DeWalt 10 in 40-tooth General Purpose Saw Blade

Why a 40T general-purpose blade still earns a spot in my shop

A general-purpose blade lives or dies by compromise: it has to rip without bogging, crosscut without tearing, and treat sheet goods kindly enough to avoid a second pass. I’ve been running the DeWalt 40T general‑purpose blade on a contractor table saw and a 10-inch sliding miter saw for several weeks, and it hits that sweet spot better than most “do‑it‑all” blades in its class.

Setup and first impressions

Out of the package, the blade was flat and true, with cleanly ground carbide tips and a uniform coating. The anti‑stick finish is slick without feeling gummy, and the laser‑cut body slots are tidy. The arbor bore fit snugly on a 5/8-inch flange with no slop, and I measured kerf at roughly 0.094 inch with calipers—thin enough to help lower-powered saws, but not so thin that it feels whippy.

On my saws, it ran without noticeable wobble. There’s a reassuring balance to it: spin-up is smooth, and coast-down doesn’t sing the way cheaper plates do.

Cut quality across common tasks

• Crosscuts in hardwood: On a miter saw and a table saw sled, the blade produced clean shoulders in white oak and maple up to 1 inch thick. With a zero-clearance insert, I saw minimal fuzzing on the exit side—nothing a quick pass with 220-grit couldn’t erase. Mitered face frames came together tight, without the ragged fibers I often see from budget general-purpose grinds.

• Rips in hardwood: In 3/4-inch oak and maple, feed rates were confident and straight. The thin kerf helps keep the motor in the happy zone. In 5/4 stock, I had to slow down slightly to keep heat at bay; any burning I saw in hard maple traced back to fence alignment or a dirty blade rather than tooth geometry. For repeated heavy ripping, I’d still switch to a dedicated 24T ripper, but for occasional cabinet parts, the 40T held its own.

• Softwoods and construction lumber: Pine and fir cut quickly with clean edges. The blade’s shoulder design seems to blunt minor imperfections—knots didn’t chatter the stock or throw the cut off line.

• Plywood and MDF: In cabinet‑grade birch ply, both rip and crosscut edges were crisp on a zero-clearance insert. Tear-out was acceptably low even without painter’s tape, and I’d call the line “finish‑ready” for interior faces. MDF cut cleanly with little fuzzing, and the anti‑stick coating kept pitch and fiber dust from building up as fast as on bare plates.

• Melamine and veneered sheet goods: It’s serviceable for a jobsite trim or shop-fit panel, but if you work with melamine regularly, you’ll still want a higher tooth-count, high-ATB blade for near‑perfect topside cuts.

Vibration and noise

The body slots do their job. On my open‑stand contractor saw, this blade runs a touch quieter than the stock 40T plate it replaced, and more importantly, there’s less tingle through the fence hand. That shows up as a smoother feed and cleaner exit on narrow rips, where minor vibration can translate directly into lateral scratches or micro‑chatter.

Feed pressure and power draw

Thin‑kerf blades can be a blessing on 15‑amp jobsite saws and underpowered contractor saws. This one keeps the motor out of stall territory in thick softwoods, and it let my miter saw glide through 2x material without that “heavy push” feeling. On a cabinet saw, the advantage is less dramatic, but the lighter cut still translates to less heat and cleaner edges on resinous woods.

Accuracy and tracking

The plate stayed true through repeated rips against the fence, without wandering or burnishing the cutline. I intentionally pushed a long, narrow rip in 3/4-inch maple to see if I could provoke deflection; the blade held line provided the feed was steady and the pressure was realistic for a thin kerf. As with any thin‑kerf blade, ham‑fisted feed rates can flex the plate on thick hardwoods—this one resists better than average, but it’s not a magic trick.

Coating and cleanup

DeWalt’s ToughCoat finish earns its keep. I ran quite a bit of pine and MDF, and resin buildup was slower than I typically see. When it did come time to clean, pitch released easily with a standard blade cleaner and a nylon brush. Less gumming shows up as less heat and less burn risk in dense stock, and I noticed that during long rip sessions.

Durability and carbide life

After a weekend of building shop cabinets—lots of plywood plus a fair amount of maple edging—the tips still looked sharp under a loupe, and the cut quality had not meaningfully degraded. I did hit a small brad hidden in a piece of reclaimed pine (despite my best scanning efforts). The reinforced shoulder design seems to have helped; the tooth didn’t chip, and there was only a slight bright mark on the carbide. I wouldn’t make a habit of plowing through fasteners, but the blade handled an accidental strike without ending the day.

Compatibility and setup notes

• Riving knife: At a 0.094-inch kerf, make sure your riving knife is thinner than the kerf. Many factory splitters are around 0.090–0.100 inch; if yours is on the thick side, confirm that stock doesn’t hang up behind the blade.

• Zero-clearance insert: For the best plywood and crosscut results, pair this blade with a zero-clearance insert or backer board. Tear-out drops from “acceptable” to “barely there.”

• Blade height: Like most 40T blades, raising the blade slightly for crosscuts reduces exit tear‑out by increasing the effective hook angle and cutting more with the face than the corner.

Where it shines, and where it doesn’t

Strengths:
- Balanced plate and quiet operation for smoother feeds
- Thin kerf that genuinely helps lower-powered saws
- Clean crosscuts in hardwood and veneer ply with minimal fuss
- Coating that keeps pitch at bay longer than bare steel
- Respectable resilience to the occasional oops in reclaimed stock

Limitations:
- Heavy rips in thick hardwoods require patience or a dedicated rip blade
- Melamine and ultra‑thin veneers benefit from a higher tooth count and more aggressive top‑bevel geometry
- Thin-kerf deflection can show up if you force the feed or have a misaligned fence

Value and alternatives

As an everyday, leave‑it‑on blade, this DeWalt 40T sits in a sweet spot. You can spend more on premium, fully ground plates with tighter tolerances and specialized grinds, and if you’re chasing flawless melamine edges or ripping 8/4 maple all day, that spend makes sense. But for general shop work—cabinet carcasses, face frames, trim, and construction lumber—this blade delivers a level of performance that belies its everyday price. It’s also a solid upgrade from most stock blades shipped with saws, especially on jobsite rigs that benefit from the thin kerf.

Who it’s for

• DIYers and pros who want one blade to cover 80–90% of table saw and miter saw tasks
• Users of jobsite or contractor saws that benefit from a thin kerf to maintain blade speed
• Woodworkers who primarily cut hardwood/softwood up to 1 inch, plywood, and MDF, with only occasional forays into demanding hardwood ripping or high-gloss sheet goods

If your work leans heavily toward furniture‑grade crosscuts in brittle veneers or frequent ripping of thick hardwoods, consider a two‑blade setup: keep this 40T for general work and add a 24T ripper and a 60–80T crosscut/plywood blade for the specialized tasks.

Recommendation

I recommend the DeWalt 40T general‑purpose blade as a reliable, everyday cutter for both table saws and miter saws. It’s balanced, runs quietly, and offers clean results in the materials most of us cut most of the time. The thin kerf helps underpowered saws without introducing excessive flex, the coating reduces maintenance, and the carbide holds an edge through real‑world workloads. It won’t replace a purpose‑built rip or ultra‑fine crosscut blade for specialty tasks, but judged by the standard that matters—how often I leave it on the arbor—it’s earned a permanent spot in my rotation.