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Circular saw blade for laminate: -5° or the positive 100-tooth

Updated: October 2026

The coated face has chipped, and you are choosing a circular saw blade for laminate, veneer, or melamine. A hundred teeth is half the decision. The other half is who moves: you pull the saw, or you push the board. This page splits the two 250 mm x 30 mm 100-tooth listings that way. The Products Compared editorial team wrote it on 16 October 2026 from amazon.co.uk, the Saxton UK sheets, and a UK tooth chart. We ran no lab cut. The set is the [250 mm x 30 mm circular saw blade comparison](/hub/saw-accessories/250mm-x-30mm-circular-saw-blade). A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The prices we recorded were £21.99 and £22.99.

The coated face has chipped, and you are choosing a circular saw blade for laminate, veneer, or melamine. A hundred teeth is half the decision. The other half is who moves: you pull the saw, or you push the board.

Our top picks

Saxton Blades Saxton 250 mm 100T negative rake

Best overall

Saxton Blades Saxton 250 mm 100T negative rake
10.0/10about £22.99
View offer
Saxton Blades Saxton 250 mm 100T

Rank 2

Saxton Blades Saxton 250 mm 100T
9.4/10about £21.99
View offer
Tech Traders Tech Traders 250 mm 80T

Best value

Tech Traders Tech Traders 250 mm 80T
9.2/10about £13.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Chip-out is a rake problem as well as a tooth-count problem
  2. 2.The -5° blade, and the thin file
  3. 3.The positive 100-tooth blade on coated board
  4. 4.Which one you fit

Chip-out is a rake problem as well as a tooth-count problem

Melamine fails at the face. A coarse blade lifts it, and a fine blade can still grab the coating. Compel's chart puts laminate flooring at 80 to 100 teeth, with a negative hook on a mitre saw. That is a chart, not a test of these discs, and it puts rake beside tooth count. On a mitre or radial-arm saw you move the blade. A positive hook pulls the head in. A slight negative hook, put by a US source at roughly 3 to 6 degrees, leaves the feed in your hands. We use that source for the mechanism only. This set's negative listing prints -5°. The other prints a positive angle and no degree. On a table saw that note treats a negative hook as something that can push stock back. A positive rake is the ordinary table-saw feed, and you still control it.

The -5° blade, and the thin file

The Saxton TCTNR250100T is 250 mm, 100 teeth, 30 mm bore, rake -5°, £22.99, 5.0 from five reviews. The Saxton page aims it at laminates, veneer, mitre, chop, table, and radial-arm saws. Components list 16, 20 and 25 mm rings. The amazon title also names 25.4 mm, which the components line does not, so a 1 inch arbor is not shown to be in the box. Three UK texts: laminate cut smoothly, the blade not yet tried, and a comparison with dearer blades that gives no detail. Five ratings, one of them unused, are not a life test. No rpm is printed. The geometry is why you shortlist it for a saw you pull through coated board. The file is why the claim stays small.
Saxton Blades Saxton 250 mm 100T negative rake

Testsieger

Saxton Blades Saxton 250 mm 100T negative rake
10.0/10about £22.99
View offer

The positive 100-tooth blade on coated board

The Saxton TCT250100T matches the diameter, bore, kerf, and plate at £21.99, with a positive angle and 4.7 from 396 reviews. No rpm. UK texts describe plywood, MDF, laminated MDF, and oak, one blade used for laminate flooring and then a 7 by 3 metre deck, and little breakout on plywood and laminated MDF. One buyer replaced a stock 255 mm 40-tooth blade on a Rutlands table saw. Whether 250 mm reaches on a 255 mm saw is the 250 mm versus 254 mm page. Life beyond those jobs is not measured. Saxton's guide says the feed slows as teeth rise. A 100-tooth disc at a 40-tooth pace scorches veneer. This file is the stronger evidence of coated board actually cut in the UK. It does not print the negative angle a mitre chart asks for.

Which one you fit

Fit the -5° blade when you pull a mitre or radial-arm saw through laminate or veneer and you want the printed rake. Open the box before you count on a 25.4 mm ring. Fit the positive 100-tooth when you want the larger file, including on a table saw where you push the timber. The more precise comment was against a stock 40-tooth blade, not against the -5° disc. Leave both for hidden nails. That brief is the DeWalt nail-tough title on the best 250 mm blade page. Neither is shown here to meet BS EN 847-1. If the guard or the nut cannot be set, hand the saw to someone competent. Bore, kerf and tooth count in that order are the buying guide.

Common questions

What does -5° change on a mitre or radial-arm saw?
You move the blade into the board. A positive hook pulls the head. A few degrees of negative hook leave the feed with you, which is why a UK chart mentions it for mitre-saw laminate. This listing prints -5°, 100 teeth, 2.6 mm kerf, and 1.8 mm plate at £22.99. Five reviews are not a long test of that angle.
Is the positive 100-tooth blade wrong for laminate?
On the UK texts, no. At £21.99 it has 4.7 from 396 reviews, including laminate flooring and laminated MDF with little breakout. The positive angle is the weaker match to a negative-hook mitre chart. On a table saw it is the usual feed, and you still slow down.
Do both blades print kerf and plate?
Both state 2.6 mm, 1.8 mm, ATB, and 100 teeth. The knife check is the same shape, and neither prints rpm. The £1 between the prices we recorded buys the rake sign and the size of the file.
Does the box include a 25.4 mm ring?
The title names one. The components line lists 16, 20 and 25 mm, matching the Saxton UK page. Until the bush is in the box, treat it as absent. A 25 mm ring on a 25.4 mm arbor is loose.
Will a 100-tooth blade stand in for nails?
These discs are for coated faces and clean timber at a slow feed. A hidden nail belongs on the nail-tough listing, with its own 40-versus-48 conflict. A fine tooth that meets a nail is a chipped tip.
Why is 5.0 not the automatic pick?
Five ratings, one from someone who had not cut, cannot outrank 4.7 from 396 reviews of faces people have cut. Choose -5° for the rake on a mitre or radial-arm saw. Choose the positive blade when you want that longer UK record before you pay.

Related pages

How to match saw blade bore and diameter

250mm x 30mm circular saw blade

250mm blade in a 254mm saw: depth, reach, and bore

Best 250mm circular saw blade for the job you have

250mm x 30mm circular saw blade: match bore, then kerf

How to fit a circular saw blade: bore, ring, knife

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings used for this comparison; last retrieved on 17 October 2026.

  1. HSE WIS16, circular saw blades (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  2. HSE, circular rip saws (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  3. HSE, wood dust (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  4. HSE, woodworking standards (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  5. HSE, PUWER ACOP L114 (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  6. Axminster AP254TS manual (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  7. UK Workshop, 250 mm blade in a 254 mm saw (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  8. Saxton UK, negative-rake 250 mm 100 tooth blade (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  9. amazon.co.uk listings for the seven blades (retrieved 17 October 2026)