Yes, for cuts that would ruin any blade — reclaimed timber, anything near a fixing, dirty exterior stock. For everything else the cheap blade costs more, because the carbide is thinner, the body is less flat, and sharpening it is not economic.
The gap between a cheap blade and a good one is real, and it is not mostly about the tooth count printed on the label.
Where the money goes
Carbide grade and the amount of it. A good blade has a substantial tip of fine-grain carbide that takes a keen edge and survives several regrinds. A cheap blade has a thin wafer of coarse carbide that is dull sooner and cannot be reground more than once.
Body flatness and tensioning. A blade plate is stressed during manufacture so that it runs flat and stiff at speed. Skipping that step is invisible on the shelf and shows as a wandering cut and a wide kerf.
Grind consistency. If the teeth are not all at the same height, only the tall ones cut, and they wear at several times the rate.
The legitimate use for a cheap blade
Reclaimed timber, pallet wood, anything with grit in it, and demolition cuts. You are budgeting to destroy the blade, so destroy a cheap one.
The illegitimate one
Fine work. A cheap blade in melamine or hardwood costs you sanding time on every part, and time is more expensive than the blade you saved on.
Keep one deliberately sacrificial blade labeled as such and never let it near good stock.
Last reviewed 2026-08-12