’t the most common, but they’re great all-around blades.
By following the bevelled teeth with a triple grind tooth, you get a super clean and square-bottomed cut with very little tearout.
LIMITATIONS: I would not recommend using them for plywood.
There’s a seat for every butt, and a blade for every cut.
Just keep in mind — there’s a lot of blades out there, and exceptions to every rule.
This is a comprehensive list of the blades you’ll encounter 96.3% of the time. (Note: did you know 17.98% of statistics are made up?)
BEST FOR: milling and dimensioning lumber and plywood under 1.25”/30mm thick, non-repetitive cuts
These are all-around blades meant for rougher ripping and crosscutting.
General purpose blades combine elements of crosscut and ripping blades: beveled teeth for clean crosscuts — but lower tooth counts for ripping without burning.
They tend to have a higher bevel angle and lower rake to make up for the fewer teeth when crosscutting.
When I’m working with thinner lumber or a few plywood cuts for shop furniture, this is my go-to blade. They can also work pretty well for making jigs.
LIMITATIONS: While versatile, these blades won’t cut as clean as dedicated rip and crosscut blades. Their smaller gullets can cause burning and tearout in thick material — so they’re best used with thin material under 1.25”/30mm.
If you need cabinet-quality plywood cuts, I’d look for something with a higher tooth count.
BEST FOR: general work with hardwoods and softwoods up to 2”/50mm thick
When I’m working with thicker lumber, but not doing a bunch of dedicated ripping or crosscutting, this is my go-to blade.
Combination blades are a mix of different grinds, making them versatile and decent for both ripping and crosscuts.
They typically have 50 teeth that alternate between four ATB teeth, followed by one FTG or TCG tooth.
LIMITATIONS: The gullet in front of the FTG or TCG tooth is usually pretty big, helping remove a lot of material. This is good for ripping, but can cause decent tearout in plywood.
BEST FOR: ripping, milling lots of lumber, resawing under 4”
These blades are ideal for super precise rip cuts with a great glue line joint. After a good combo or general purpose blade, this is definitely my most used blade.
Ripping is the most labor intensive of any cut, and you can end up doing a lot when milling lumber. Having a dedicated ripping blade will help you:
With a steep, 20º rake angle, this blade rips faster and cleaner than a combination or general purpose blade. The deep gullets remove sawdust to keep the blade cool during longer cuts, and the lower tooth count makes it less expensive than its counterparts in the same line.
Because of the FTG teeth, I sometimes use them for flat bottom grooves or splines when I’m too lazy to put in my dado stack.
LIMITATIONS: Use this for crosscuts if you need some quick firewood.
BEST FOR: fine crosscuts and clean plywood cuts
Crosscut blades are ideal for super precise cuts across the grain with minimal tearout. I use them less than combination, general purpose, or rip blades — but I really protect mine.
Because when you need your crosscut blade, you need it to be great.
In my day-to-day workflow, I reach for my T60 blade when milling to length. For an exposed tenon or end grain, I put in my T80 for a guaranteed perfect cut (use backer board to avoid any tearout from an unsupported cut).
The lower rake also makes them great for super clean cuts on plywood. Typically, the higher the tooth count, the lower the rake and higher the bevel angle. This means it will cut slower — but also cleaner.
LIMITATIONS: Slow is fine for crosscuts, since they’re normally short distances. But try to use one of these for ripping, and you're liable to burn wood.
Seriously, don’t use them for a rip cut, even if it's just a short quick one. I’m guilty of it too, but because of the super small gullets, long rip cuts decrease the life of these blades quickly.
BEST FOR: dados, grooves, rabbets, half laps, bridal joints, and hogging out material when you’re not cutting all the way through
A dado stack consists of two outside blades with an ATBR grind, and an inside FTG chipper. This lets them create grooves with a really smooth bottom.
The teeth usually have a 0º rake or less, and big gullets for getting rid of material.
The outside blades’ tooth count is typically either 12 or 24 — but can get over 40. 12 teeth make for good general purpose dados. Use a T24 for finer work.
They also come with varying thicknesses of shims to really dial in the perfect cut.
Every woodworker should have a dado stack, and because of their very specific use, they last for years between sharpenings.
The CMT dado stacks we carry in our store come with a hard plastic carrying case that keeps them in top condition for as long as there’s wood to be cut in the world.
LIMITATIONS: Don’t use dados to cut through the full thickness of a board unless you’re ready to meet your maker.
Full kerf blades typically cut a kerf of ⅛ inch through your stock, and thin kerf blades tend to cut a kerf around 3/32 — about 25% less.
I use a thin kerf blade when I don’t want to waste a bunch of material. That makes them great for super exotic woods — and keeping as much money out of the dust collector as possible.
They’re also perfect for removing box lids so you lose very little of the grain wrap.
Deciding which to use can also depend on the horsepower of your table saw.
Full kerf blades work best on table saws with 1.5 horsepower or more. On a saw with less than 1.5 horsepower, you might feel like you have to force your stock through the blade.
Lower powered saws are where thin kerf blades shine, since they don’t need as much torque to spin. If you have issues with your blade vibrating, use a blade stiffener to make it more rigid.
The new thin kerf blades we carry in our store have 3 new patents for increased stabilization and typically don’t need a stabilizer.
All of them, of course. But if that’s not an option, I’d buy them in this order:
If you can have only one blade, a good general purpose or combination blade rocks.
You can make any kind of cut and are basically unlimited in your possibilities. The downside is you may spend more time cleaning up tearout and burning.
When you’re ready to add another blade to your arsenal, go for a ripping blade.
A dedicated ripping blade will blow your mind. You’ll get clean, burn free rip cuts that are ready for glue — and you don’t have to work as hard to push your wood through the saw.
And if you’re after super clean crosscuts with no tearout, get yourself a crosscut blade with an ATB grind and a whole lot of teeth.
Dado stacks are the last on my priority list — but I highly recommend them because they make your workflow so much more efficient.
Saw blades really are a “Buy once, cry once” situation. By paying more upfront, you’ll be paying less down the road.
That’s because good blades have large carbide teeth that can be sharpened multiple times — meaning your properly maintained blade can literally last years. And getting your blade sharpened only costs around $10-$20.
Sharpening Resources:
Lower quality blades have either too little carbide to be sharpened, or just straight steel teeth. When they get dull — which can happen in just a few cuts — you have to buy a new one.
Within a couple purchases, you’ve paid more than the cost of a high quality blade.
Beyond that, high quality blades are just designed better — meaning you’re going to get better results and have a better time in the shop. They’re flatter and stay flat at high speeds, the teeth don’t chip as easily, and the grind angles are perfect every time.
When shopping for a blade, make sure they’re laser cut and have plenty of carbide for sharpening.
The most important part of owning high quality blades is taking care of them.
The #1 reason blades stop cutting well is not because they’re dull — it’s because of pitch or sap build up. But keeping them clean is simple.
You basically have 2 options: Simple Green or a purpose-made cleaner.
Simple green works pretty well, but needs to be cleaned off after. Simple Green has stated they don’t recommend soaking blades since it can damage some anti-heat coatings.
The CMT Blade Cleaner we carry is biodegradable, works just as well as Simple Green, and the residue can be left on as a protective coat when you’re done cleaning off the pitch.
Here’s how to clean your blades:
Think your blade might be dull? Here’s a video I did on how to tell.
And if you’re curious, here’s a video where I show the sharpening process from start to finish.
BONUS TIP: Keep the packaging — it’s a wonderful way to protect your blade.
The CMT blades we carry have reusable packaging designed for exactly this. The Full Kerf line even has a sharpening log so you can keep track of when it was last refreshed. Both the Thin and Full Kerf have the tooth geometry laser engraved on the blade, so your sharpener won’t need any instructions.
First off, I would never recommend something I didn’t fully love and use myself.
I started using CMT blades over 2 years ago when they released their new Chromium line of blades to compete with the absolute top tier blades on the market — and I haven’t used anything else since.
Precision made in Italy, CMT blades are:
Best of all, they perform as well as any Forrest or Ridge Carbide I’ve used — at a significantly lower price.
The packaging is designed to be reused when you send them to get sharpened. Plus, they have the grind angles laser etched on the blade, so your sharpener will never have to guess which angles they originally came with.
They just released a thin kerf Chromium Line called ITK Extreme AND after two years of proclaiming my love for these blades, Katz-Moses Tools just became a licensed dealer!
I couldn’t be more proud to carry these CMT blades (full and thin kerf) in the Katz-Moses Tools store, so if you’re looking for super high quality blades that last AND perform (stop it), check ‘em out here.
PLUS, we are having a massive sale with blades as much as 50% off and you can get another 10% off if you use code KMT10CMT at checkout.
With this little bit of saw blade knowledge, you can easily level up your woodworking skills and start getting perfect cuts on the first pass.
Are you a “one blade for them all” type of cutter? Do your neighbors ask who’s making smores every time you rip a piece of maple? Leave it in the comments below!
For company questions or customer service, you can email us at support@kmtools.com.
And as always, STAY SAFE IN THE SHOP.
Kerry Hawkins
April 17, 2022
Thanks for this very informative message regarding saw blades. Probably one of the most comprehensive I’ve seen. Keep up the great work. I enjoy your weekly messages and find them to be helpful and very informative.