Signs a blade needs attention
- Harder to push. DEWALT's track-saw manual says to change the blade when it is no longer easy to push the saw through the cut, when the motor strains, or when heat builds up in the blade.
- Splintering and slow cuts. DEWALT's corded manual lists slow, inefficient cutting, an overloaded motor and excessive splintering as signs of a dull blade, and warns that one raises the chance of kickback.
- Pitch on the plate and teeth. Cutting sap-coated wood leaves melted material on the tips and body that, DEWALT warns, increases the risk of the blade overheating and binding. Pitch can make a sharp blade behave like a dull one; clean it before deciding it is worn.
- Damage. A cracked plate, or a chipped, loose or missing carbide tip. DEWALT says to examine carbide blades visually before use and replace a damaged one.
DEWALT also advises keeping a spare so that a sharp one is always to hand while the other is cleaned or sharpened.
Changing the blade on an ordinary saw
Removing and fitting a blade (DEWALT DWE575)
Disconnect the saw
Turn it off and unplug it, or take the battery out, before any blade change or adjustment.
Lock the spindle and loosen the screw
Press the blade lock and turn the spindle with the blade wrench until the lock engages. The DWE575's clamping screw has a right-hand thread, so it loosens anticlockwise. Never press the lock with the saw running.
Take off the washer and blade
Remove the screw and outer washer, swing the lower guard back with its lever, and lift the blade off by its plate. On a worm-drive saw, DEWALT says to clean sawdust from the guard and clamp-washer area now — and not to lubricate it.
Check the guard
Before fitting a blade, make sure the lower guard moves freely and touches nothing, at every depth and bevel.
Fit the new blade
Place it against the inner washer with its teeth and arrow pointing the way the arrow on the saw does. DEWALT warns not to rely on which side the printing is on. Check its arbor and speed rating fit the saw — see blades.
Washer and screw
Fit the outer washer with its large flat face against the blade, thread the screw in by hand, engage the blade lock and tighten firmly with the wrench. Never use a damaged or incorrect washer or screw.
Test
Turn the blade by hand with the saw still disconnected, check the guard snaps closed, then reconnect.
Changing the blade on a plunge saw
Milwaukee 2831, in its manual's order
Battery out, scoring stop off
Remove the battery, set the bevel to 0°, the depth stop to maximum and the scoring cut stop to disengaged.
Lock the saw at full depth
Set the blade-change lever and lower the front handle until the spindle bolt shows in the blade-change window and the saw locks in place.
Loosen and remove
Hold the spindle lock and turn the bolt anticlockwise with the supplied wrench; take off the flange and blade.
Clean
Clean the spindle, flange and bolt before refitting.
Refit and check the riving knife
Fit the blade with the arrows matching, refit the flange and bolt, and tighten. DEWALT says to readjust its track saw's riving knife after every blade change; check the kerf and plate against the knife's limits in your manual.
Cleaning pitch and gum off
DEWALT's track-saw manual says hardened gum on the blade can be removed with kerosene, turpentine or oven cleaner. Take the blade off the saw first, work in ventilation, wear gloves to handle the blade, and keep solvents off the saw's plastic parts. Lay the blade flat, let the cleaner soften the deposit, scrub the teeth and plate with a stiff nylon brush, then wipe it dry before refitting. Read the cleaner's own label for anything about coatings: DEWALT suggests anti-stick coated blades where build-up is heavy, as with pressure-treated and green lumber. The same job on a table-saw blade, with a cleaner made for the purpose, is in table saw blade care.
Sharpening
DEWALT's manual says that dull blades can be sharpened and points owners to a saw-sharpening service. Carbide-tipped teeth are ground on diamond wheels to the tooth's original angles, which is why a service is the usual answer for them; a blade with a cracked plate or missing tips is replaced, not sharpened. When you send one, ask whether the service can also replace broken tips.
Key takeaways
- Clean before you condemn: pitch can make a sharp blade cut like a dull one.
- Disconnect the saw, match the arrows, and fit the outer washer flat face to the blade.
- On a plunge saw, readjust or check the riving knife after every blade change.
- Carbide teeth go to a sharpening service; damaged plates are replaced.
After a blade change
- Saw disconnected throughout
- Arrows on the blade and saw agree
- Washers clean and undamaged, screw tight
- Lower guard swings freely and snaps shut
- Riving knife readjusted on a plunge saw
- Blade turns by hand without touching anything
Next, put the blade to work: cutting plywood and boards. The saws themselves are in the pillar guide and track saws.
Sources
Each procedure is its maker's for its own saw, and the details differ — check the thread direction and the lock in your own manual. Sharpening is described as a service, as DEWALT's manual describes it; no home method for carbide teeth is given here.
- 1.
DWE574, DWE575 7-1/4" (184 mm) Circular Saws, Instruction Manual. DEWALT.
Used for: Disconnecting the saw before changing blades; the lower guard checked; inner washer, blade, outer washer with its flat face to the blade and the right-hand-threaded clamping screw; the blade lock engaged only with the saw stopped; the rotation arrows matched; never damaged or incorrect washers or screw; a dull blade causing slow cutting, an overloaded motor, splintering and more chance of kickback; sap-coated wood building up on the blade and raising the risk of overheating and binding.
- 2.
DWS535B Heavy-Duty 7-1/4" (184 mm) Worm Drive Circular Saw, Instruction Manual. DEWALT.
Used for: Cleaning sawdust from the guard and clamp-washer area at each blade change and not lubricating it; knocking out the diamond for the worm-drive saw; the blade's speed rating meeting or exceeding the saw's.
- 3.
DWS520 Heavy-Duty Track Saw, Instruction Manual. DEWALT.
Used for: When to change a blade (hard to push, motor straining, heat in the blade); keeping spare blades; dull blades sharpened by a sharpening service; hardened gum removed with kerosene, turpentine or oven cleaner; anti-stick coated blades for pressure-treated and green lumber; examining carbide before use; the riving knife readjusted after a blade change.
- 4.
M18 FUEL 6-1/2" Plunge Track Saw, Cat. No. 2831-20, Operator's Manual. Milwaukee Tool.
Used for: The plunge saw's blade change: battery out, scoring stop disengaged, the saw locked at full depth with the blade-change lever, the spindle lock held while the bolt is turned counter-clockwise, and the spindle, flange and bolt cleaned.
About this tutorial
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