Tooth Shape
Note: When cutting thin materials, the rule for blade pitch is to have a minimum of two teeth engaging the material being cut at all times.
Standard Tooth - generally used to cut ferrous metals, hard bronze, hard brass, and thin metals.
Skip Tooth - have better chip clearance (larger gullet) and are used on softer,
such as aluminum, copper, magnesium, and soft brass.
Hook Tooth - provides a chip breaker and has less tendency to gum up in softer materials. Used in the same materials as skip tooth but can be fed faster than standard or skip tooth blades.
Set Type
Straight Set - used for free cutting
materials; i.e., aluminum, magnesium, plastics, and wood.
Wavy Set - used on materials of varying thickness (pipe, tubing, and structural shapes).
Raker Set - used in large cuts on thick plate and bar stock where finish of cut is not as important as speed.
Gage
Blade gage is the thickness of material from which the blade is produced. The thicker the material, the stronger the blade will be.
Kerf
Kerf is the width of a cut. Kerf will vary according to set of blade teeth.
Blade Width
The narrower the blade, the tighter the minimum radius of cut will be. Always use the widest blade possible for the job.
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