Downloads and Support › Glossary of Saw Blade Terms
Angles
The angle of sharpening for any blade is measured from the blade tip. We use the Greek letter a (alpha) to designate the angle. It is measured at the absolute tip of the blade, between the line running through the center of the tip and the tangent line to the grind wheel at the tip.
- Grind angle - the angle relating to the ground bevel placed on blade first using a coarse grit wheel.
- Hone angle - the angle relating to the smaller ground bevel that actually forms the cutting edge
Anti-Kick Saw Blades
Saw Blades with anti-kickback shoulders that limit the amount of material that can safely be cut by each tooth. This virtually eliminates the kickback caused by overfeeding. Also called safety saw blades.
Anti-Stick Coatings
As used on saw blades, these coatings decrease friction and heat buildup and help provide cleaner, smoother and quieter cutting action. Anti-stick coatings also resist resin and pitch buildup and improve safety conditions.
Arbor
The shaft, driven by the saw's motor, which turns the saw blade. Also called a mandrel.
Chipper
In dado sets, small cutting tools with varying widths. Chippers are places between the cutters, or the outside blades, of the dado set to adjust the width of the cut.
Chipping:
The condition caused when the saw blade lifts and tears the wood fibers as it exits the material. This causes the edge of the cut to be ragged.
Clearance Angle
The angle between the lower face of a saw blade and the material being cut.
CNC sharpening
A sharpening process that generates the highest quality cutting edges due to precision Computer Numerical Control (CNC). This process uses a computer to control the actual cutting edge shape and creates the same high-quality edge on every blade.
Combination Saw Blade
Saw blades used for both ripping (cutting with the grain of the wood) and crosscutting (cutting across the grain).
Crosscut
A cut made across the grain of the wood.
Cutoff
Refers to the smooth cutting of wood, plywood, chipboard, paneling, pressboard, etc.
Cutter
In dado sets, the two larger, outside blades.
Cutting Angle
The angle between the upper face of the saw blade and the material being cut. Also known as a rake angle.
Dado
- (1) A flat-bottomed recessed cut made across the grain of a board.
- (2) A set of blades used to produce precision grooves.
Dampener
Used to improve saw blade performance by stiffening the saw blade plate and dampening sound and vibration caused by the saw's belt, motor, and bearings. Dampeners are mounted on the saw's arbor directly next to the blade. Also called a saw blade stabilizer.
Facets
A facet is the ground area on the blade that creates the cutting edge. Also referred to as a "bevel."
- Grind facet - ground bevel placed on blade first using a coarse grit wheel at a relatively low angle in an effort to remove most of the stock prior to honing.
- Hone facet - a smaller ground bevel added after the grind facet at a somewhat higher angle to assure the minimum amount of stock removal and the best possible finish using a finer grit grinding wheel.
Ferrous
Of or containing iron.
Finishing Saw Blade
A saw blade with higher tooth counts to provide smoother cuts. Typically refers to 7 1/4 inch blades with more than 40 teeth and 10 inch blades with more than 60 teeth.
Framing Saw Blades
Carbide tipped saw blades used to make fast sizing cuts in all types of wood. (the fastest cutting is achieved with thin kerf saw blades.)
General Purpose Saw Blades
Saw blades with low tooth counts used for fast crosscutting and ripping in most woods and wood-related materials. This designation is commonly used with opening price point carbide blades.
Groove
A recessed cut made across the grain of the wood. A groove has two straight sides that are at a 90 degree angle with a flat bottom. See also Plough.
Hollow Grinding
Hollow grinding describes the process where a rotating wheel is used to grind an edge on a blade perpendicular to the cutting edge. This yields a facet that, when viewed in cross section, has a curvature resulting from the shape of the grinding wheel. The facet length of hollow ground parts will not be the same as those of straight ground parts with the same angles. The benefit of hollow grinding has less to do with the cross sectional shape of the edge and more to do with the resulting blade edge achieved by grinding perpendicular to the cutting edge. Hollow grinding is widely used in razor blade production and yields the sharpest possible edges.
Hollow Ground
A concave bevel edge on a tool.
Miter
The process of cutting material for an equal angle joint.
Nonferrous
Materials and metals not of or containing iron, such as aluminum, copper, brass and lead.
Plane
In woodworking, to make a surface smooth or even.
Plough
A recessed cut made with the grain of the wood. A plough cut has two straight sides that are at a 90 degree angle to a flat bottom. See also Groove.
Precision Finishing Saw Blade
Precision sharpened saw blades with a high tooth count and thicker kerf. These blades provide very smooth cuts in hardwood, softwood, plywood, chipboard, paneling, and Marlite.
Rabbet
An open-ended cut made along the edge of a workpiece that receives or interlocks with another piece to form a joint
Ripping
The process of sawing a board in the direction of the grain of the board.
Runout
The amount of wobble in a saw blade, or how much the blade moves from left to right during use. Also called wobble or warp. General's saw blades have very little or no runout.
Shim
- (1) A thin, often tapered piece of material such as metal or wood used to fill in space between things.
- (2) A round, usually magnetic disc used with a dado blade to provide a wider cut.
Stopped Groove
A cut made along the grain that stops short of one or both ends of the workpiece.
Strop
The final edge finishing typically done with some form of leather (or other soft cloth material). Similar to what is widely known as buffing. This process is used to generate a sharper edge by smoothing out or removing the finest grinding burr left along a cutting edge.
Striations
The grinding marks left in a ground bevel by the individual grit in a grinding wheel. These marks typically begin at the cutting edge and follow a straight line perpendicular to the edge to the heel of the facet.
Tear-out
A condition in which the saw blades tears out the grain of a workpiece.
Thin Kerf Saw Blades
A saw blade with a kerf, or cut width, between .065 and .070 inches.
Worm Drive Saw
A saw that has a diamond-shaped arbor instead of a round arbor.
