Professional Tool Reviews for Pros

Milwaukee is flying deeper into the cutting accessories sector with a whole host of carbide options from hole saws and Sawzall blades to a full line of circular saw blades. You can find links to those reviews at the bottom of the page. For now, our muse is the Milwaukee circular saw blade – specifically their 7-1/4″ offerings for framing and fine finish.

Both the Milwaukee framing blade and Milwaukee fine finish blade share some characteristics we’re used to seeing at the Pro level. Here’s a quick breakdown:

There’s also something each Milwaukee circular saw blade touts that’s not so common – cobalt infused tungsten carbide. Every circular saw blade uses tungsten carbide, but most manufacturers don’t talk about the specific blend they use. Some are likely sourced from elsewhere and companies like Diablo keep their in-house blend a close secret.

Milwaukee may not be the only one with the additional cobalt in their carbide, but they’re the only ones bragging about it at the moment. So what does that do for the teeth?

In a steel alloy, cobalt’s main benefits come in the form of heat and wear resistance – something very beneficial at the literal cutting edge of a saw blade. It’s one of the reasons cobalt blend drill bits are a popular choice on the premium side.

Fresh off our framing nailer shootout, there’s plenty of scrap wood lying around for me to make some test cuts with these new blades. My main concern is the ability to make a fast, accurate cut with the Milwaukee framing blade. Cross-cutting a 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 doesn’t tell me much aside from the cut quality, so I fired up one of our Skilsaw circular saws and made a few rip cuts.

On the accuracy side of things, I’m able to follow my Inkzall line easily. That’s par for the course as it should be. What strikes me is that this Milwaukee circular saw blade allows me to cut pretty fast as well. I’ll have to set up a rig to test it against other framing blades, but my first impression is that it’s going to be among the top performers. Regardless, I don’t have any complaints.

I can pretty much echo the same sentiments about the Milwaukee fine finish blade. Obviously, the cutting speed is slower with its 40 teeth. However, it’s doesn’t feel sluggish compared to other ones I’ve used. Its ability to follow a straight mark on the board is satisfactory as well.

While it’s not conclusive, the “ding test” can give you an idea of a blades ability to absorb vibration. Sound comes from vibration and a blade that deals with it well will deaden the sound quickly. Milwaukee does it well, but Diablo does it better. On some of our cheap blades, we might as well set them up as cymbals for a drum set. Food for thought…

I like the framing blade as a primary blade in any corded or cordless circular saw and the fine finish blade is a win if you’re going to have one on a handheld saw.

What I really like the fine finish blade for is on the compact cordless miter saws we have running around. It works well as a primary blade there, though it’s not specifically a miter saw blade like some brands offer.

I’d love to see Milwaukee start packing their 7-1/4″ circular saw with the framing blade and 7-1/4″ miter saw with the fine finish blade as stock blades.

Milwaukee framing blades currently run $9.49 each and the fine finish blade is $14.99. It’s pretty obvious each Milwaukee circular saw blade is targetting the premium end of the market, including the massively popular Diablo brand. So how does it compare?

Diablo’s framing blade (not the Demo Demon) is $8.99. That’s just one brand, though. Irwin’s Weldtec is the same price while DeWalt and Hitachi move in at $9.99. On the framing side, that puts Milwaukee squarely in the middle and close enough to Diablo to make it worth giving it a shot.

On the fine finish side, other 40T blades run $12.99 for Diablo with DeWalt just under $20 for their miter saw specific blade and Irwin at the $24 mark for their Marathon blade. Milwaukee and Diablo are certainly the most appealing from a price perspective with Diablo saving you $2 per blade. That might be enough of a price swing to make some people shy away from making the switch. But again, buy just one Milwaukee fine finish blade and give it a shot – I think you’ll find the performance and finish are right up there with what you expect at this level.

Milwaukee circular saw blade options in the 7-1/4″ diameter for framing and fine finish have the performance and quality to make them a legitimate option for Pro use. With a slight price increase over their major competitor, Diablo, time will tell how if Milwaukee is able to start pulling some of the market share away from them.

On the clock, Kenny dives deep to discover the practical limits and comparative differences for all kinds of tools. Off the clock, his faith and love for his family are his top priorities, and you'll typically find him in the kitchen, on his bike (he's an Ironman), or taking folks out for a day of fishing on Tampa Bay.

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I would be interested in seeing how their (Milwaukee) blades compare to some of the others on the market in a true head to head. Maybe after they fully populate their line up, I would expect they will (if they already haven’t) come out with 6-1/2″, 8-1/4″, 10″ and hopefully even 12″ versions. I also wonder what, if any, influence the acquisition of Imperial Blades will have on the line up.

I received a Skillsaw SPT67WM-22 for Christmas that came with the Diablo 24 tooth framing blade, (the blade is why I wanted this saw and not the SPT67WL-01). The combination cuts like the proverbial hot knife through butter on everything I’ve use it on. I’ve been considering buying a finishing blade, so I may just have to get the Milwaukee 40 tooth fine finish blade and try it out.

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Professional Tool Reviews for Pros