# Best blade for cutting only plywood?



## Danny870 (Oct 7, 2015)

Hey guys, I have a quick question for you. What is the optimal tooth count on a saw blade for strictly cutting plywood, both ripping and crosscutting the plywood. No hardwoods, or anything else, just plywood. I bought a 10" 24T Freud for my hardwood ripping, and use an 80T Cratsman for my miter saw. Now I just need to figure out what to use on my table saw for cutting plywood only? I am looking for suggestions on tooth count, not specific brands. If I had the money, of course I would buy Forest, but right now that is not possible.

So let's hear it guys. What would be the best blade (speaking of tooth count only) for cutting 1/2" plywood on the table saw?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The 80 tooth blade you have on your miter saw would be good for plywood too. The more teeth the better for plywood.


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## Danny870 (Oct 7, 2015)

Steve Neul said:


> The 80 tooth blade you have on your miter saw would be good for plywood too. The more teeth the better for plywood.


Well, my Dewalt DW704 type 1 miter saw takes a 12" blade and my cabinet saw takes a 10" blade. Would a 60T blade do good for cutting plywood? Or is an 80T blade quite a bit better? I think that my local Home Depot carries a 96T Diablo 10" blade for about $80. Would that be the most optimal blade for plywood? I already own a spare 60T blade that is still new in the package and never been used, but if the 96T Diablo is better then I might try and pick it up this weekend. Thanks again for the help Steve!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Danny870 said:


> Well, my Dewalt DW704 type 1 miter saw takes a 12" blade and my cabinet saw takes a 10" blade. Would a 60T blade do good for cutting plywood? Or is an 80T blade quite a bit better? I think that my local Home Depot carries a 96T Diablo 10" blade for about $80. Would that be the most optimal blade for plywood? I already own a spare 60T blade that is still new in the package and never been used, but if the 96T Diablo is better then I might try and pick it up this weekend. Thanks again for the help Steve!


An 80 tooth blade would be better however I don't know if you could notice a difference between a 60 and 80 tooth blade. You can also improve the cut on plywood if you would mark a line on the underside and score it with a utility knife. It's really the face veneer that is vulnerable. Even masking tape over the cut helps.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I'd use the 60 tooth Diablo*

I just finished a bunch of plywood shelves using my Freud 50 tooth combination for the rips on the table saw and my 60 tooth Diablo for the crosscuts on my RAS.. There was no tearout using either blade. If you have a new 60 tooth try that and I think you'll be happy. You can always go to the 80 tooth if that don't work. I have one also, but have never used it .... yet ...

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/building-shelves-my-methods-123314/


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## notskot (Feb 22, 2015)

For best possible cut, get a high quality, high tooth count blade with a Hi-ATB grind.....Infinity Ultrasmooth 010-080, Freud LU80, CMT 210.080.10... are all excellent alternatives to the pricey Forrest blades. If those are too high, the Infinity 010-060 60T Hi-ATB is also excellent and runs < $70. 

For best edge life instead of best cut, get a blade triple chip blade (TCG).


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

Why would you not try the blade you have and see how it works, then you will know if you need a different blade or not.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I have 24 tooth ripping blade that works pretty good for plywood as long as you cut along the grain. I have a 80 tooth blade they works good for cross cutting plywood.


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## Old Skhool (Oct 31, 2009)

For cutting up construction plywood I would use a 40 tooth combination blade. Stay away from the really cheap blades and the expensive ones. Even AC, or ACX will have knots and of course the glue which is tough on blades. Save your high quality high tooth count blades for precision work where both sides need to be as splinter free as possible, even then with expensive hardwood ply you may want to score, or use tape before you cut. 


Plywood sheet goods are most often broken down on the table saw and a 40t comb blade is usually adequate and has minimal tear out on the top surface. It is construction ply after all. Whatever splintering you have can often hide in a dado, or the underneath on the non show side. Like I mentioned, the table saw cuts pretty clean on the top surface. Panel saws, skil saws, etc, may very well have unique cutting characteristics. At some point in time you may even figure special techniques that will rid you of splintering almost completely with the 40t, or buy that $$ blade, or even a scoring table saw. Save you money for now. There are also other construction, sawing, and router techniques that will save time, effort, and money. A really nice high quality blade does have its place, but not so much for general work. 


Good luck in your quest.


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## Danny870 (Oct 7, 2015)

I will take your advice and use my 60T blade for cutting the plywood. I am trying to get setup in my small cabinet shop. Will probably build two sets a month. Maybe more. I will definitely use my 80T on the miter saw for cutting face frame and door material, which will pretty much be noting but maple and some plywood nailers. Eventually I will pick up the 96T Diablo and try to make a zero clearance insert for my table saw. I am not very good with a router, otherwise I would already have that part done. Lol


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## Justin Huisenga (Apr 2, 2011)

Danny870 said:


> Well, my Dewalt DW704 type 1 miter saw takes a 12" blade and my cabinet saw takes a 10" blade. Would a 60T blade do good for cutting plywood? Or is an 80T blade quite a bit better? I think that my local Home Depot carries a 96T Diablo 10" blade for about $80. Would that be the most optimal blade for plywood? I already own a spare 60T blade that is still new in the package and never been used, but if the 96T Diablo is better then I might try and pick it up this weekend. Thanks again for the help Steve!


For unfinished plywood a 60T ATB will handle most of your needs. You're going to need more than one blade. I usually have a 40T ATB in my saw and use it for ripping short runs 4/4 or less and occasionally ripping plywood. I just slow my feed rate down on the ply. An 80T ATB is nice for cross cutting. I have TCG blades in 40, 60, and 80t for cutting mdf and mdf core ply. No sense killing an ATB edge on that stuff. An H-ATB blade is useful for prefinished ply and a necessity for melamine. For general purpose use they dull too quickly.

To start out buy what you can afford but as you go forward I would advise that you look into better tooling than what can be purchased at a box store. Even if you are only putting out the 2 kitchens a month the extra edge life and overall blade life you will get running industrial tooling will add up. At a 10" diameter the cost is not dramatically more. Carbide.com has the FS Tool LO4250 60T marked down from $119 to $59 and the 80T LO6250 listed at $95. That's dirt cheap for what you are getting.

http://www.carbide.com/catalog/CTSB_results_merged.cfm?GroupID=0101.01


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## d_slat (Apr 10, 2012)

I use a 80t Freud diablo for plywood, but a 60t would probably work just as well. I had bought a 90t diablo but the kerf was too narrow for use with my splitter/riving knife. Something to watch out for FYI.


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

There's more to it than just tooth count. The diameter of the blade and the grind or shape of the teeth are the main determinant of the quality of cut. Most 10 inch plywood blades are 80 tooth.

All the major blade manufacturers make plywood blades that are optimized for cutting plywood. I would start with Freud and Forrest.

You might also google "table saw blades". There is quite a bit of info that you may want to see.


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## Ed'sGarage (Aug 16, 2007)

*plywood blade*

My set up is an 80 Freud Diablo, 0 clearance face plate and I get virtually no tear out with or against the grain on the plywood sheet stock.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

I have been learning a bit more about blades lately. 

Plywood is hard on blades no matter what. Plywood will wear out your blades faster than standard wood because of the hard glue and also the cross-grain pattern of the wood itself. 

You can use almost any 10 inch blade in almost any 10 inch saw. Most have a 5/8 inch arbor. That doesn't mean that a given blade is optimum for a given cut. The blade will almost certainly cut the wood, but it may not be a good clean cut. 

Blades are optimized for certain types of saws, certain types of cuts, and certain types of materials, including those with non-wood components, such as laminates. Blades that are optimum for a miter saw may not be so good on a table saw and visa versa; the hook angles are different. 

Some blades are optimized to work reasonably well for multiple types of cuts. You can use general purpose blades or combination blades to make very decent crosscuts, rip cuts, and other cuts in softwood, hardwood, plywood, and other materials. Still, a general purpose blade or combination blade will not beat a specialized blade for a given type of cut, and it may wear out faster.

(Sidebar: General purpose blades and combination blades are not the same, even though most people use them the same way - as all-purpose blades that are "good enough" for many types of cuts.)

Choosing the right kerf makes a difference too. A thin kerf blade takes less effort and is better for low power motors, but wears out faster. A standard kerf blade takes a bigger bite and wastes more wood, but lasts longer. 

For plywood, @notskot is right. A Hi-ATB (HiATB) blade is the best choice for cutting plywood. It will give you clean cuts in plywood. You can get Hi-ATB blades from many manufacturers. 

If you are cutting a lot of plywood, you may want to think about buying a second blade that you can use while the first blade is out for resharpening. (... and get it resharpened by the blade manufacturer or someone who truly knows how to resharpen a Hi-ATB blade.) As I said above, plywood is hard wearing on blades.

Another thing to think about is keeping your blades clean. The glue and other components of plywood can get on the hot blade and make it sticky and less sharp. I use a bucket lid from Home Depot, a brass brush, and blade cleaner to clean my blades. The bucket lid has a ring that supports the blade; use your finger in the blade hole to lift it out without cutting yourself. When the blade cleaner runs out, I may switch to Formula 409, an ordinary kitchen cleaner, which I have read is just as good and much less expensive.


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

Found this on urube






johnep


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