Best blade for miter saw?

[Tom M King]

I've been using my 12" RAS for 41 years now, and power mitersaws for a good while too. I've never owned a negative hook blade, and don't know why I would want one. The RAS has been set up to cut as perfectly as possible on 90 degree cuts only for over 20 years, and has not needed to be touched for any readjustment. I absolutely don't want the blade to hang up in anything to throw it off, which one hangup would probably do, but any blade I use on it doesn't worry me.

I have a Ryobi chop miter saw that we use up on scaffolding, so if it gets dropped, or handled too roughly, there won't be much lost. A few weeks ago, I needed to put a new blade on it, and didn't want to spend much money, so I bought a 35 buck Avanti from Home Depot. I was pleasantly surprised with how cleanly it cut. I doubt it will last long, or even be worth resharpening, but for a cheap blade it leaves a decent cut for as long as it lasts, and was worth the 35 bucks for that one job.

I don't really like thin kerf blades for anything, unless you absolutely need one to minimize wood loss in a special case.

[Art Mann]

Exchanging a thin kerf blade for a 1/8" kerf blade is equivalent to adding about 50% to your saw's horsepower.

[Mark Blatter]

I put a new blade on my Dewalt about two years ago and the difference was incredible. The blade is, I think, a Superior blade, regular kerf. It cuts oak and maple like they are soft butter. I will check tonight on the brand, but almost sure that is what it is. I have the same manufacture on my table saw and it is does a great job there too.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Not the blade you asked about, but someone else may be interested. Makita makes a really great 10" chop saw blade, its the 80 tooth model, and it's only $40.

[Dan Clark]

A couple months ago I bought a Tenryu MP-30560AB Miter Pro Plus 12" blade for my Bosch Axial Glide. It has -3 degree rake (hook) angle. I've not used a Chopmaster, but have had Freud, CMT and Onsrud miter saw blades. This Tenryu is the best blade I've used, ever. Smooth cuts in chop or slide mode, no lifting. I cut a lot of hardwood of all dimensions and this blade never bogs down.
http://www.tenryu.com/mp.html
The miter pro plus series are all negative rake. Got mine on Amazon for $117 and free shipping.

After an odd set of circumstances, I ended up with four blades for my Festool Kapex - a Tenryu MiterPro plus 80T, a Forrest ChopMaster 80T, and two Festool blades. So I did a review comparing them: http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/festoo...de-review.html. For general use, the Festool 60T was best. For critical work, the Tenryu MiterPro plus 80T was the best.

YMMV.

Dan.

[scott spencer]

After an odd set of circumstances, I ended up with four blades for my Festool Kapex - a Tenryu MiterPro plus 80T, a Forrest ChopMaster 80T, and two Festool blades. So I did a review comparing them: http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/festoo...de-review.html. For general use, the Festool 60T was best. For critical work, the Tenryu MiterPro plus 80T was the best.

YMMV.

Dan.

Excellent summary Dan.