Hi folks, I'm new to this forum. I have been trying to miter baseboard to complete a Winter project finishing of my basement. I'm using that pre-finished, non-wood crown and baseboard trim because it is water resistant. I just purchased the 10" Ridgid compound miter w/laser. it was set up perfect out of the box and it does a great job cutting real wood, just not this other stuff. So I'm guessing the 40-tooth OEM blade that came with it may not be sutable for this type of material. Any one know about cutting this type of moulding and if a different type of blade would make the difference needed to get a decent miter.

The issue wot cutting metal is having enough blade teeth in contact with the material being cut to avoid breaking off the teeth. The lower limit is three teeth in contact with the metal being cut, so choose a high enough tooth count blade to achieve this. Slow speed and solid blade contact are also needed. Starting the cut is a little harder in metal. The contact area can be small resulting in the blade slipping on the material and losing teeth until a decent kerf is established. Using a triangular file to start the kerf works well. A few quick strokes with the file and the saw blade can settle in and get to work. A circular saw would not work well for this job. You need to be able to get close to the tree without tearing it up. This job should not need a carbide grit blade. Just buy a 5 or 10 pack of blades and go to town. The blades need to be long enough to cut close to the tree without the saw shoe and body hitting it and damaging the bark. If you start with a file kerf a longer blade length is not nearly as important and can make the job easier.

Thanks for suggestions. Furnone, we have one of those hoods, and it is just too small. Mike, thanks for that site. Gives me an idea that a hood could be made from a solid plastic basket, bottom of a 30 gallon barrel(trash barrel), etc, with modifications. Spouse thinks he'd still like to make one of wood. I aim for ultra simplicity with max function, minimal cost, and ease of cleaning. Ours is not a commercial shop. Will try to post the results. cella jane

Have you tried the blade that came with your saw? It probably isn't too bad, unless they did something stupid like put a 40T on it. Expensive Freuds are nice; Dimar (if you can find them) are also expensive and nice. Never used Forrest, but have heard that they're expensive and nice. (I almost think I see a trend, here.) In the land of discount/decent, I once got a Delta 80T at Costco (of all places!) for 30 bucks. It wasn't what I'd call great, but it comes out when I have to cut something awful like HDF. I'm sure supplies there are sporadic. At the bigbox stores here, we've got Oldham brand, which isn't bad and is moderately priced. My resharpener badmouthed them, but I take him with a grain of salt. Generally, I prefer a blade that isn't a thin kerf.