These choices directly influence blade quality and cost. To determine the level of quality that goes into a saw blade, ask the following questions of your blade supplier.

1. Do you use high grade steel in making your saw blade bodies to ensure that all heating, balancing, tensioning and trueing processes can be performed adequately?

2. Is every blade you make fully heat hardened to at least 40 HRC to enable them to handle heavy loads without bending and waving?

3. Do you select the appropriate carbide for each given application and do you have access to the newest carbide technology for increasing blade life?

4. Is the carbide used in your woodworking blades at least 91.5% tungsten content to ensure maximum wear resistance?

5. Are the carbide tips you use ultrasonically cleaned to maintain a suitable brazing surface-enhancing the strength of your braze joint?

6. Do you go to the trouble of grinding or de-scaling the tooth seat so that solder used in brazing flows evenly creating a clean joint?

7. Are your saw plates computer-aided stone ground on surface to remove distortion during the production process?

8. Do you use at least 400 grit diamond grinding wheels when honing carbide to achieve a maximum level of sharpness and edge integrity?

9. Do you finish grind all sides of your carbide teeth even on your 7-1/4" framing blades to ensure minimized microchipping and longer life?

10. Is every blade body individually inspected by a trained saw doctor for flatness, true and proper tensioning, taking into account the physical differences in every steel plate. Do you hand-hammer your plates individually in addition to roll tensioning?

11. Is every tip viewed through a microscope to check for edge clarity and grind integrity as well as for microchipping?