Miter saw blades for fine work?

[M Smith]

Hi all,

Wanted to get some recommendations for miter saw blades. I recently gave my miter saw to my father who wants to use it to cut miters for picture frames. Some of the wood he uses for frames is pretty fancy, so he doesn't want any chance of a cut splintering.

I know there have been reviews on saw blades but I couldn't seem to locate them here. Can anyone point me to them, or otherwise have recommendations for a blade for this type of work? I would think it would need to have a higher teeth count. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Mark

[Dave Falkenstein]

Forrest Chopmaster works well for me:

http://www.forrestsawbladesonline.com/category_4_Chopmaster.html

[John Browne]

Freud and Forrest both make excellent blades, and they both have blades just for miter saws. Either one should work fine for what you want. I just made a picture frame using the stock blade on the Makita 1013LS SCMS--worked amazingly well on some wenge, which is notorious for splintering.

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Mark,

I've been using a Freud Diablo 12" 96-Tooth blade (D1296N). I originally purchased the blade to cut an aluminum door threshold, but it cuts hardwood molding beautifully. I just take it slow and easy and have been extremely happy with the results. However, you may not need 96 teeth to get a good cut.

Paul

[M Smith]

Thanks guys -- appreciate the input. I should have noted that the saw is a 10" -- does that change anything?

[Joe Chritz]

Freud Avanti is what I have been using and it is a good blade. I was in a jam and needed a blade now so I got stuck with a thin kerf but it does well if you don't hurry through the cut.

Keeping them sharp is very important and order a full kerf.

Joe

[Jim Becker]

Forrest Chopmaster

[Bert Johansen]

Ditto on the Forrest Chopmaster. Incredibly smooth cuts. However, to absolutely eliminate chip-out I recommend you add zero-clearance surfaces on both the horizontal and vertical (fence) surfaces. I use 1/4-inch hardboard. The addition of a zero-clearance surface (cut first at 45 degrees) also gives you an exact reference line for cutting the miters, assuming you don't have a laser reference.

[Randal Stevenson]

The Forrest always gets high marks. The Freud (this IS a CMS, NOT a SCMS, correct?), LU85R010 has given me good results, and gets good reviews (I got a bargain and chanced it).

[M Smith]

Again, thanks everyone. I'll definitely recommend the Chopmaster, along with some of the other's mentioned. I don't know what my father's budget it, but I'm sure he knows he'll have to pay a little bit to get a good blade.

And yes, this is a CMS.

Mark

[scott spencer]

Freud's upper end (LU80 or LU85), Forrest Chopmaster or Duraline, CMT's upper end, Ridge Carbide, Infinity Ultrasmooth, should all make great choices.