Circular Saw Blades

Circular saw blades (Kreissägeblätter) are used with various power saws such as table saw, chop saw and - you guessed it - the handheld circular saw. They cut by means of a high speed rotation.

Depending on your material, the number and shape of teeth will greatly influence the cut quality. For example, teeth for aluminum are trapezoid in shape and many wood blades have alternating teeth with a tip on either side. ^[1]

Chop saw blades have a different (steeper, often negative) tooth angle and should not be mixed up with those for handheld circular saws or table saws!

The correct diameters of the blade (OD) and the central bore (ID) are dictated by the machine.

Cleaning

Over time, the blades will get dirty and "gunked up" - this reduces their cutting ability, almost as if they were dull! Luckily, you can easily clean them with common household items (or terpentine for really bad cases):

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  1) prepare an appropriately sized dish with (hot) water and cleaning agent

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  2) let the blade soak for a while

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  3) scrub off the gunk with the rough side of a sponge

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  4) clean the tooth faces with something narrow but stable, e.g. a thin strip of scrap wood

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  5) done!

Alternatively, you could try soaking the blade in acetone or vinegar and scrubbing it with a wire brush.

Dull or dirty blades are more dangerous than properly maintained ones - please remove and report the blade in case this cleaning procedure did not help and it still seems dull!

Also see: instructable about blade cleaning - using laundry detergent

Further Reading

• Makezine: "Understanding Saw Blade Essentials"