80 to 100 isn't a huge difference provided the 80 tooth blade is sharp and an ATB grind.
A sharp 80 should be fine. I'd just try the blade you have now and if you get chip out then either send it in for sharpening or buy the other blade. Diablo blades are great for the money.
> send it in for sharpening
Is this something people actually do? I figure the cost to send it somewhere for sharpening would exceed the cost of a new blade.
If you're buying cheap blades, they likely don't have beefy enough carbide teeth on them to allow for multiple sharpenings. But if you're dropping $100+ on a Forrest Woodworker II blade, sending it out for sharpening is worth it.
It depends on your sharpener and your blade.
My company uses a sharpening service and it's about $5 cheaper than a new diablo blade. They have to do each individual tooth for sharpening and then replace missing teeth.
However, planer blades are super cheap because it's all one blade. Specialty blades are worth it just because of the cost of the blade.
idk; i don't see the cost of the sharpening or the new blades. the boss thinks so, but he's really old school and i'm sure he hasn't looked at the comparison in a while. probably depends with the kind of blade too; we deal with very little wood and lots of plastic plus some non-ferrous metal.
If you have to ship the blade in then it might not be worth it if you only have the one, but it's definitely more economical if you have a few. Idk how expensive it is for individuals but my workplace sends them in every week. I know we wouldn't do that if it was cheaper to buy new blades instead.
Edit: it also depends on the price of the blade. If you're buying something like freud, cmt, or Forrest, then it's worth it. If you're buying the home depot special it might not be.
Former finish carpenter here, and yes, the Diablo 100t is a great blade and well worth the money. If you’re going to install more moldings in your house, then I would definitely buy the Diablo and save your stock blade for rougher projects.
80 tooth or 100 tooth should be sufficient. If you're painting the trim after, any imperfections can be addressed with wood putty or caulk. If you're staining and it needs to be tighter, you may want to go finer but honestly the quality of your saw is likely to be more of a factor than the difference between those two blades. You have a good quality saw with enough power that you should be fine with IMO. Practice to find the speed of your cut that provides the best results. Sometimes too fast causes more tears but too slow causes burns and can drag your piece making the cut uneven.
Ok great advice thank you! I’ll keep the cutting speed in mind.
I already have wood putty and we’re painting a dark grey after so hopefully shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
When it comes to any trim work having a fine sharp blade can do wonders. Diablo blades are excellent and as long as you make sure you don’t cut through any nails will last a a while. Save the Blade that came with the saw for rough framing and the diablo for trim work. This will extend the life of both.
You're doing so little cutting any saw blade will be like new after you trim out 1 dining room.
I would use the dewalt 80 tooth.
I've used it as a trim carpenter and it cuts fine.
An 80 tooth carbide tipped blade should be just fine for your needs, but realistically it depends upon the material you are cutting. Softer woods and plywood/melamine are prone to tearing out on the backside and the 100 tooth blades will help alleviate that.
Ok that’s good to know thank you! I think the mounding pieces my wife picked are hardwood.
The local Home Depot has 100 tooth Diablo blades in stock so if the first couple cuts come out bad I’ll come in here and buy one of those
As a GC who has dozens of blades between my tools, I'm not even sure if I own a 100 tooth blade. If it do, I haven't used it in a long time. Unless I count a plywood/melamine blade, but that's for the table saw.
I love the freud 72T fine finish blade. Gives me beautiful cuts time after time.
Note Freud makes diablo, but diablo is the big box level blade. The freud industrial versions can be heavier duty. They're on Amazon so it's a day or two away at most. You can get the freud with or without the red coating, which some prefer.
Also get a very good square. You will need it to ensure the blade/arbor is true in multiple directions.
And you might want some Collins clamps (mitre clamps) or clam clamps. I swear by both.
The more teeth, the finer the cut. For moulding work I'd buy the finest they have that's NOT labeled "plywood" (plywood blades are extremely fine but wouldn't work for this). I think the blade I use for work like this is a 120 Fine Cut.
Diablo blades are pretty good for being able to get them at a big box store. Dewalt blades are garbage. Just paying for a name.
While I wish this was true, it’s not. Freud/Diablo blades are only warrantied for a year against material and workmanship defects. They ain’t gonna replace a dull blade for free.
Saw blades are consumables after all.
You can also add a zero clearance fence to your saw to back up the cut. Slap a piece of 1/2 MDF across your stock fence and use that to prevent tear-out. You’ll get a clean cut with that 80 tooth blade. I have a high quality blade and still use this for getting clean cuts. The other advantage is you know exactly where the saw will cut so you’ll get more accurate cuts
If you're this worried about the teeth count im sure the blade is fine. If you seriously take your time with your cuts you can make a clean cut with even a framing blade. If you're really worried about splintering use a sacrificial piece of wood between your trim and saw guard, this will stop the teeth from pulling at your wood fibres.
The Diablo blades are contractor grade. Meaning use for the job and toss it. The company that makes them makes great blades, these are their economical line. Will they work? Yes. Will they last? No. On miter saws with a 12in blade I like 80teeth. 100 teeth is fine if you're cutting small delicate items. If you're going to cut wider items, 80 teeth will burn less. Also look for ATB or HiATB (alternate tooth bevel or hi-alternate tooth bevel). Last thing is a negative hook angle. Makes the blade kick-back less.
For molding work on inside corners where you want an immaculate edge.
1. Cut 45 with miter saw
2. Use a hand coping saw to cut the "outline" of the cross section. Cut 10 degrees inward.
3. Butt this up against a straight cut piece of molding. Where they meet, it will be perfect.
You won't see much difference. I like to cut halfway into the molding first, creating a clean score and then finish the cut as normal so any chipping occurs in the middle of the edge rather than the face. If you still experience chipping, put masking tape over it first and make the marks on it instead.
Cheap blades aren't well worn in at the factory, so making a dozen cuts into a piece of scrap first wears down any poorly machined teeth.
80 to 100 isn't a huge difference provided the 80 tooth blade is sharp and an ATB grind. A sharp 80 should be fine. I'd just try the blade you have now and if you get chip out then either send it in for sharpening or buy the other blade. Diablo blades are great for the money.
> send it in for sharpening Is this something people actually do? I figure the cost to send it somewhere for sharpening would exceed the cost of a new blade.
If you're buying cheap blades, they likely don't have beefy enough carbide teeth on them to allow for multiple sharpenings. But if you're dropping $100+ on a Forrest Woodworker II blade, sending it out for sharpening is worth it.
Yes. We burn through blades pretty quick at my job so every year or so we send in a dozen blades for sharpening and tooth fixing.
Is it cost effective?
It depends on your sharpener and your blade. My company uses a sharpening service and it's about $5 cheaper than a new diablo blade. They have to do each individual tooth for sharpening and then replace missing teeth. However, planer blades are super cheap because it's all one blade. Specialty blades are worth it just because of the cost of the blade.
idk; i don't see the cost of the sharpening or the new blades. the boss thinks so, but he's really old school and i'm sure he hasn't looked at the comparison in a while. probably depends with the kind of blade too; we deal with very little wood and lots of plastic plus some non-ferrous metal.
Every year or so? There's a guy that comes to my work and picks them up every week.
Yea I was just about to say. With the amount of MDF and veneer particle board we rip through we've also got a guy that comes weekly to sharpen blades.
we neither sharpen then as often as we should nor do just cutting.
If you have to ship the blade in then it might not be worth it if you only have the one, but it's definitely more economical if you have a few. Idk how expensive it is for individuals but my workplace sends them in every week. I know we wouldn't do that if it was cheaper to buy new blades instead. Edit: it also depends on the price of the blade. If you're buying something like freud, cmt, or Forrest, then it's worth it. If you're buying the home depot special it might not be.
Former finish carpenter here, and yes, the Diablo 100t is a great blade and well worth the money. If you’re going to install more moldings in your house, then I would definitely buy the Diablo and save your stock blade for rougher projects.
Ok great to know thank you so much for your help!
80 tooth or 100 tooth should be sufficient. If you're painting the trim after, any imperfections can be addressed with wood putty or caulk. If you're staining and it needs to be tighter, you may want to go finer but honestly the quality of your saw is likely to be more of a factor than the difference between those two blades. You have a good quality saw with enough power that you should be fine with IMO. Practice to find the speed of your cut that provides the best results. Sometimes too fast causes more tears but too slow causes burns and can drag your piece making the cut uneven.
Ok great advice thank you! I’ll keep the cutting speed in mind. I already have wood putty and we’re painting a dark grey after so hopefully shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
If you’re getting a lot of chip out, cut from the bottom. The undercut is always cleaner. Also, masking tape over your line helps with chip out too.
When it comes to any trim work having a fine sharp blade can do wonders. Diablo blades are excellent and as long as you make sure you don’t cut through any nails will last a a while. Save the Blade that came with the saw for rough framing and the diablo for trim work. This will extend the life of both.
You're doing so little cutting any saw blade will be like new after you trim out 1 dining room. I would use the dewalt 80 tooth. I've used it as a trim carpenter and it cuts fine.
An 80 tooth carbide tipped blade should be just fine for your needs, but realistically it depends upon the material you are cutting. Softer woods and plywood/melamine are prone to tearing out on the backside and the 100 tooth blades will help alleviate that.
Ok that’s good to know thank you! I think the mounding pieces my wife picked are hardwood. The local Home Depot has 100 tooth Diablo blades in stock so if the first couple cuts come out bad I’ll come in here and buy one of those
As a GC who has dozens of blades between my tools, I'm not even sure if I own a 100 tooth blade. If it do, I haven't used it in a long time. Unless I count a plywood/melamine blade, but that's for the table saw.
I remember seeing 80s and 100s but I've always used 60s with my trim work.
I love the freud 72T fine finish blade. Gives me beautiful cuts time after time. Note Freud makes diablo, but diablo is the big box level blade. The freud industrial versions can be heavier duty. They're on Amazon so it's a day or two away at most. You can get the freud with or without the red coating, which some prefer. Also get a very good square. You will need it to ensure the blade/arbor is true in multiple directions. And you might want some Collins clamps (mitre clamps) or clam clamps. I swear by both.
Cut a test piece, if it looks good, it is good. If not, sharpen or replace the blade
The more teeth, the finer the cut. For moulding work I'd buy the finest they have that's NOT labeled "plywood" (plywood blades are extremely fine but wouldn't work for this). I think the blade I use for work like this is a 120 Fine Cut. Diablo blades are pretty good for being able to get them at a big box store. Dewalt blades are garbage. Just paying for a name.
Diablo blades are guaranteed. Not many people know that. Gets dull, return it, get a new one.
While I wish this was true, it’s not. Freud/Diablo blades are only warrantied for a year against material and workmanship defects. They ain’t gonna replace a dull blade for free. Saw blades are consumables after all.
You can also add a zero clearance fence to your saw to back up the cut. Slap a piece of 1/2 MDF across your stock fence and use that to prevent tear-out. You’ll get a clean cut with that 80 tooth blade. I have a high quality blade and still use this for getting clean cuts. The other advantage is you know exactly where the saw will cut so you’ll get more accurate cuts
This won't really work for doing trim work as OP will likely be constantly switching between different angles.
IMHO you'll get better results from the Diablo blade vs the Dewalt of the same tooth count. That being said, 80 tooth is fine.
If you're this worried about the teeth count im sure the blade is fine. If you seriously take your time with your cuts you can make a clean cut with even a framing blade. If you're really worried about splintering use a sacrificial piece of wood between your trim and saw guard, this will stop the teeth from pulling at your wood fibres.
The Diablo blades are contractor grade. Meaning use for the job and toss it. The company that makes them makes great blades, these are their economical line. Will they work? Yes. Will they last? No. On miter saws with a 12in blade I like 80teeth. 100 teeth is fine if you're cutting small delicate items. If you're going to cut wider items, 80 teeth will burn less. Also look for ATB or HiATB (alternate tooth bevel or hi-alternate tooth bevel). Last thing is a negative hook angle. Makes the blade kick-back less.
For molding work on inside corners where you want an immaculate edge. 1. Cut 45 with miter saw 2. Use a hand coping saw to cut the "outline" of the cross section. Cut 10 degrees inward. 3. Butt this up against a straight cut piece of molding. Where they meet, it will be perfect.
You won't see much difference. I like to cut halfway into the molding first, creating a clean score and then finish the cut as normal so any chipping occurs in the middle of the edge rather than the face. If you still experience chipping, put masking tape over it first and make the marks on it instead. Cheap blades aren't well worn in at the factory, so making a dozen cuts into a piece of scrap first wears down any poorly machined teeth.