Around 24 teeth on a 250 mm blade — few enough that each gullet can carry its chip out of a deep cut, which is what stops the blade burning.
Ripping cuts along the grain and produces long, stringy waste. That waste has to leave the kerf, and it leaves in the gullet — the space between two teeth.
A 24-tooth blade has deep gullets and room. An 80-tooth blade has neither: the waste packs, friction rises, the blade heats, and the cut burns. People blame sharpness; the blade is usually fine and simply wrong for the job.
The rule of thumb. Coarse for thick and along the grain; fine for thin and across it.
Why two blades beats one good one. A single 40- or 50-tooth combination blade is a compromise that is acceptable at both jobs and excellent at neither. Two blades and a five-second change costs less than most people’s first upgrade and improves the saw more.
On a small motor there is a second benefit: fewer teeth means less material removed per revolution, so an underpowered saw stops bogging in thick stock.
Last reviewed 2026-08-12