Miter saw blade

[LCHIEN]

In my miter saw I currently have a Freud TK806
10" x 80 Tooth, Alternate Top Bevel, Thin Kerf, Carbide Tipped, Ultra Miter Saw Blade. (positive hook angle)

The Cross cuts are very clean on the ends except that I do get what seems to me to be a lot of splintering/tear-out on the bottom and backside.

So,
does it need sharpening
Or I need to get a HiATB or
Do I need a blade from Dustmight's recommended crosscut blade list, like a LU80- or LU79R010 or a Dewalt 3218 or a LU74R010?

will that solve the splintering/tearout or is it something everyone gets with all these blades?

[RodKirby]

"Perfect timing", Loring. I was recently having the same sort of problem, along with having to push a little more...

You will recall, back in 2004, I bought a WWII blade in Houston. Brought is home and installed it and at the same time got the other one sharpened.

So - I decided, after 3 years, to get the current one sharpened and swap in the sharpened one - WOW - what a difference.

For me - tear out almost vanished AND much less effort to push the work piece thru.

My theory - Assumnig no accidents, no matter how sharp the blade feels to touch, if any of the above occurs, get it sharpened as a first step

[Knottscott]

Hey ya Loring. Giving the blade a good cleaning never hurts, but it's probably not causing that tearout. Are you using a ZCI on your CMS? A nice sharp blade never hurts but a ZCI can help alot with any blade.

Any of the blade's you mentioned should do a fine job. A Hi-ATB blade will yield the cleanest cut ....something with no more than a 10d hook works out best. The downside is that the higher that bevel, the more vulnerable those points are to abrading faster, but you should still got alot of cuts between sharpenings.

[cabinetman]

Actually the tearout in the picture doesn't look all that bad, I could show you worse. For critical cuts, I use a sacrificial back-up piece. That beats a ZCI by a long shot, IMO.
.

[cgallery]

I'm with Mr. Kirby, get it sharpened. It is amazing how we forget what a sharp blade cuts and feels like. I'm always stunned when I put a new or sharpened blade on my saw and always say something like, "I shoulda done this about three months ago."

[LCHIEN]

Hey ya Loring. Giving the blade a good cleaning never hurts, but it's probably not causing that tearout. Are you using a ZCI on your CMS? A nice sharp blade never hurts but a ZCI can help alot with any blade.

Any of the blade's you mentioned should do a fine job. A Hi-ATB blade will yield the cleanest cut ....something with no more than a 10d hook works out best. The downside is that the higher that bevel, the more vulnerable those points are to abrading faster, but you should still got alot of cuts between sharpenings.

DM, I don't think the saw I have has a provision for a ZCI.
Would a sharpened TK806 (ATB) be practically as good as a new LU79R010 (HiATB) or DW3218 (ATB) - I guess the tradeoff is the HiATB will cut with less tearout but dull faster.
Considering the cost of sharpening the TK806 80T blade will be around $30 or more after shipping, then $50 to 60 for a new blade is a consideration, is it worth the extra $30?

[sparkeyjames]

There is a lot to be said for a nice sharp blade. I have a Dewalt 12" CMS with a 60 tooth finishing blade. It has low mileage and still leaves a little tear out at the bottom. It's just not enough for me to get bent out of shape about. I hit the cut piece with a sanding block and all is good.


sparkeyjames

[rockybrown]

if you're thinking about buying a new blade, xcesstooling has h.o. schumacher & sohn 80 tooth full kerf blade for $25 plus shipping. take a look at woodnet for sale/trade forum. i ordered one last week and when it gets here i'll let you know how it cuts.

rb

[Knottscott]

DM, I don't think the saw I have has a provision for a ZCI.
Would a sharpened TK806 (ATB) be practically as good as a new LU79R010 (HiATB) or DW3218 (ATB) - I guess the tradeoff is the HiATB will cut with less tearout but dull faster.
Considering the cost of sharpening the TK806 80T blade will be around $30 or more after shipping, then $50 to 60 for a new blade is a consideration, is it worth the extra $30?

The LU79 is the TK version of the LU80 (formerly the F810). I can't say from experience with a direct comparison that a resharpened TK806 will cut as well as an LU79, but I highly doubt it....the F810 is simply the cleanest cutting blade I've used to date.

As far as a ZCI...if there's no accommodation to put one in, use a backer board underneath your primary for critical cuts.

[Andrew Benedetto]

Actually the tearout in the picture doesn't look all that bad, I could show you worse. For critical cuts, I use a sacrificial back-up piece. That beats a ZCI by a long shot, IMO.
.

I find 3M blue painter tape long mask works well tearout side along the cut. The sacrifical wood is the best but can be wasteful. Hardboard can sometimes be used as a ZCI.

[jziegler]

Loring,

I have the same blade in my CMS, and I haven't seen that much tearout that I can remember. I usually get very clean cuts. I'd say get it sharpened and see what happens. And if it doesn't cut cleanly enough in the CMS, you have a great plywood blade for you BT (the other thing I use the blade for).

Jim