This blade was still cutting through the metal after cutting more than 30 sheets. Cutting steel requires a slow and steady feed rate and be sure that the cutoff piece is either adequately supported so it doesn’t pinch against the blade or that it can freely fall away. Friends trailer is small so we cut up the metal in 4ft lengths. You’ll also need cut-resistant work gloves and hearing protection. Note that if wearing eye protection is important when cutting wood, it’s even more important when cutting steel. These blades are rated for steel plate, pipe and conduit, and shapes such as L, U, and squares some blades are also designed for cutting the same shapes in aluminum, and a few blades are even rated for making the cut in stainless steel, a notoriously difficult material to cut. You can safely cut steel and aluminum with a circular saw, providing you have the right blade. In the case of this blade, it’s not so much the tooth number or hook angle, but the geometry of each tooth which is ground to a specialized variation of the tooth profile known as alternate top bevel (ATB) that produces a shearing cut as it moves through the material. Melamine (particle board faced with a veneer of melamine plastic) is notoriously difficult to cut cleanly with a circular saw, a deficiency this blade aims to correct. Number of teeth: 60 Purpose: Crosscuts melamine, plywood and laminate-covered. You want to have some semblance of cut quality here, rather than have everything look like it was cut with a chainsaw. Think of the carpentry skill required to make storage and shelves, fences, and decks. Conversely, with more teeth and more sophisticated tooth geometry, you give up cut speed but increase the smoothness of the finished surface, and along the way you also gain a little extra versatility to cut something that needs to look good when you’re done. As with any saw blade, the fewer the teeth, the faster but rougher the cut. And there are two ways to cut it: rough and fast or a bit more slowly and with a higher cut quality. Scroll through this report to find the right blade, but then keep scrolling to the bottom for safety tips and insights that will help you safely and efficiently cut any material.Īlmost all cuts in framing lumber are across the grain. We’ve selected these blades based on our experience with the product or having made cuts with the predecessor product by the same manufacturer. This means that a 14' blade is the MAXIMUM sized blade (diameter) that can fit on the saw. Blade Sizes: Most 'standard' chop saws that you find online and at tool/hardware stores will use a 14' model, for the most part. The size of an arbor hole on a circular saw blade will vary depending on the blades outside diameter. What we’ve done below is match the saw blade to the job and material that you’ll be cutting. The Blade: The blades are one of the most important parts of a chop saw and it is also where some models may vary, mainly in size.