Saw Blade Recommendation Chart

A good crosscutting blade is not necessarily limited to crosscutting hard and soft wood. When you're choosing a crosscutting blade, take the following into account: 

In general, blades with fewer teeth and a stronger positive hook angle are more aggressive and feed faster than blades with more teeth and a less aggressive hook angle.  Blades recommended for crosscutting hard and soft wood generally have between 60 and 80 teeth (for a 10'' blade).  A blade with fewer teeth - a 60 tooth blade with a hook angle of greater than 10 degrees - is a good choice for crosscutting blade that will also rip at a moderate feed rate.  A quality 80 tooth blade with a hook angle of 10 degrees or less will produce exceptional crosscuts and will outperform most 60 tooth blades with more difficult material, like veneered plywood, but will be less effective for ripping wood.

5/8''
5/8''
5/8''

10''
10'

In this section, you'll find mostly "thin kerf blades" - blades with a kerf thickness of less than 1/8''. Thin kerf saw blades were developed for use on so called "under powered" saws.  Portable and contractor model table saws under 3HP are examples of under powered saws.  Because a thin kerf blade has to cut less material than a full kerf blade, it requires less power to operate and allows lower powered saws to cut material at an appropriate feed rate without the risk of bogging down during the cut.

A trade-off for the thinner kerf is the fact that thin kerf blades have a thinner blade plate, and therefore run the risk sacrificing a small degree of the blade stability afforded by a thicker, more rigid plate.  Vibration dampening systems, like the one Freud LU/LM Series Thin Kerf Blades employ, compensate for the slight loss of stability, and make thin kerf blades the optimum choice for lower powered saws.

A good crosscutting blade is not necessarily limited to crosscutting hard and soft wood. When you're choosing a crosscutting blade, take the following into account: 

In general, blades with fewer teeth and a stronger positive hook angle are more aggressive and feed faster than blades with more teeth and a less aggressive hook angle.  Blades recommended for crosscutting hard and soft wood generally have between 60 and 80 teeth (for a 10'' blade).  A blade with fewer teeth - a 60 tooth blade with a hook angle of greater than 10 degrees is an excellent choice for crosscutting hard and soft wood and will also rip wood reasonably well at a moderate feed rate.  A quality 80 tooth blade with a hook angle of 10 degrees or less will produce near perfect crosscuts and will outperform most 60 tooth blades with more difficult material, like veneered plywood, but will be less effective for ripping wood.

A general purpose blade is a good choice if are planning to cut a variety of materials and prefer not spend time changing from one specialty blade to another frequently.

The larger gullets and typically more aggressive hook angle of a 40 tooth ATB blade make it the best choice when faster, cleaner ripping is most important. A 60 tooth ATB or TCG blade with a moderate positive hook angle (5 - 15 degrees) will produce better crosscuts and cuts in veneered plywood and man made materials, and will rip acceptably well at moderate speeds.

8''
10''
12''

2°
2°
-5°
-5°
-5°

2°
2°
-5°
-5°
-5°