Jay Jeffery
02-03-2010, 6:55 PM
I just got one of the Milwaukee SCMS, which is designed of course to use a zero or negative hook angle blade. I set the thin, cheap blade that came with the saw aside and mounted a Craftsman branded Freud blade that makes high quality cuts, but has a hook angle of something like 7 degrees.
I tried to cut a piece earlier this week that was shorter than I should have been cutting and had an undetected knot. The piece was pulled upwards, torn apart, and thrown with surprising force. No harm done, and I was making a cut I should not have for other reasons, but it has me thinking I'd be safer with the proper blade.
But when you go looking for blades, you find that although at least 90% of the 12" saws out there are miter saws, probably 90% of the 12" blades have a hook angle appropriate for table saws! The orange BORG has many sliding saws, but of the half dozen or so 12" blades, none are right for the sliders!
I'll concede a negative hook angle is not as inappropriate on a non-sliding miter saw. But wouldn't they still benefit from a blade that pushed the wood towards the table?
Only a few companies have these specialized blades for these commodity saws. Hook angle is also rarely given on the blade specs expect for the high-end brands, and even then it is often buried.
I tried to cut a piece earlier this week that was shorter than I should have been cutting and had an undetected knot. The piece was pulled upwards, torn apart, and thrown with surprising force. No harm done, and I was making a cut I should not have for other reasons, but it has me thinking I'd be safer with the proper blade.
But when you go looking for blades, you find that although at least 90% of the 12" saws out there are miter saws, probably 90% of the 12" blades have a hook angle appropriate for table saws! The orange BORG has many sliding saws, but of the half dozen or so 12" blades, none are right for the sliders!
I'll concede a negative hook angle is not as inappropriate on a non-sliding miter saw. But wouldn't they still benefit from a blade that pushed the wood towards the table?
Only a few companies have these specialized blades for these commodity saws. Hook angle is also rarely given on the blade specs expect for the high-end brands, and even then it is often buried.