Saw blades for cutting plywood — by finish, speed & blade life

This collection brings together every blade we make for cutting plywood — organized so you can pick by what actually matters to you: the cleanest finish, the fastest feed, the longest blade life, or a balance of all three. Below you’ll find what each blade type is, which one fits your job, and how to find it in the right size for your saw.

Plywood punishes the wrong blade. The thin face veneer on cabinet-grade ply, Baltic birch, and melamine-faced panels tears out the moment a tooth lifts a fiber instead of slicing it — and once the veneer chips, the panel is scrap. The right carbide-tipped blade gives you glass-smooth, splinter-free edges that need no sanding. There’s no single “best” plywood blade, only the best one for your priority. Here’s how to choose.

The three things that decide a plywood cut

• Tooth count. More teeth means a smoother cut but a slower feed. Fewer teeth feeds faster but leaves a coarser edge. For plywood you stay on the high side — a 24-tooth rip blade shreds veneer.
• Grind geometry. An alternate top bevel (ATB) shears cross-grain fibers cleanly and is the default for plywood. A high-ATB (Hi-ATB) grind sharpens that bevel to 25–40° for the cleanest veneer and melamine cut. A triple-chip grind (TCG) trades a little crispness for far greater durability on abrasive overlays.
• Hook angle. A lower or negative hook gives more control and less tear-out. A higher, more aggressive hook feeds faster — which is why a fast-feed blade pairs fewer teeth with more hook.

The key trade-off to remember: the sharper the bevel, the cleaner the cut — and the faster it dulls. A Hi-ATB finish blade leaves an edge you could glue straight off the saw, but its knife-fine points wear quicker. A blunter TCG tooth gives up a little finish but holds its edge through many more cuts and resharpening cycles — roughly 10 to 15 cycles versus 3 to 4 for a Hi-ATB blade — which is what drives your true cost per cut on high-volume work.

Plywood blade chart by size and priority

Find your diameter, then read across to your priority.

Diameter	Fast feed SCT, fewer teeth + more hook	Balanced SCT crosscut	Ultimate finish DFA, Hi-ATB	Longest life SCA, TCG
8″ (200mm)	36–40 teeth	48–60 teeth	64–80 teeth	48–60 teeth
10″ (250mm)	40–50 teeth	60 teeth	80 teeth	60–80 teeth
12″ (300mm)	48–60 teeth	72–80 teeth	96–100 teeth	72–96 teeth
14″ (350mm)	60–72 teeth	80–100 teeth	108–120 teeth	84–100 teeth

Sizes shown are a sample — we stock the full range in both inch and metric, including larger panel sizes above 14″ (350mm), in these same blade types. For example, our 300mm sliding panel saw blades run from 36 to 96 teeth. If you don’t see your exact size, we almost certainly have it.

Which blade matches your priority

Ultimate finish — DFA (Hi-ATB)

When the edge has to be flawless — veneered plywood, double-sided melamine, fine moldings — the DFA series is the answer. Its high alternate-top-bevel grind slices the face and back veneer chip-free, often eliminating the need for a separate scorer or stabilizer. The cut comes off the saw ready to finish. DFA blades are made for both melamine and plywood, so they cover your finished panel work in one blade. You trade some feed speed and resharpening life for it, but nothing cuts cleaner.

Longest life / lowest cost per cut — SCA (TCG)

Once a panel surface turns abrasive — melamine, HPL, phenolic overlays — the SCA triple-chip grind nibbles the hard surface without chipping and shrugs off the abrasion that dulls a Hi-ATB edge prematurely. You give up a touch of crispness for a tooth that holds its edge through many more cuts. This is the right economics for high-volume production.

Balanced everyday crosscut — SCT

For clean, all-round sheet and panel work without committing to a dedicated finish blade, the SCT crosscut series is the shop workhorse. Run it at a higher tooth count for finish, lower for speed.

Fast feed / production — SCT, fewer teeth + more hook

When throughput beats finish, reach for a lower-tooth SCT with a more aggressive hook angle. Fewer teeth and more hook means a faster, freer feed; you accept some bottom-face tear-out, or back it up with scoring (below) to keep both speed and a clean edge.

The best setup for production: sliding table & panel saws

For real production volume, the cleanest fast cut comes from a main blade plus a split scoring set on a sliding table saw. The scorer pre-cuts the underside of the panel a fraction ahead of the main blade, so the bottom veneer is severed cleanly before the main blade reaches it — chip-free on both faces, even on two-sided melamine, at full production feed. Pair an SCT main blade in the metric sliding-table sizes with the matching split scoring set for the best results. SCT blades can also be run in stacks where the application calls for it.

Our 300mm sliding panel saw blades run from 36 up to 96 teeth, so you can dial the exact balance you need: fewer teeth for breaking down sheets fast, more teeth for finished panel sizing. Shop sliding panel saw blades & scoring sets →

Find your blade by saw size

• 8″ plywood blades — smaller table saws and compact setups.
• 10″ plywood blades — the workhorse size for table and miter saws.
• 12″ plywood blades — larger miter and table saws and heavier production.
• 14″ plywood blades — big crosscut and panel work.
• Cutting melamine specifically? See our blades for melamine & laminate — the same DFA and SCA families, sorted for faced panels.

Four tips that make any blade cut cleaner

• Use a zero-clearance insert. Supporting the fibers right at the cut line is the single biggest tear-out reducer, whichever blade you run.
• Score the bottom first. A shallow scoring pass at the depth of the first plies, then a full-depth pass, gives chip-free results even with a lower tooth count — the principle a split scoring set automates.
• Mind the good face. On a table saw the blade exits through the top, so cut good-face up. On a handheld circular saw it exits through the bottom, so cut good-face down.
• Match kerf to your saw. Thin kerf feeds easier on lighter saws; full kerf runs straighter on high-power cabinet and sliding panel saws.

Why LORNA Industrial for plywood

LORNA Industrial plywood and melamine blades are German-made to the exact tooth counts, grinds, and hook angles this guide recommends — ground for chip-free veneer cuts and built to hold an edge through real production. Whether you need the flawless DFA finish, the long-running SCA economy, or a balanced SCT crosscut, there’s a LORNA blade matched to the job and made to fit your machine. In specification, our DFA finish blades are comparable to premium plywood and melamine blades such as the Freud LU79 / LU80 and the Forrest Duraline Hi-A/T.

Not sure which to choose?

Match your saw diameter and your top priority to the chart above. Still deciding? Browse and filter every saw blade we carry to start from zero, or contact us with your machine and material and we’ll point you to the exact blade.

LORNA Industrial blades are aftermarket blades made to fit. Freud, LU79, LU80, and Forrest Duraline Hi-A/T are trademarks of their respective owners and are referenced here for comparison only; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.