Do I need a 40 tooth circular saw blade for laminate ?

[Gary111]

Hi, I have an old wickes circular saw and the blade has seen better days.

I need to cut some laminate kitchen worktop, will I get better results with a 40 tooth blade, rather than 24 ?

I think I can get the 40 tooth blade for £17 inc collet size adapter.

I notice lidl have a new saw and 40 tooth blade for £35, not sure if it will be any good though.

 

[johnny2007]

For a couple of cuts I would use a sharp new hand saw.

 

[Gary111]

Thanks, I am trying to do a square joint in the laminate , tbh I find it harder to cut straight with handsaws as they seem to bend off course.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The number of teeth depends on the diameter of the blade, however a 24 tooth blade would be regarded as a coarse cut blade on pretty much any size of saw and is probably unsuitable for your task.

To give you an example of relative blade diameter/tooth count to tasks, I have a 160mm plunge saw and it requires a 12 to 16 tooth blade for coarse ripping of solid wood, a 24 to 28 tooth blade for breaking down sheet materials (chipboard, plywood, etc) and a 48 tooth blade to deal with laminated materials such as MFC, MF-MDF and kitchen worktops. With too low a tooth count you markedly increase the chances of chipping the laminate on worktops

 

[Gary111]

Thanks for that pal, if I run the saw at a lower speed is it also going to help reduce chipping ?
or should it be full speed ?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

If by "run at a lower speed" you mean reduce the rpm, then no (and does your saw allow you to vary the rpm?). If you mean feed slower, then you need to feed sufficiently quickly that you avoid scorching the cut, but not so fast that you over feed anf get chip out

 

[Gary111]

Thanks very much for your help, I got the lidl saw which does have variable rpm , and a couple of blades.
hopefully it will be up to the job

 

[Deleted member 174758]

As an added point - you'll get a cleaner cut with less chance of scorching if you use dust extraction (i.e connect the saw to a vacuum cleaner)

 

[Gary111]

Many thanks for that, thats very helpful.