Best blade for miter saw?

[Andrew Levine]

I am looking to make my Dewalt miter saw (non-sliding 10") more of a precision tool. I am putting in zero clearance inserts and making a ZC fence. I am looking for a full kerf blade with a negative hook angle. Nobody seems to make one. I've looked at freud, forrest, and tenryu.

I can get a blade that's full kerf, but not negative angle. Or I can get a thin kerf blade that IS negative angle.

What's best? Does it matter?

Thanks.

[Andrew Hughes]

Hi Andrew,I been using the forrest chop master.The blade cuts almost perfect miters in hickory.I really have no complaints hickory is a tough wood to cut without blade wandering.Thats my vote.Aj

[Jamie Buxton]

Amana makes a chopsaw blade that is almost full-kerf. It cuts a .115" kerf, 10 thousandths less than a full .125 kerf. http://www.amanatool.com/products/saw-blades/miter-saw-blades/miter-double-miter-2-degree-hook-x-4-atb-1-raker-saw-blades/ms10600-carbide-tipped-miter-10-inch-dia-x-60t-4-1-atb-2-deg-5-8-bore.html

And they also show a chopsaw blade with a 3 mm kerf. Maybe it is the same blade with different markings. http://www.agecuttingtools.com/sawblades/miterdoublemiter-saw-blades.html

[ken masoumi]

I would look at saw blades for cutting non ferrous materials since they have Negative hook angle.LU94M010 Industrial Plastics Blade (http://www.justfreud.com/freud_specialty_blades.htm#2291) it might be what you're looking for .
I just checked,the kerf is:.110 for this blade. but other non ferrous blades like ;LU89=.122 c/w -7°hook.

[Justin Ludwig]

Carbide Processors makes what you want. Tom, the owner is a Creeker. I get my blades through them and I'm extremely pleased with both the quality and the service.

[CPeter James]

Ridge Carbide RS 1000. I have one and it cuts great.

CPeter

[Peter Kelly]

I got one these for my Kapex: http://www.infinitytools.com/10-Miter-Saw-Blade-80T-5_8-Arbor-110-Kerf/productinfo/010-280/

Better than the facrory blade and considerably less expensive.

[Steve Peterson]

Hi Andrew,I been using the forrest chop master.The blade cuts almost perfect miters in hickory.I really have no complaints hickory is a tough wood to cut without blade wandering.Thats my vote.Aj

I have also been using the 12" version of the chopmaster and really like it. I have not felt the need to look at anything else.

Steve

[Tom M King]

I have also been using the 12" version of the chopmaster and really like it. I have not felt the need to look at anything else.

Steve

Same for me.

[Scott Brihn]

I use a Freud LU85RO, 96 Tooth blade.

[Mark W Pugh]

http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Tools-010-280-Tooth-Miter/dp/B000TR21KQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1421268431&sr=1-1&keywords=infinity+10%22+miter+saw+blade

[scott spencer]

As long as the hook angle is reasonably low (~10° or less for a non-slider, ~ 5° or less for a slider), you don't need a negative angle . Infinity 010-280, Freud LU80, Forrest Chopmaster, Ridge Carbide RS1000, CMT 210.080.10...all excellent choices... some are negative hook, some not, but all have a sufficiently low hook angle. Full kerf should help with precision by preventing flexing....keep it clean and sharp too.

[Michael Heffernan]

A couple months ago I bought a Tenryu MP-30560AB Miter Pro Plus 12" blade for my Bosch Axial Glide. It has -3 degree rake (hook) angle. I've not used a Chopmaster, but have had Freud, CMT and Onsrud miter saw blades. This Tenryu is the best blade I've used, ever. Smooth cuts in chop or slide mode, no lifting. I cut a lot of hardwood of all dimensions and this blade never bogs down.
http://www.tenryu.com/mp.html
The miter pro plus series are all negative rake. Got mine on Amazon for $117 and free shipping.

[JUSTIN HUISENGA]

On a 10" miter saw I run an FS Tool LM6250 (80t 4 ATB+R-.112 kerf .087 plate 2* negative hook). It runs about $110 from Carbide.com. For work that is tougher on tooling I run a less expensive Amana AGE MD-10-806 (80t 4 H-ATB+TCG raker .110 kerf and .98 plate 5* negative hook). It's the heaviest plate I have seen on a 10" blade. $60 on Amazon. Both of these blades are designed for art framing so the carbide has very low side clearances to keep the blade from lifting grain when it is raised while it is still spinning. It's not always the best thing to do but when running trim it saves a couple of seconds per cut which adds up quick. The FS tool blade runs well on a sliding saw as well but I usually run 60t blades on tthese. The Amana is best suited to a normal miter saw.

The kerf doesn't matter nearly as much as the plate thickness but as a general rule the thicker the kerf the thicker the plate.

I own a Forrest Chopmaster and when sharp it cuts very well but the edge retention isn't close to what you can get out of industrial tooling for the same or less money. The same is true of the ATAF grind that Tenyru uses. Very clean cutting but doesn't hold up. I won't use Freud blades or bits. Too many brazing problems and the carbide is crazy brittle and prone to chipping under normal use. My sharpener dropped them because of so many problems.

[Art Mann]

I am looking for a full kerf blade with a negative hook angle. Nobody seems to make one. I've looked at freud, forrest, and tenryu.

Maybe the fact that these major blade manufacturers don't make a negative hook, full kerf blade ought to tell you something.

[Tom M King]

I've been using my 12" RAS for 41 years now, and power mitersaws for a good while too. I've never owned a negative hook blade, and don't know why I would want one. The RAS has been set up to cut as perfectly as possible on 90 degree cuts only for over 20 years, and has not needed to be touched for any readjustment. I absolutely don't want the blade to hang up in anything to throw it off, which one hangup would probably do, but any blade I use on it doesn't worry me.

I have a Ryobi chop miter saw that we use up on scaffolding, so if it gets dropped, or handled too roughly, there won't be much lost. A few weeks ago, I needed to put a new blade on it, and didn't want to spend much money, so I bought a 35 buck Avanti from Home Depot. I was pleasantly surprised with how cleanly it cut. I doubt it will last long, or even be worth resharpening, but for a cheap blade it leaves a decent cut for as long as it lasts, and was worth the 35 bucks for that one job.

I don't really like thin kerf blades for anything, unless you absolutely need one to minimize wood loss in a special case.

[Art Mann]

Exchanging a thin kerf blade for a 1/8" kerf blade is equivalent to adding about 50% to your saw's horsepower.

[Mark Blatter]

I put a new blade on my Dewalt about two years ago and the difference was incredible. The blade is, I think, a Superior blade, regular kerf. It cuts oak and maple like they are soft butter. I will check tonight on the brand, but almost sure that is what it is. I have the same manufacture on my table saw and it is does a great job there too.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Not the blade you asked about, but someone else may be interested. Makita makes a really great 10" chop saw blade, its the 80 tooth model, and it's only $40.

[Dan Clark]

A couple months ago I bought a Tenryu MP-30560AB Miter Pro Plus 12" blade for my Bosch Axial Glide. It has -3 degree rake (hook) angle. I've not used a Chopmaster, but have had Freud, CMT and Onsrud miter saw blades. This Tenryu is the best blade I've used, ever. Smooth cuts in chop or slide mode, no lifting. I cut a lot of hardwood of all dimensions and this blade never bogs down.
http://www.tenryu.com/mp.html
The miter pro plus series are all negative rake. Got mine on Amazon for $117 and free shipping.
After an odd set of circumstances, I ended up with four blades for my Festool Kapex - a Tenryu MiterPro plus 80T, a Forrest ChopMaster 80T, and two Festool blades. So I did a review comparing them: http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/festool-reviews/2836-kapex-saw-blade-review.html. For general use, the Festool 60T was best. For critical work, the Tenryu MiterPro plus 80T was the best.

YMMV.

Dan.

[scott spencer]

After an odd set of circumstances, I ended up with four blades for my Festool Kapex - a Tenryu MiterPro plus 80T, a Forrest ChopMaster 80T, and two Festool blades. So I did a review comparing them: http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/festool-reviews/2836-kapex-saw-blade-review.html. For general use, the Festool 60T was best. For critical work, the Tenryu MiterPro plus 80T was the best.

YMMV.

Dan.

Excellent summary Dan.