Ask yourself – What will the saw blade be cutting?
Figure 1 – shows a blade designed for cutting timber. This tooth style is called Alternate Top Bevel (ATB). The bevel alternates from left to right, creating knife-like edges at each side on alternate teeth. Figure 2 – shows a tooth style called Triple Chip Grind (TCG). This style is suitable for cutting some metals, aluminium, some laminates & plastics. The combination of a flat tooth together with a squared U-shaped tooth results in smaller sections of material being cut & helps to clear the removed material. Consequently, this style of triple chip blade tends to produce a cleaner finished edge which is why it is often seen in workshops cutting laminated chipboard. Therefore, a saw blade with a higher concentration of teeth necessitates having smaller individual teeth which results in slower stock removal & slower cutting times.
