No matter how great a reciprocating saw is, it will not achieve its peak performance is you use an incorrect blade. I recently visited a local store selling reciprocal saw blades, and the vast number of brands and types available shocked me.
If I, someone who has used power tools for so long, found it difficult to pick the right blade for my reciprocating saw, I wondered how a new user of this powerful tool could make such a choice.
What I know is that using the wrong blade could damage your expensive saw, destroy the material you are cutting and predispose you to some safety hazard.
So, I decided to do extensive research on how to choose the right reciprocating saw blade and that it what I would like to share with you in this post.
Contents
- 1 Reciprocal Saw Blade
- 1.1 The Type of Material to Be Cut
- 1.2 What Blade Materials
- 1.3 Tooth Material
- 1.4 The Right Tooth Pattern
- 1.5 How Thick Is The Blade?
- 1.6 How Long Is The Blade?
- 1.7 How Many Teeth per Inch
- 1.8 What About Gullet
- 1.9 Brand of Reciprocal Saw Blade Teeth
- 1.10 How Much Does It Cost?
- 1.11 1. Do diamond blades have real diamond in their tips?
- 1.12 2. What are flat top teeth blade used for?
- 1.13 3. What is hook angle in reciprocating saw blades?
- 1.14 4. Where can I buy a reciprocating saw blade?
- 1.15 5. What is the best material for the all-purpose blade?
- 2 Last Word
Reciprocal Saw Blade
The Type of Material to Be Cut
There no such thing as one-size-fits-all when it comes to reciprocating saw blades. In other words, no single blade can cut into all materials. Ensure to buy a reciprocal saw blade rated for the particular material you need to cut.
Any trial to cut with a wrong blade could dull the blade or damage the blade in just seconds even if it is brand new. It may also make work progress extremely slowly.
What Blade Materials
Blade material is another significant consideration. The material for the blade is a trade off between durability and price.
Blades made from strong, durable materials are more expensive to produce but can serve you for longer periods. The cheapest blades are those made from carbon-steel followed by those made from high-speed steel.
The best blades are the bi-metal ones because they combine metals with the best quality.
Tooth Material
Sometimes the material used to make the teeth of reciprocating blades are different from the one utilized for the blade itself.
The tooth material determines the material such blade is designed to cut. You can choose from metal teeth (made from the same material as the blade itself), carbide teeth for cutting wood and plastic and carbide grit teeth for cutting cast iron, metal, ceramic, fiberglass and clay.
The Right Tooth Pattern
The pattern formed by the manner in which teeth are attached to the reciprocating saw blade determines the quality and speed of the cut.
The two common tooth patterns are raker set and wavy set. The raker set cuts more rapidly, produced tear-outs and leaves a rough finish. Wavy set cut much slower, but it delivers excellent finish.
How Thick Is The Blade?
Blade thickness is the most important determinant of how much the blade can bend.
Blades of proper thickness are suitable for critical applications. They will leave square cut, and they are unlikely to give in before the cut is complete. The same cannot be said of economic blades that are purposefully made to be thin to reduce the production cost at the expense of durability and performance.
How Long Is The Blade?
Besides thickness, you need to pay attention to the length of the blade you wish to buy.
Blade length determines the thickness of the material the reciprocal saw can cut. For instance, a blade for pruning should be long to allow arborists to remove large branches from trees. Those blades used for plumbing are the shortest.
How Many Teeth per Inch
The number of teeth per inch (TPI) is the standard measure of the cutting speed of a reciprocating saw blade.
Blades featuring fewer, larger teeth tend to cut faster than those with many small teeth. A blade with many teeth; however, will leave very smooth finish and cleaner surfaces.
Reciprocating saws with 3-8 TPI is suitable for smoother cuts while those with TPI of 14-18 are ideal for cutting metals.
What About Gullet
Gullet is a word describing the spacing between the blade’s teeth. The size of the gullet is significant in determining the suitability of the blade for specific scenarios.
For instance, a ripping scenario requires deep gullet in order to provide room for a large amount of chip removal. Small gullet blades are ideal for crosscutting.
Brand of Reciprocal Saw Blade Teeth
In case you are unable to verify all of the factors described above then you can simply consider the brand of the blade. Some brands have established themselves in the market as producing high-quality reciprocal saws and their accessories.
You can always trust that such brands will provide high-quality blades to preserve their integrity and credibility.
How Much Does It Cost?
Price is perhaps the oldest facto to consider. The bottom line is that you cannot buy something you cannot afford. Affordability is a trade off between price and quality.
Be ready to spend some money to get high-quality blades that will withstand long abusive use. Standard blades are cheap, but they will prove very expensive in the end because they can hardly get the job done without dulling or being ruined.
1. Do diamond blades have real diamond in their tips?
Yes, diamond blades used for cutting through glass, concrete and ceramic are made of real diamond at their tips.
2. What are flat top teeth blade used for?
Flat top teeth are an idea for ripping through both softwoods and hardwoods. Their design makes their extremely efficient in ripping such woods.
3. What is hook angle in reciprocating saw blades?
This term is used to describe the orientation of saw blade teeth. Rather than being centered, they tipped in either the direction of the push or direction of the pull.
4. Where can I buy a reciprocating saw blade?
You can buy a reciprocating saw blade from a local hardware store near you, or you can order for one from online stores.
5. What is the best material for the all-purpose blade?
An all-purpose blade is not strictly all-purpose as they perform better on particular materials than others. However, the ones rated all-purpose are carbide tipped.
Last Word
Choosing the right reciprocating saw blade should no longer be a problem to you. If you can use the right model, then you will realize this might be most useful and versatile power tool in your possession.
Do not trust what manufacturers say. Instead, use these pointers to find a model that possesses the combination of features suitable for your needs.
