Use the correct blade on your compound miter saw!

andy fineran

Member
Messages
25
I slapped an old 12 inch blade on my miter saw when sharpening my good one. I used it several days with no issues. Then when trimming a piece of oak about the size of a cigerette pack it, I had the piece flat on the table. The saw was out far enough for the blade to lift the edge of the board closest to me and flip it so it now rested vertically against the fence. My left hand held the piece flat on the table until the board flipped. Then my newly sore finger was pinched between the board and the fence. The board hit the fence so hard it split lengthwise and was thrown clear. My finger was black for 3 days and is still numb. The moral of the story is to use the recommended crosscut blade with a lot of teeth and to cut boards vertically when possible is probably a good idea.
 
We had a good thread on this subject a couple years ago. A result of that thread, I purchased an Onsrud blade for my CMS. It is made for cms with the proper negative rake. Thus far I am very pleased with it. Of course, I had to learn to not pull the saw through the wood but pull out, lower and push through the piece being cut. This is not an intuitive move for a beginner, I had to be told right from wrong. BTW, Onsrud blades are not real expensive, check them out.
 
I had made many straight down cuts with no problem with this blade. It was the first time I had pulled the saw out, down and was begining contact on the push away stroke when it grabbed. I am not sure of the tooth geometry, I will check. I am sure it will be obvious to the experienced that the blade was wrong. To me it looked like a saw blade and the hole was the right size!
 
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