I purchased a new saw blade for my compound miter saw today. I was amazed. What a
difference. The saw now cuts very nicely. With the previous blade I might have
thought that the saw cut by burning the wood.
Now, for some background; I bought the saw new, possibly ten years ago. It was a close out special deal at a Lowe’s store.
The saw was the Delta Model 36-220. Reviews on the web were quite favorable for this saw, but there were some variations. Certain models had a plastic blade guard which, apparently was quite fragile. Delta decided to cease production of this guard, which, according to some
folks, renders this saw unusable.
I had used the saw very little myself and had given it little thought. What I had forgotten about was that I had lent it to a friend. He was installing new laminate flooring and used the saw for that project.
Another consideration is that manufacturers, even quality manufacturers will sometimes choose the cheapest materials or accessories to reduce their costs. In this case it was obvious, upon closer examination that Delta included the cheapest possible saw blade they could get away with. Imagine that. The old blade was not carbide.
So after doing some shopping online I trundled down to the local Lowe’s again to buy a DeWALT blade for about $30.00. In the store they not only had the DeWALT blade, but they also had a Porter-Cable, that was originally listed at $25.00, but it was now marked down to $20.00. My cheap gene took over and I brought home the Porter-Cable.
I was very impressed with the quality of the cuts, and I still saved a lot of money.
The bottom line of all of this is that keeping your woodworking tools sharp is clearly the way to go, always.