- The Flat Top Grind (FTG) has teeth, otherwise known as rakers, that cut through dense pieces of wood quickly and is highly durable. The downside of this blade is that it does not produce a clean cut. If precise cuts are not necessary, this blade is ideal for tearing down large pieces of wood. If you want a rough chop, a 24-tooth blade will do the trick. For a bit more precision, increase the tooth count to 40 or 50.
- The teeth on the Alternate Top Bevel (ATB) blades are angled so that they lean opposite the blade. This allows the blade to cleanly shear wood fibers in a precise manner. The steeper the angle, the more precise the cut. The downside is that steeper angles tend to dull more quickly. Most ATB blades have between 60 and 100 teeth. This type of blade is ideal for crosscutting solid wood and sawing through plywood.
- The combination blade (ATBR) consists of 50 teeth organized in sets of five. Each set has four ATB teeth followed by a raker tooth. This blade is called the combination because the ATB teeth aid in precision and clean crosscuts while the raker tooth is designed specifically for ripping particles of wood into rough chops. This type of blade is ideal if you plan to construct wooden joints as well as a combination of ripping and crosscutting solid wood.
- The teeth on the Triple-Chip Grind blade (TCG) alternate between a raker took and a chamfered tooth. The raker tooth is rectangular in shape while the chamfered tooth is shaped like a flat-top house. The chamfered tooth is designed to create a rough cut while the raker tooth cleans it up. The teeth have a flat top to prevent them from dulling as they slice through dense materials such as plastic laminate, corian, brass or aluminum.
Flat Top Grind
Alternate Top Bevel
Combination
Triple-Chip Grind
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