Preferred saw blade for laminate flooring?

[GarageGuy]

From your experiences, what saw blade would you recommend for cutting laminate flooring with my BT3100?

I'm installing a light-oak laminated floating floor in the kitchen next week. True laminate, not engineered hardwood or solid hardwood. (We'll be moving within 2 years so I'm going inexpensive on this one).

Thanks!

[jhart]

A good 80 tooth miter blade should work ok on it. Have done 3 laminated floors that way. Came out great.

[drumpriest]

I did 900+ sq feet of laminate in 5 rooms, and I can tell you that the cheapest blade you can buy is the one to do a laminate flooring project with. I used a black and decker set of rip and cross cut blades from the BORG that cost 20$. The reason is that....

1. I didn't see any chip-out anyway.
2. If there was to be a little chip-out, all of the cuts are under base-board.
3. Laminate eats up saw blades.

[bebop]

I had better luck making a blade out of a piece of the laminate and laying down blades for the flooring.

[Rob R]

i would find the cheapest blade you can with 60-80 teeth on it. cut your flooring and then throw it away so you won't be temped to use it again. you'll trash it for sure and the cuts will all be hidden, RIGHT???

rob

[zootroy]

Ditto

Get a cheap carbide tooth blade. The edges don't have to be clean.

[scorrpio]

I picked up a 40T circular saw Freud blade (7.5") at HD for $15 and put it into my BT3100. Laminate might eat saw blades, but this blade ate through laminate with little trouble.

Some pointers, however: laminate top layer is aluminum oxide or something like that to make it tough. It is tough all right, but when in form of sawdust, it becomes an abrasive. That's what kills the blades. It can also kill everything else in the vicinity, so you want to use good dust collection with a fine filter. And don't cut laminate in the room where it's being installed.