Difference in TS and MS blades?

[phrog]

I know someone out there will know the answer to this. Is there a difference between a Table Saw blade and a Miter Saw blade of the same configuration? In other words is there a Freud 10" 60 tooth MITER saw blade that is different from a Freud 10" 60 tooth TABLE saw blade? (or any other brand or tooth number) If so, what is the difference? Thanks.
Richard

[drumpriest]

This is a 60 tooth Freud sliding miter saw blade. The difference is that it has a negative hook angle. Use of that blade on the table saw would be dangerous at best, as it would be lifting up on the workpiece as it was cutting.

[LCHIEN]

What keith says...

[LarryG]

What Keith and Loring said. DON'T use a table saw blade on a miter saw; dangerous. DOUBLE-DON'T use a table saw blade on a sliding miter saw or radial arm saw; dangerous to the point of being foolhardy.

[SARGE..g-47]

Ditto what everyone said. To add to what drumpiece partially mentioned for those that are scratching their head muttering "huh"...... a TS cuts on the down stroke and a miter-SCMS cuts on the up stroke.

Two entirely different animals and require different pitch angles to insure safety and reduce tear out..

Regards...

[onedash]

dont some blades say they can be used on a table saw and a miter saw?

[phrog]

Q: How to Tell the Difference When Buying

Thanks Keith, Loring, Larry, and Sarge. Now the next question - when I go to Lowes, Home Depot, or other, how do I tell whether I'm looking at a table saw blade or a miter saw blade. I don't think they are labelled. Thanks again.

[cpritchard]

I just want to make sure I am being safe here. Is a Hitachi 725206 and the Freud LU84R011 safe to use on both?

[LarryG]

Rockler has a good primer on saw blades, including an explanation of hook angles.

Once you know what to look for, determining the approximate hook angle visually is pretty easy. Imagine a line running from the center of the arbor hole to a tooth. If the tip of the tooth leans toward this line, that's positive hook angle. If it leans backwards, away from the line, that's negative hook angle.

Blades that are advertised as being usable on all types of saws should have either a low negative hook angle or none at all. To compensate, feed rates have to be slowed down on a table saw because blades with low hook angles don't "attack" the wood as aggressively. The reason rip blades rip so easily is because they usually have high hook angles, say on the order of 20 degrees, which makes for a very aggressive cut.

[TB Roye]

Thanks for the information on the blades. I never thought there was a difference and a safety factor. Will remember this when I change blades on the miter sway. BT3Central comes through again.

Tom

[LCHIEN]

Thanks Keith, Loring, Larry, and Sarge. Now the next question - when I go to Lowes, Home Depot, or other, how do I tell whether I'm looking at a table saw blade or a miter saw blade. I don't think they are labelled. Thanks again.

Sometimes they are labeled as to hook angle or even stated for miter saw use. Sometimes not.
Radius line is an imaginary line drawn from the cnter of the blade to
a tooth.
The face of a tooth makes an angle with respect to the radius, said to be the hook angle.
If the tooth is straight up and down (e.g. lies on the radius line) then the hook angle is said to be zero.
If the tooth leans towards the direction of the cut (leaning forwards when mounted on a table saw) then the hook angle is said to be positive. Like the factory blade on the BT for example. All ripping blades (~20 degrees) and probably all combo blades (10-15 degrees) will have positive hook angles.
If mounted on a table saw the hook appears to be leaning backwards, it has a negative hook angle, generally negative hook angles don't exceed 5 degrees.

That said now you can roughly identify the hook angle on blades.

Miter saws and table saws differ in the way the blade hits the wood.
Table saws always cut at the leading edge and a negative hook blade is not recommended as it will not impart the down force as well as a positive hook blade.

Miter saws, because the blade drops down across the entire width tend to cut more evenly across the wood. The negative hook will tend to push the wood down against the table, positive hooks will tend to grab the wood and lift it. [P.S. A sliding Miter saw is probably worst case because leading edge cuts the wood, not the entire circumference] Crosscut blades of 60-80 teeth tend to have hook angles in the +5, 0 and down to -5 degrees. so you'd tend to want to pick the ones between 0 and -5 for use on miter saws. [P.S. A sliding miter saw is best served with a negative hook blade, like -5 degrees]

If you plan to use it on both TS and MS, then pick one close to zero.

[cpritchard]

Thanks for clearing it up. It kind of makes me upset though, that a retailer will sell you a miter saw with blades in the range of 10 and 15 degree hook. Shouldn't they give you ones closer to 0 then?

[isddarms]

I love the info on this site!

To take this a step further: What blade would y'all recommend for (1) a replacement on the BT3100, (2) a 10" radial arm saw, and (3) a 12" [not-sliding] miter saw? Something of good, but not necessarily top-of-the-line quality.

[scorrpio]

For my BT3100, I snagged a TS2000 Ridge Carbide when Holbren offered them at something like $65. I love that blade - even more so than a Forrest WWII, which I also have. TS2000 seems to perform better in thick stock, due to larger gullets.

For MS/RAS, find a decent blade (i.e. Freud LU91R010 or ) with a negative hook - or watch out for a sale on Forrest Chopmaster or Ridge Carbide RS1000. These blades generally have more teeth (60-80) compared to the 40T TS combo blades, which makes them more expensive - by $20-25 or so.

[Thom2]

For my BT3100, I snagged a TS2000 Ridge Carbide when Holbren offered them at something like $65. I love that blade - even more so than a Forrest WWII, which I also have. TS2000 seems to perform better in thick stock, due to larger gullets.

For MS/RAS, find a decent blade (i.e. Freud LU91R010 or ) with a negative hook - or watch out for a sale on Forrest Chopmaster or Ridge Carbide RS1000. These blades generally have more teeth (60-80) compared to the 40T TS combo blades, which makes them more expensive - by $20-25 or so.

DITTO!....