2021 test10 productsBlades, Bits & Abrasives
Which Circular Saw Blade Brand Wins?
We compared 10 circular saw blade options head to head. Evolution came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Winner
Evolution
Price shown in test: $12
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Runner-up
Hercules
Price shown in test: $10
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Budget pick
Milwaukee
Price shown in test: $8
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Made In | Weight | Teeth | Claims | Clean Cut New 3 Passes | After 30 Nails Cut | Retest Clean Cut After Nails | After Shingles | Deck Screw Test | Final Clean Cut After Full Torture | Overall Degradation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Evolution premium series framing and demolition blade$12 | Japan | 213 g, the heaviest blade at that point in the video | 24 | designed for demolition, but labeled not for use on ferrous metals | 2.17, 2.17, 2.22 seconds; average of 2.19 seconds, third fastest of the initial round | 3.03, 3.69, 5.16 seconds; 16 of 24 teeth showed some damage | 4.4 seconds, second fastest of that round | slowed significantly to 11.6 seconds (from 4.4 after nails), harder hit than most of the top blades and not among the top 5 named in that round's recap | overheated when it hit the second deck screw and struggled badly to finish, taking 71 seconds, by far the worst deck-screw result of the lineup | 6.08 seconds, the fastest of the final round, described in the transcript as coming in on top | 178% increase in cut time from new to fully torture tested, the best (lowest) percentage increase of all blades measured |
| 2Hercules framing and demolition blade (Harbor Freight)$10 | China (professionally made for Hercules Tools) | 199 g, 17 g more than the Milwaukee | 24 | nonstick electric shield coating, precision laser cut vents | 2.22, 2.22, 2.37 seconds; average of 2.27 seconds, fourth fastest of the initial round | 3.39, 4.3, 4.81 seconds; 22 of 24 teeth showed damage; had the fastest third pass of the nail test at 4.81 seconds | 5.42 seconds, slightly faster than the Milwaukee | 8.97 seconds (from 5.42 after nails), fourth place in that round | 16.07 seconds, third place | 7.09 seconds, second place | 215% increase in cut time from new to fully torture tested |
| 3Diablo Demo Demon Ultimate framing and demolition blade$14 | Italy | 188 g, 3 g more than the DeWalt | not tested | new tracking point amp tooth geometry | 2.68, 2.22, 2.52 seconds; average of 2.47 seconds, fifth of six ranked in the initial round | 3.28, 3.89, 4.96 seconds; 17 of 24 teeth with very minor damage, held up well | 4.71 seconds, third place | the shingle segment states this blade slowed 'from 4.17 seconds after 30 nails to 9.12' - note this 4.17 figure conflicts with the 4.71 seconds given in the prior post-nail retest; both numbers kept verbatim as a transcript inconsistency, not resolved. Result after shingles: 9.12 seconds, fifth of the top 5 named in that round | 11 seconds, first place, narrowly beating the DeWalt's 11.05 seconds | 8.1 seconds, fourth place | 219% increase in cut time from new to fully torture tested |
| 4Milwaukee framing blade$8 | China | 182 g, the lightest blade tested | 24 | precision ground tungsten carbide teeth, thin kerf design, heat expansion slots; used as the video's control blade and is NOT advertised or designed for demolition | 2.63, 2.47, 2.57 seconds; average of 2.56 seconds, slowest of the six blades ranked in the initial round | 4.86, 5.31, 9.17 seconds; 19 of 24 teeth showed damage | 5.52 seconds, slowest of that round | 10.74 seconds (from 5.52 after nails) | the transcript gives two slightly different numbers for this result: 17.74 seconds during the individual test description and 17.64 seconds in the round's recap ranking; both kept verbatim, not resolved | 8.97 seconds, slowest of the final round (nearly 4 times its new-blade time) | 248% increase in cut time from new to fully torture tested |
| 5Masterforce framing and demolition blade (Menards)$13 | not tested | 183 g, 1 g more than the Milwaukee | not tested | claims 8 times longer life, laser cut heat expansion slots, PTFE coating to reduce friction and heat build-up | 1.88, 1.66, 2.22 seconds; average of 1.92 seconds, the FASTEST blade in the initial clean-wood round | 9.78, 6.28, 7.65 seconds, struggled badly and appeared to overheat mid-pass; 21 of 23 teeth showed some (mostly minor) damage | 9.17 seconds, the slowest of that round; the coating appeared to be causing problems | improved notably to 8.3 seconds (from 9.17 after nails) as the shingles scraped away the green coating; second place in that round | 18.61 seconds, slowed considerably after hitting the second deck screw | 7.19 seconds, third place | 278% increase in cut time from new to fully torture tested, the WORST (highest) percentage increase of all blades measured |
| 6DeWalt framing and demolition blade$14 | China | 185 g, 3 g more than the Milwaukee | not tested | patented body slot technology for smooth cuts, laser cut plate and carbide face grind | 2.63, 2.52, 2.63 seconds; not included in the video's explicit ranked list of the six fastest new-blade averages | 4.3, 5.67, 6.89 seconds; 20 of 24 teeth with very minor chipping | 5.47 seconds, fifth place | 7.81 seconds (from 5.47 after nails), the FASTEST blade in that round | 11.05 seconds, second place, a close second behind the Diablo's 11 seconds | 56 seconds, a major failure - the host states the blade's body slot became warped from the deck-screw test, causing it to drag so badly the saw began moving backward; the blade was retested twice with no improvement | not included in the video's final percentage-increase comparison list, likely because of the outlier failure result |
| 7Spyder Tarantula$15 | carbide and steel made in Germany, assembled in China | 194 g | not tested | polymer stabilizing vents, ultra tough nickel cobalt, claims up to 10 times longer lasting than regular blades, inner fuse anti-friction coating | 1.87, 1.87, 2.02 seconds; average of 1.95 seconds, second fastest of the initial round (close behind Masterforce) | 3.44, 3.95, 5.62 seconds; 16 of 24 teeth with minor damage | 4.25 seconds, the FASTEST blade of that round | 8.57 seconds, third place | 16.5 seconds, fourth place | 15 seconds, not among the top 5 blades explicitly ranked in that round's recap, indicating a notable late slowdown despite earlier strong results | not tested |
| 8Bosch Edge extreme carbide$20 | China | 344 g, by far the heaviest blade at that point in the video | 14, fewer than the standard framing/demolition blades | speed coat anti-friction finish, brute carbide for long life; NOT marketed for framing, marketed for nail demolition | 7.62, 7.04, 6.89 seconds, much slower than the standard blades due to its thicker kerf and lower tooth count | 9.22, 11.81, 15 seconds; 13 of 14 teeth with very minor damage | 11.71 seconds, a 39% slowdown from new | 24.85 seconds | 41 seconds | 28.3 seconds | not tested |
| 9Big Blue heavy duty demolition blade$28 | not tested | 260 g | 5, far fewer than any other blade tested | large gullets, 3/16 in kerf, extra thick steel body, claims 5 times longer life | 10.14, 8.46, 14.6 seconds, the slowest of all blades in the initial round | 19.5, 22.42, 70 seconds; the blade came loose mid-third-pass and had to be retightened before finishing; 4 of 5 teeth showed damage | 11.07 seconds on a fresh blade, described as only a 15% slowdown versus a worn blade's clean-cut time | the transcript separately states this blade slowed 'from 12.97 seconds before the shingles to 39.57 seconds after,' a figure that does not fully reconcile with the 11.07 second retest value above; both kept verbatim as a transcript inconsistency | 54.3 seconds | 108 seconds, by far the worst of any blade tested | not tested |
| 10Amana Tool industrial carbide tip nail cutting blade$32, the most expensive blade tested | European Union | 355 g, the heaviest blade tested | 14 | large European style micrograin carbide tips, standard kerf size; claims to be designed for wood with nails, but labeled not recommended for ferrous, non-ferrous, or masonry | 5.16, 4.7, 4.96 seconds, described as performing fairly well given its heavy, thick-kerf design | 7.24, 10.09, 15.5 seconds; 9 of 14 teeth with minor damage | 9.89 seconds, nearly twice its new-blade time | 21.65 seconds | 41.6 seconds | 23.03 seconds | not tested |
How it was tested
- cutting speed through clean 2x4 lumber (new blade, 3 passes)
- cutting speed and tooth damage through 2x4s with 30 embedded nails (3 passes)
- cutting speed through clean 2x4 lumber after the nail test
- cutting speed through clean 2x4 lumber after cutting through 18 ft of shingles
- cutting speed through 2x4s with 3 embedded deck screws
- cutting speed through clean 2x4 lumber after the full torture test (nails + shingles + screws)
- percentage increase in cut time from new to fully torture-tested
“the Japanese made Evolution came in on top at 6.08 seconds”