Pros: Nice fit and finish, bright orange color, goes on sale at affordable prices.
Cons: Performed poorly in comparison to other moderate and top shelf blades.
The Bottom Line: No joy with the CMT. Try a Freud LU72M010, Tenryu RS25550, Infinity General 010-040, DeWalt 7640, Delta 35-7657, Oshlun 40T, Infinity Combomax, Freud LU84, WWII, or Ridge Carbide.
woody2's Full Review: Cmt 213.040.10 10"X40ATB 5/8" Bore
Recent sale prices were all the incentive I needed to give the CMT 213.040.10 blade a try. With the purchase of my new Shop Fox cabinet saw last summer, I was looking for a "go to" everyday blade. With a fairly standard general purpose design of forty C-4 micrograin carbide teeth, an alternating top bevel grind (ATB) of 20°, large gullets, full kerf laser cut body 0.130", an 18° hook angle (also called "rake"), bright orange teflon coating, and anti-vibration slots, the CMT seemed to be an excellent all around choice that I had not yet had the chance to spin. The hard carbide teeth should hold up well under heavy use, and are large enough to endure multiple sharpenings. The 213.040.10 is also available in a thin kerf version (0.106") as the 214.040.10 for saws under 3 horsepower. CMT blades are manufactured in Italy.
Even those who use dedicated rip and crosscut blades will occasionally need a good general purpose blade like the CMT 213.040.010. On sale at nearly half the going retail price made for a seemingly excellent buy. It's configured with versatility in mind, claiming good results in both rip and crosscuts so that one blade can be left in place for the majority of cutting tasks. In theory, a general purpose blade will make cleaner cuts than a rip blade, and can handle ripping chores that a dedicated crosscut blade can't handle without burning the wood and lugging the saw.
To date, I've tried somewhere in the range of 50 various saw blades and have reviewed many of them here. The majority have been precision high end contenders such as Infinity, Forrest, Freud, Tenryu, Ridge Carbide, DeWalt, etc, and I fully expected the CMT to hold it's own against this formidable group of blades. Unfortunately, in actual use the 213.040.10 fell short of expectations, leaving notable score marks along the edge of all cuts, with no amount of adjustment or fiddling that could avoid them. The marks were large enough to be easily seen and felt. The results were more reminiscent of a cheap 24 tooth ripping blade, and were not suitable for glue up without retreating the edge with a jointer or handplane...something that I typically don't need to do for edge glue ups. Some aspects of crosscuts were acceptable with the CMT, with only slight tearout at the exit of the cut. However, the blades marks on the edge of crosscuts remained much like with rip cuts. Because of the disapppointing performance in hardwoods, I did not venture on to plywood or other sheet goods with my testing. Instead, the blade was packed up and returned.
It's likely that this particular blade had some manufacturing defects, or fell at the ragged edge of being within specification tolerances. I've had favorable experiences with an 80 tooth Hi-ATB blade and 30 tooth glue line rip blade from CMT, and have read enough other favorable comments that I know CMT is a capable blade manufacturer. At ~ $36 shipped, it was a full $25 below street retail, however it's hard to be happy with a $36 expenditure that pans out to be a waste of time and money. It'd be nice to have a second chance with a "good" CMT general purpose blade, but at this point I'm undermotivated to try again with so many other excellent choices available, not to mention that I currently have no shortage of top shelf blades in my rack. I have other inexpensive blades like the Oshlun 40T and Tenryu 50T that soundly outperform the more expensive CMT, and have had several thin kerf blades over the years that also readily outpace it. Blades like the Infinity Super General and Forrest WWII give the CMT 213.040.10 an embarrassing black eye. I sincerely wanted to like this blade and was excited to receive it. Unfortunately, no amount of bright orange coating and slick machining could compensate for the poor showing on my saw. Not recommended.
Fantastic prices with ease & c...(Stock status: N/A)
The CMT General blade has taken the place of the 50 tooth combination blades for discerning woodworkers to become the best all-around blade. CMT's Gen...More at Amazon Marketplace
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