Types of Saw Blades for Wood Table Saws

The blade is the fundamental part of any table saw. No matter how powerful the motor is, its guides are good and the controls are precise to adjust the cutting configuration, without a good blade the cuts will not be of quality.

Why is the saw blade so important? Because a good circular table equipped with a bad blade will not make good cuts and vice versa, you can achieve much better results in your cuts if you replace the blade that comes standard on most saws with one with a greater number of teeth.

In other words, there is little use for buying the best table saw on the market if you don't use the correct blade for the wood you are going to cut.

That being said, what is the best type of blade for table saws? There are many types of discs for both hand and table circular saws, depending on the number of teeth, their inclination, and the way they are arranged on the circumference of the disc.

Are discs with more teeth always better?

In principle, the Best Saw blades are those with a greater number of teeth, since they leave a better finish in the cuts. However, they also have their drawbacks, for example, with the same diameter, if one blade has more teeth than another, you need your table saw to have a more powerful electric motor.

Also, think that finishing defects, irregularities, poorly cut fibers, etc., can be easily corrected with an electric hand brush, a sandpaper block, or an electric orbital sander, for example. On the contrary, if the precision of the disc is insufficient, you will not be able to correct the part.

Therefore, when buying a blade for your table saw, you must consider all these aspects to find the balance between quality of finish, the price of the blade, the power of the saw, etc.

In the article how to choose a circular saw blade published by demaquinasyherramdamientos.com you can expand the information on types of material (high-speed steel, carbide, diamond), tooth geometry, angle of attack, throat size, etc.

Disc tooth material

Currently, the most common material used to make the teeth of a saw blade is tungsten carbide or tungsten. Discs that have these types of teeth are known as TCT discs. TCT stands for Tungsten Carbide Teeth, literally 'tungsten carbide teeth'. Be careful, it is the disc that is TCT and not the tooth, because in the initials TCT the word tooth already appears, then talking about TCT teeth would be redundant.

Tungsten carbide is an extremely hard material that stays sharp for much longer than other materials such as tool steel or high-speed steel. This material is also known as video, which comes from the German abbreviation widia for Wie Diamant 'like a diamond'.

Vine is a composite material made up of carbon and tungsten. It is characterized by being very compact and dense (its density is 15 times greater than that of water, the volume of a one-liter tetra brick of this material would weigh 15.6 kg). Its appearance is dull dark gray and slightly shiny.

Although it is less frequent, there are also saw blades made of other materials:

• Hardened Carbon Steel - Known as tool steel. It is very cheap but dulls easily if used to cut hardwood.
• HSS HSS : HSS is an alloy of iron, carbon, and small amounts of other elements that increase the hardness of the steel. Example: cobalt-alloyed high-speed steel, a material that is also used to make stainless steel drill bits . These alloys can also include other elements such as vanadium, molybdenum or chromium. They are suitable for soft and medium hard woods.
• PCD polycrystalline diamond : the diamond PCD is a high performance material for cutting tools. Polycrystalline diamond saw table disc teeth have high wear resistance and remain sharp for a long time. Due to its precision and durability, it is used to manufacture cutting tools for industrial machining processes.

The parts of the saw blade

In the case of TCT discs, the carbide teeth are brazed to the steel disc with brazing welding (the yellow stripe in the illustration below).

The basic nomenclature of the parts of a saw blade is as follows:

• Tooth - The tungsten carbide insert that is welded to the disc shoulder.
• Shoulder: the part of the disc that protrudes from the circumference of the disc and to which the glass plate is welded
• Throat: the throat is the gap that forms between two consecutive teeth. The throat determines the rate of chip evacuation. TCT ripping discs have a deeper throat since more chip is produced in this cutting operation and vice versa, cross-cutting discs have a smaller throat. Multipurpose TCT discs combine both throats and offer good performance in longitudinal or perpendicular cuts to the grain.

In the illustration above, dimension A indicates the total height of the disc, while the letter B indicates the angle of incidence:

• Disc height (A): the higher the disc, the sharper it supports. However, it will also be more brittle and prone to breakage.
• The angle of incidence (B): the greater the angle of incidence, the greater the edge of the disc and the less tear in the cuts of the wood, however, it will also dull more quickly.

Types of sharpening and geometry of saw blades

The number of teeth on the disc, their height, or the angle of attack determine the quality of the finish. But the type of sharpening and the geometry of the tooth is also important.

The following are some of the most common discs based on tooth edge geometry:

• ATB discs: the upper part of the tooth edge is oblique, that is, it has a small chamfer. The direction of the bevel is alternated alternately between each tooth. That is, in two consecutive teeth, if the first of them is oriented to the left, the next will be to the right. ATB stands for Alternate-Top Level, meaning 'alternating top bezel'.
• FTB discs: the geometry of this disc is much simpler. The top of the tooth is flat. FTB stands for Flat-Top Level, that is, ' Flat Top Bevel '.
• ATB & R discs: they are a combination of the above. Reciprocating bevel tooth blades with raker offer a balanced performance between the speed of cutting a blade for ripping and the fine cutting of blades for ripping. A common configuration in these discs is one that forms groups of five teeth of which four are beveled and one of them has a straight upper surface. At the end of each group, just in front of the raker tooth, a deeper groove helps remove chips and sawdust during cutting.

ATB saw blades are, so to speak, equivalent to rib saws and are best for cross-cutting. To cleanly cleave wood fibers, the top of the tooth is sharpened with a slight bevel that resembles a knife, which is most effective for sectioning wood.

On the other hand, FTB discs are much simpler in terms of their geometry. These saw blades work well in rip cuts and their angle of attack is usually higher.

The ATB & R combined discs, meanwhile, offer speed in the cut and a good finish. This cutting disc has 50 teeth in groups of 5. Every 4 teeth of an alternative knife (ATB) appears the raker (FTB), in front of which there is a deep throat that facilitates the evacuation of sawdust and wood chips.

Guide to buying the best table saw

What is the table saw?

The table saw, also known as a bench saw, is a very versatile type of electric woodworking saw that allows you to carry out different types of cuts. You can consider the stationary version of the hand circular saw.

With this powerful tool you can cut wooden beams, slats, and boards single or crosswise. In addition, you will do it with high precision, thanks to its parallel guide that allows you to feed the wood making it run completely parallel to the disk.

But the circular table saw does much more than just making straight cuts. With this machine, you can also prepare straight teeth or dovetail joints or prepare box and tenon links. By tilting its disc, you can also cut the pieces at lower angles of 90º to prepare miter joints.

The main parts of a table saw are as follows:

• Table: with grooves for the conveyor and central window from which the saw blade emerges
• Saw blade: it is mounted on a shaft and connected to the motor directly or by belts and pulleys.
• Crank: allows you to adjust the height of the disc and its inclination.
• Guide: it is supported on two beams with serrated zippers at the base. It is used to make straight longitudinal cuts.
• Guide knob: turns the pinion that moves the toothed racks at the bottom of the guide.
• Brakes: immobilize the inclination of the disc and the position of the guide.
• Pusher: a removable piece that is used to push the end of the wood without putting the hand near the disk.
• Protractor - Used to cut small pieces of wood at an angle or across.
• Ignition switch: with a safety switch to quickly switch off the engine in the event of an accident.
• Ruler and indicator: mark the distance from the cutting disc to the fence of the guide, to measure the piece of wood.
• Protector: safety mechanism that covers the disc and prevents the projection of particles.
• Separator: safety mechanism that prevents the projection of the wood against the user (in case the piece touches the disc).
• Table slots: on them the protractor and the homemade cart that you will have to build to get the most out of your table moves.

How does a woodworking table saw work?

Table saws include a circular blade that is mounted on a shaft under the table surface. This shaft is connected to the motor, which is what makes the disk spin when you activate its power button. Some bench saws use a pulley and belt mechanism to transmit motor motion to the blade, while in others the cutting blade is directly connected to the motor's output shaft.

On the front of the tool, or on the side, depending on the model, there is a crank that has two functions:

• Adjust the height of the cutting disc: the recommendation is that the disc is one tooth above the board you are going to cut. It is the safest fit and gives the best finish on the wood.
• Adjust the disc inclination: with the same crank and previously unlocking the disc brake, you will be able to angle the disc up to 45º with respect to the table surface.

What types of cuts can you make with a circular bench saw?

This power tool allows you to make two cuts: straight, that is, parallel to the grain of the wood, elongated pieces, let's say, or across, perpendicular to the wire, short pieces, to understand each other (although this is not entirely accurate).

To feed the board so that it runs parallel to the disk, the bench saw uses an angle guide or barrier against which you press the board as you push it towards the disk (simultaneously, as a guide). The parallel guide is used to make rip cuts.

On the contrary, to make perpendicular cuts, the guide is not used but the angle holder tool. The compass or protractor runs along one or two grooves that are carved into the surface of the table. On the protractor, a wing nut screw allows adjusting the stop to vary the orientation of the board. This way you can do all kinds of miters on small pieces of wood.

However, the protractor is somewhat limited in the part size it allows you to cut. For this reason, it is very common for handyman carpenters to build the car. The trolley is a very easy accessory to make that makes the bench saw as effective a tool as the miter saw to cut, yes, boards at right angles. With the help of the trolley, for example, you can cut parquet and laminate floors or long slats (the protractor offers little support for these pieces and does not achieve high precision).

The cart is so useful that even before building the table for your bench saw you should buy material to make it. You can do it with pieces of MDF and dowels or wooden dowels. On YouTube, you will find many tutorials that explain how to measure the distance between the guides and glue them completely parallel to each other so that the carriage has the maximum precision.

Use and Adjustments of the Electric Woodworking Bench Saw - Getting Started

Here I explain how to adjust the saw table, in case it was not perfectly graduated from the factory.

Checking the blade alignment on the saw table

To cut boards and boards safely and accurately, the saw blade must be completely parallel to the guide, more specifically, the blade must be parallel to the sides of the cutting table and perpendicular to the upper and lower sides, i.e. the edges on which the guide slides.

To check and calibrate the disc alignment, you can use the table's milled grooves as a reference. For this you will need:

1. A wooden slat or board with one end perfectly squared
2. A gag or sergeant

The first thing you should do is slightly gag the piece of wood on the protractor compass, without tightening. Next, make sure the puck is not tilted. For this technique to be effective the disc has to be well perpendicular. Correct it with the crank if necessary. Check with a square its perpendicularity with respect to the aluminum surface of the table.

Second, lift the blade off the saw and bring the square end of the wood slat closer to one of the teeth on the front of the blade.

Important: The wood must not press the tooth of the disc, it may be rubbing it very lightly, or there is a tiny passage of light, as they say, just a cigarette paper should pass between the tooth and the disc. Now secure the slat with the clamp.

Second, move the semicircle and bring it to the end of the disk. Contrast the gap between the teeth on the front of the disc and those on the back. The setting should be equivalent. With this, you make sure that the saw blade is completely parallel to the grooves in the table.

Of course, to ensure accuracy, the semi-circle guide must fit snugly over the groove, without excessive play. If there is excess slack, an effective trick is to apply a light coat of varnish on the tongue and groove part (or stick some paper tape).

Finally, in the event that you need to correct the disc alignment, you will have to loosen the screws that attach the table to the frame and repeat the process. However, it is unlikely that you will. In general, the table comes perfectly parallel to the disk (another thing is the guide).

Guide parallelism alignment

Once you have verified that the blade is completely parallel to the grooves in the saw table, you will need to adjust the parallel guide.

You will need a graduated stainless steel ruler, preferably with a graduated scale and a matte surface. Also, your graduation should start at the very end of the rule.

Adjusting the guide of a table saw is very simple:

1. Locks the guide approximately 5 cm from the milled slot to the right of the disc.
2. Use the ruler to measure the distance from one edge of the groove to the front of the fence.
3. Verify that it measures the same at the opposite end.

Safety: how to cut wood on the table saw and preserve your fingers

If you are thinking of buying an electric table saw, you should know that it is a more dangerous tool than other types of woodworking saw. When carpenters (medium) joke about the number of fingers left on their hands, the missing fingers are likely to be related to a power saw blade cutting tool.

Of course, any power tool with moving parts is inherently dangerous, but inside woodworking machinery, tooth cutting saws are much more dangerous than other tools like the vertical band saw, and I'm going to show you right away. why.

Unlike the vertical band saw, in which this danger does not exist even if it has others, the circular bench saw is capable of producing what is known as a kickback. English carpenters call the kickback. Kickback literally means 'kick' and in English, this word also means 'bribery', but that's a separate matter.

Kickback is a phenomenon that occurs when a piece of wood touches the back of the record. If we divide the saw blade by a vertical axis, that is, by an imaginary line perpendicular to the saw table, the rear half of the blade, the one that is farthest from you, is known as the zone or region of backlash.

If during the cutting motion, the piece of wood tilts and comes into contact with the kickback zone, the table saw will violently throw the board towards you. It goes without saying that if your hand is close to the record at that moment, you run the risk of a serious accident. We are talking about losing fingers of the hand or even the whole hand, or part of the mobility if the disc cuts you at the wrist. Of course, this is something you can avoid by observing proper security measures.

Understanding why kickback occurs and how safety features work is essential to avoid accidents.

In a circular table saw, the rotation of the blade always goes forward, that is, towards you. If you look at it from the side, you will see that, in the first half of the disk, the teeth go downwards, that is, towards the table. On the contrary, the teeth of the cutting disc in the kickback area move upwards, that is, away from the table.

Therefore, if with the disc spinning at its maximum speed, you bring a piece close to the kickback area, it will be projected towards you either towards your body (just in the diameter) or towards your face, as you approach the end of the disc. . To reduce the risk of kickbacks, the circular bench saw has a safety element: a plate that separates the boards, called a wedge or separator.

At the exit of the cut, the separator, as its name indicates, keeps the already cut wood separated and prevents the board from binding on the disc.

Sometimes, depending on the design of the table saw, the protective cover is also mounted on the separator itself, but it is important that you bear in mind that the separator is itself an active safety element.

The spreader is quite effective and prevents kickback to a great extent but not entirely. On the other hand, the casing that covers the disc prevents you from accidentally touching it with your hand while pushing the wood. However, there is another essential safety element: the pusher.

If you look at the image above, in the section of the parts of a table circular saw you will see that, on the side of the heel of the square guide, a piece of plastic is attached. A pusher is a hand tool used to push the wood without bringing the hand closer to the blade.

When you cut the boards, you should feed the back of them using the pusher. The pusher is also essential for cutting narrow strips of wood where the angle stop is very close to the blade (and the hand is very close to it).

For the above reasons, you should only work without a spacer when it is strictly necessary, for example, to make a through a groove in the bottom surface of a board or wooden strip. By the way, if you look at the image above you will see a piece with teeth on the sides of the separator. On the other side of the disk, there is another like it That's another safety measure that some table saws include. This piece has a spring that keeps it glued against the table. The board at its exit lifts it and slides under it, but if it suffers a kickback, its teeth prevent it from rising violently against you.

In conclusion, the table saw is the cornerstone of the carpentry workshop garage. It is an extremely useful tool that allows you to make many types of cuts in wood. But this versatility is accompanied by a greater risk compared to other woodworking tools. Therefore, when buying your bench saw you must bear in mind that you will have to follow the safety measures that I have just explained to you to cut the pieces of wood for your carpentry projects without suffering an accident.

How to make a homemade woodworking table saw

If you don't have the budget to buy a table saw but you are a bit of a handyman and have time, you can build a homemade cutting table for your garage carpentry. It will not be as effective as the best wood saws I have shown you but it will be much cheaper and will get you out of a lot of trouble.

One of the best homemade bench tables that I have seen so far is the one on the Blog and YouTube channel Enredando no Garaxe. If you already have a circular saw, the one I show you is a very complete table that you can make for four Duros to transform it into a stationary saw.

How to assemble the riving knife and the disc protector

On some table saws, to reduce the size of the shipping box, the wedge or splitting knife is not mounted. The separation wedge is an important safety element that you must mount before sawing wood to avoid the risk of kickback and to be able to install the blade guard. Assembling it is very simple.

Safety comes first. Make sure the cord is disconnected before handling any component of the table saw. The first thing you should do is remove the screw that holds the slotted cover through which the saw blade emerges.

Important: Usually it is only a 1/4 turn screw that holds the lid. If your saw table has other screws, they may serve to make the top level with the cutting surface.