FTG (Flat Top Grind) — chops straight through

The top of the tooth is flat, like a tiny chisel. It chops straight down through the fibers rather than slicing them, which is exactly what you want when ripping, because you’re clearing a large volume of material along the grain. FTG teeth are paired with large gullets — the gaps between teeth — that act like dump trucks, carrying sawdust out of the cut fast enough that the blade doesn’t overheat and burn the wood.

Best for: ripping solid lumber.

ATB (Alternate Top Bevel) — slices instead of chopping

The teeth are ground at an angle, alternating left and right like a row of tiny knives. Instead of chopping, an ATB tooth slices through the fiber, which matters when you’re cutting across the grain — a chopping motion across the grain tears fibers loose; a slicing motion severs them cleanly. The tradeoff is a smaller gullet, so ATB blades clear sawdust more slowly than FTG blades and shouldn’t be pushed through a rip cut at rip-cut speed.

Best for: crosscutting and solid hardwoods.

TCG (Triple Chip Grind) — scores brittle material before it can chip

Teeth alternate between a flat-topped raker and a trapezoidal, chamfered tooth. The chamfered tooth scores the material first; the flat tooth follows and clears it. This matters for man-made sheet goods — melamine, MDF, laminate, and plastics — that are brittle enough to shatter or chip under a slicing ATB tooth. TCG’s scoring action removes material without the outward pressure that causes chipping.

Best for: melamine, MDF, laminate, plastics.

Hi-ATB (High Alternate Top Bevel) — the steepest slice, for veneer

Same alternating-bevel concept as ATB, but ground at a steeper angle — usually 20° or more. That steeper angle acts almost like a razor, slicing through a thin veneer layer with minimal tear-out. If you’re cutting $100-a-sheet Baltic birch or a walnut-veneered panel, this is the blade that protects that investment.

Best for: plywood, veneered MDF, fine finish work.

Tooth count: why fewer teeth isn’t worse, it’s different

Geometry determines how a tooth cuts. Tooth count determines how fast the blade removes material and how smooth the resulting edge is.

The relationship is a direct tradeoff: fewer teeth means bigger gullets, faster feed rates, and a rougher edge. More teeth means smaller gullets, slower feed rates, and a smoother edge.

• 18–24 teeth: pure ripping. Large gullets, fast feed, rough edge that often needs jointing or planing.
• 40–50 teeth: the combination compromise — usable for general shop work when you don’t want to swap blades constantly.
• 60–80 teeth: dedicated crosscutting. Smooth edges on solid wood, slower feed rate.
• 90–100+ teeth: fine finish work — plywood, laminate, veneer. Very slow feed rate, near-zero tear-out.

What I actually tested in my shop

Most blade-selection content repeats the same manufacturer talking points without anyone actually running the comparison. Here’s what I measured on my own saw, so you’re working from real numbers instead of marketing copy. [ADD YOUR DATA — replace the bracketed placeholders below with your own measured results before publishing.]

Setup: [Saw model, motor horsepower, and fence brand] · Material: 8/4 white oak for the rip test, 3/4″ Baltic birch plywood for the crosscut/veneer test · Feed rate held constant by [describe your method — e.g., pacing to a metronome, or a power feeder set to X ft/min].

Even without the final numbers filled in, the format matters: a table like this — built from a cut you actually ran, on a saw you actually own — is the kind of original, verifiable detail that generic “best blades” roundups can’t replicate, and it’s the difference between a page search engines treat as a primary source versus one more summary of everyone else’s summary.

Matching the blade to your project