What 12" blade for SCMS?

[Bruce Thompson]

I will be buying a 12" SCMS soon and want to equip it with a good thin kerf blade. I have been happy with my Freud Industrial 10" table saw blade so had intended to get a Freud Industrial 96T 12" thin kerf "Miter & Cut Off" LU74R012 for the SCMS. Cost at Woodcraft Supply $107.

Woodcraft also offers a Forrest 12" thin kerf for $208. Not sure how I would get twice the value for that one. What am I missing?

Freud website shows 12" "Thin Kerf Sliding Miter" with 72 teeth, LU91R012 and a "Thin kerf Fine Finish Crosscut" with 80 teeth.

I mostly cut Baltic Birch plywood and various hardwoods.

Any advice for me? What differences would I see between 72, 80, and 96 teeth?

[Tom M King]

Why thin kerf?

[Earl McLain]

I've been pretty happy with a Forrest Chopmaster (and i'm not a fan of their 40 tooth "all-purpose" blade on my table saw), should be available at $140-$150. Also have an Amana AGE MD12-106 that i really like, around $90-$100 +/-. Bought both slightly used, and no issues with either. Both are in the -5 deg hook family, and i think both are 4 ATB/1 Flat Raker configuration. I use a variation of the Amana (and Tenryu Gold) on my old RAS, very happy with those as well--real similar design. Tried the Chopmaster on the RAS once--was loud and just felt different.
Good luck.
earl

[Michael Pyron]

my take on 12" miter saw blades is this: you really need to go with a full kerf blade because this implies a thicker blade plate...thin kerfs will flex on such a large diameter blade and make fine cuts difficult if not impossible...this effect is greatly exacerbated when trying to trim 1/64" off an existing cut for that "perfect" fit

that being said, during the 19 years I used my Makita LS1211 (I retired it a few months ago) I used a Freud LU85 series almost exclusively...considering I have never found a local sharpening service worth a flip I ended up using a blade for a year or 2 for fine work then getting a new one and using the old one for things like MDF, and over time acquired enough that a blade was always available for whatever I found myself needing to cut into (rubber moulding, aluminum, etc)

[John TenEyck]

Give the one it comes with a fair chance before throwing money at a problem that may not exist. I have a 12" Bosch DCMS, not a slider, and the stock, thin kerf 60 tooth blade cut amazingly well, way beyond my expectations. I did a lot of fine trim and even furniture work with it before I did something stupid and wrecked it. I cut a lot of compound miter cuts with it on 6" wide hardwood and the joints fit together beautifully. A sharp blade and not forcing the cut yields smooth, straight results. I bought a 96 tooth Freud blade along the way but only use it on stock up to about an inch; it bogs down in anything thicker. For most uses I found a 60 to 70 tooth blade works best on this particular saw.

Michael, check out Dynamic Saw in Buffalo, NY for sharpening. Excellent work at very fair prices.

John

[Frederick Skelly]

Give the one it comes with a fair chance before throwing money at a problem that may not exist. I have a 12" Bosch DCMS, not a slider, and the stock, thin kerf 60 tooth blade cut amazingly well, way beyond my expectations.

I agree with John. My 12" Makita is not a slider. But I have been using the factory blade regularly for 12 years and it has made consistently good cuts. (Caveat: It's only used on weekends, as Im a hobbyist not a pro.)
Fred

[Jim Becker]

I've been using a Forrest Chopmaster for years...great blade. I may even get it sharpened soon.

[Ron Kellison]

I've had a Forrest Chopmaster on my Hitachi slider for several years. VERY happy with it!

[Brian Holcombe]

Tenryu Miter Pro Plus 100T is a wonderful blade in my experience.

[Mike Kees]

I have an FS Tools 60 tooth on my 12 miter saw . It is not a slider. On my sliding saw I run 5 degree negative rake blades . I agree with John on the quality of some factory blades,Makita saws in my experience come with great blades.

[joe maday]

using in a Dewalt miter saw for years...... Ridge carbide. 80tooth....$150.00

[Eric Danstrom]

I always equip my CPMS and SCMS with a negative hook angle toothed blade. That way I can cut non-ferrous metal along with wood. On my 12" Dewalt SCMS I bought a Dewalt 96T negative hook blade to complement the 36T general purpose blade that came with it.

[Neil Gaskin]

I've had great luck with both my Forrest and Ridge Carbide blades.