10" circular saw blade

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I have used Leitz blades for both wood and metal on my Frame Square. I have had no problems. The bladas are 254x3x15.88 80 tooth.

Also Quinn saw company, a Grumble thread sponsor is a great source for blades.
 
FraminGal said:
I need to replace my 10" circular saw blade. Does anyone use a blade for both wood and alluminum frames? Any recommendations?
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If you're doing this as more than a hobby, I suggest getting at least two blades. That way you can have one out for sharpening while using the other one. Blades dull gradually enough that you might not realize how dull your blade was until you swap out for a nice new or freshly-sharpened one and feel the difference.

I use different blades for wood and metal. For wood I use a 100-tooth ATB (alternate tooth bevel) blade. For metal I use a 100-tooth TCG (triple chip grind) blade. I don't chop very much metal, so swapping blades on the rare occasion isn't a big deal for me...
 
My local blade sharpener (Bay Area Carbide, Concord, Calif.) recommends exactly what Jim has. Our previous saw only had TCG blades which cut wood fine. Likewise, the Alternating tips cut metal on our dual-miter just the same. Still, we discourage the sale of metal frames, and I order those chopped now (priced accordingly) just to reduce the hassle.
 
Carbide blades for wood - yes. But I'd recommend the high speed steel blades for metal - not carbide tipped, and you have to keep them lubricated.
 
Everyone has good recommendations. I concur with having a dedicated wood blade with the 4+1 alternate top bevel tooth form, then switching to either a triple chip tooth form carbide tipped blade for metal or a solid high speed steel blade for metal.

Artistic Framer is right on with making sure the metal is cut with lubrication.

You can cut wood with the triple chip metal blade, but the cut will not be as good as the "for wood only" 4+1 alternate top bevel tooth form.
Sawing metal with the 4+1 alternate top bevel blade is not recommended.
 
Artistic Framer said:
Carbide blades for wood - yes. But I'd recommend the high speed steel blades for metal - not carbide tipped, and you have to keep them lubricated.
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Sorry, but that's not very 'sound' advice... I believe you have been given some bad information.

Tungsten Carbide is about the ONLY type of blade tip that you should or could use in many cases when cutting METAL and although not necessary, it's best for cutting WOOD as well. The Carbide Tipped blades stay sharper longer (4 - 10 times depending on medium being cut...), dissipate heat MUCH FASTER (reducing shock, twist/wobble) and the big reason why the BLADE 'bodies' are normally made from High Carbon Steel (Chrome / Moly), Nickel... etc., hence the high price of a 'good SAW blade'.
Also, you can get away with cutting Wood with a simple METAL blade, but why bother when Tungsten Carbide is available in virtually ANY type (tooth shape, tooth count, degree/bevel) along with being 'Multi-purpose'? As well, lubricant is not even considered on MOST Metal cutting blades when a circular or mitre saw is being used as it actually HINDERS the cutting process. Lubricant is best used for a cutting process using 'thin flexible blades' such as that of a 'Bandsaw' for 'obvious' reasons.

Cheers,
 
FraminGal said:
I need to replace my 10" circular saw blade. Does anyone use a blade for both wood and alluminum frames? Any recommendations?
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Do you mean a 'Mitre Saw' or a 'Sliding Table Top Saw'?

I used a ROYCE blade (Royce/Ayr now I believe..) a number of years ago and almost everything I've used since, seems to 'Pale' in comparison. For a Multi-Purpose blade (or any blade for that matter..) you just can't go wrong.

Also, I asked a 'friend of a friend' of mine who runs a cabinet shop and he said that the AMANA 5° Negative Hook-California TC Grind is one of the BEST Multi-purpose blades that he's ever used... Cuts both HARD/SOFT wood and ALUMINUM like BUTTER and with NO MITRE GAPS which he tells me is pretty important when his people are making and installing $15,000 to $100,000 kitchen cabinets..:)

Cheers,
 
the last one I bought was at HD(needed it THEN not in 3 days)---like $54 it is a diablo/84T...pretty thin blade...cant 'hourse' the cut....is as good/better than the 2 $150-$180 ones I also have.. will buy another when this one wears out
 
jman said:
Sorry, but that's not very 'sound' advice... I believe you have been given some bad information.

Tungsten Carbide is about the ONLY type of blade tip that you should or could use in many cases when cutting METAL and although not necessary, it's best for cutting WOOD as well. The Carbide Tipped blades stay sharper longer (4 - 10 times depending on medium being cut...), dissipate heat MUCH FASTER (reducing shock, twist/wobble) and the big reason why the BLADE 'bodies' are normally made from High Carbon Steel (Chrome / Moly), Nickel... etc., hence the high price of a 'good SAW blade'.
Also, you can get away with cutting Wood with a simple METAL blade, but why bother when Tungsten Carbide is available in virtually ANY type (tooth shape, tooth count, degree/bevel) along with being 'Multi-purpose'? As well, lubricant is not even considered on MOST Metal cutting blades when a circular or mitre saw is being used as it actually HINDERS the cutting process. Lubricant is best used for a cutting process using 'thin flexible blades' such as that of a 'Bandsaw' for 'obvious' reasons.

Cheers,
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I cut metal with a lubricated high speed steel blade using a Makita LS1030 for 16 years with great results. Always switched out the blade to a carbide tipped for wood. I have cut metal with carbide, but found the fatter kerf size was a problem as well as overheating even with lubrication resulting in a rough burr on the frame and premature blade dulling.

Back in those days I'd be cutting 30+ aluminum frames at a time with the set-up I described. If you're cutting 2 or 3 metal frames, the issues with the carbide blade I described probably wouldn't be an issue.
 
A circular saw is a hand held saw for carpentry (and usually are a little smaller 7 1/4 or 6 1/2") if you mean a a miter or table saw blade I would suggest getting a blade from Quinn. they will steer you in the right direction.
 
Artistic Framer said:
I cut metal with a lubricated high speed steel blade using a Makita LS1030 for 16 years with great results. Always switched out the blade to a carbide tipped for wood. I have cut metal with carbide, but found the fatter kerf size was a problem as well as overheating even with lubrication resulting in a rough burr on the frame and premature blade dulling.

Back in those days I'd be cutting 30+ aluminum frames at a time with the set-up I described. If you're cutting 2 or 3 metal frames, the issues with the carbide blade I described probably wouldn't be an issue.
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Hmmmm,
..that's just too weird for me... My experience has always been the 'opposite' of what you're saying to me. I think that the only time I've EVER used a 'steel only blade' was when I was cutting lumber for my Deck or ripping boards with the Table and Radial saw. The only lubrication that I've ever used on a saw, was either on a 'large' Bandsaw or the tiny Jeweler's saw (I still use them both). Sounds like the steel blade worked for your application, but I 'personally' would never use any blade to cut 'aluminum' that required some type of lubrication.

Although many CARBIDE blades have nice thick blades, 'finishing blades' are just as thin as any STEEL blade. The thing is, it's not the KERF or Thickness of a blade that you have to be worried about... It's actually the SHAPE of the 'carbide bit' that is brazed onto the Saw Blades 'Tooth' and one very good reason why the "AMANA 5° Negative Hook-California TC Grind" is perfect for 'Aluminum AND wood'. Ultimately, the degree and shape of the tip is what makes the difference in 'burring' and quality of cut (..a good saw being a pre-requisite of course..).

Oddly, even with out of the box 'Carbide tipped finishing blades' (10" - 80T and higher) will provide a beautiful 'burr-less mitre'.

Cheers,
 
jman, I think the steel blade Artistic Framer is talking about is made from M2 high speed steel. I don't want to get to technical but these blades are hardened to 58-60 Rockwell. The Rockwell scale is like a 0 to 100 scale and used to check the hardness on steel after they have been heat treated. Most saw blades go through this process to reach there desired hardness. 58-60 Rockwell is the correct hardness for solid high speed steel saw blades for sawing aluminum. Cheap blades you find at the hardware store that look similar to these blades do not go through this same heat treating process.
A carbide tip on the other hand is about 90 on the scale and have a softer blade body to give it flexibility. The harder it is on the Rockwell scale the more brittle the blade is.
A 10"solid high speed steel blade can have very small teeth (150-300) ground into them allowing thin aluminum extrusions to be cut with minimum burr. A 10" carbide tipped saw blade can have a maximum 120 teeth.
My youtube video in my signature shows how we take a blank saw blade and grind in the teeth.
I hope that explains the differences between a good HSS blade and carbide tipped saw blade.
We have 2 videos one for carbide tipped saws and the other for HSS saw blades.
 
TCG or ATB+R for wood?

As I said in an earlier post, I use a 100-tooth ATB+R blade for cutting wood mouldings, and a 100-tooth TCG blade for cutting metal. These are the blades that Clearmount sells for those purposes.

Yesterday I was chopping a bunch of metal, and I also had one single length of wood moulding that I had to chop. I didn't want to go through the trouble of changing out the blade for one cut, so I cut the wood with the TCG. Man, was THAT a clean and easy cut! Smooth as a baby's you-know-what. Less compo chipping than with the ATB blade too (for what it's worth, both blades had been recently sharpened).

So the question is: Is TCG a good choice for wood after all?
 
Triple Chip Grind blades are good for combo blades if you are only going to use one blade. Back in the days when I cut tons of metal a couple decades ago I only used TCG blades. CTD saw and just turned the spray mist lubrication petcock on and off depending on what was being cut. It mostly depends on your volume of each type of material and how often you sharpen your blades. Give Bill at Quinn a call and he can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about blades even if you want to buy them from somebody else. W.D. Quinn Saw is 107 years old so they know about blades.
 
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