What does a saw blade actually cost per foot cut?

Blades feel expensive at the register and are trivial per cut. Working it out once changes how you buy them.

The calculation

Take the purchase price, add the cost of every resharpening the blade will take, and divide by the feet it will cut across that whole life. A cheap blade divides a small number by a small number. A good blade divides a larger number by a much larger one, because its carbide holds an edge longer and it goes back to a sharpening service several times.

As an illustration only, with round numbers rather than measured ones: a $20 blade discarded after 1,000 feet costs 2 cents a foot. A $70 blade resharpened three times at $20 each and retired after 10,000 feet costs $130 over its life — 1.3 cents a foot, and its cuts need far less cleanup. Put your own prices and footage in; the shape of the answer rarely changes.

The cost that is not in the blade

The finish. A blade that leaves a surface needing two grits of sanding costs you time on every part, and time is the expensive input in a shop. A blade that leaves a cut you can glue straight off the saw removes an operation.

Then the machine. A dull blade makes the motor work harder, heats the bearings and burns lumber you sometimes have to recut.

The genuinely useful conclusion

Buy fewer, better blades and get them resharpened — see whether a saw blade can be resharpened. Two good blades, a rip blade and a crosscut blade, outlast one midrange combination blade in a busy shop and beat a drawer of cheap ones outright. Our advice on choosing a saw blade for the material covers tooth counts.

Keep one deliberately cheap blade for reclaimed or dirty lumber, where nails and grit will ruin it anyway — the case covered in whether cheap saw blades are ever worth buying.

Prices quoted in this text were read on October 27, 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.