It was many years ago in the 90’s that I first used the Ax blades from Milwaukee tool. They immediately became my favorite blade for any kind of demolition where I would be encountering nails or screws or roofing materials. That was a long time ago but the ax has continued to hold the top spot as my choice for any tough cut
The design has been continually improved for greater durability and faster cutting speeds. The main body has remained very similar. It is both thicker and deeper than most reciprocating saw blades for greater strength. original high-speed steel teeth were very effective in cutting nail embedded wood. They were small enough that they didn’t break off easily and stayed sharp for a good long time compared to normal wood blades.
Previous Generation Ax Blade with tooth guard compared to competitor
Milwaukee never rests and has continually improved the AX blades. There was at first an adjustment in the number of teeth per inch. There were more teeth per inch close to the tang for durability and fewer further out for faster cutting in heavier materials. This was developed from user feedback. One of the most effective improvements was changing the tooth profile to add a tooth guard. This allows fewer teeth per inch for faster cuts but strengthens the tooth from breakage and limits the bite depth so the tooth has less exposure on hard impacts with nails and screws. The next development was creating the fang tip for really fast plunge cuts.
Even though this proved to be one of the most durable blade designs ever, Milwaukee knew they could do better. The future of premium sawzall blades would have to have a more durable tooth. Enter tungsten carbide. If the right balance of carbide particles and binders could be developed it would not only stay sharp longer, it would open up new possibilities of what you could do with a SAWZALL!
Milwaukee is not the first company to offer carbide toothed reciprocating saw blades. I have used carbide blades from a handful of companies with mixed results. The first blades I bought from one competitor were a huge disappointment. They lasted a long time in clean wood but the second I encountered a nail or screw, several teeth would be lost.
Early failures were partially because early blade designs were based on circular saw blade technology. What works for a circular saw may not work for a reciprocating saw. Tooth profile, hardness as well as connection to the blade itself all affect durability in different ways. The wear and tear on a recip blade is often far more severe than a circular saw blade. There is far more vibration and impact with the material as well as embedded nails and screws or adjacent surfaces like concrete.
One advantage Milwaukee has is they operate their own carbide factory in Germany. This allows them to spend countless hours researching, developing and testing many different grades of carbide and how they perform in an exhaustive array of materials and conditions.
Buy Ax carbide blades at Home Depot
A particularly memorable part of the factory tour is where the carbide cylinders are actually welded to the steel strapping that will become a seemingly unending supply of blades. That’s right. Each tooth starts out as a carbide cylinder which is individually welded, not brazed, right to the steel. It’s actually a beautiful process to watch. I would love to share a video of it but it is not permitted.
A carbide tooth is born
After this the various lengths are cut, tooth profiles are ground and the blade is heat-treated. The next steps are powder coating, labeling, packaging and then distribution so we can put them to work on our jobs.
With each new generation of Ax blades we see improved cutting performance and blade life. So far they have been my most used blade in demolition of fire and water damaged buildings. You never know when you are going to encounter nails or worse, hardened screws when cutting framing members out. As long as I don’t break the blade accidentally, I find that they last longer than 20-30 regular blades. To me the Ax carbide blades represent the best value of any blade designed for wood with nails.
Buy Ax Carbide Blades at Home Depot
The world is pretty much butter for the carbide ax. Milwaukee actually issued a challenge to many of us in the tool review community. They sent us blades and said see what you guys can cut . I decided to use one blade and see how far I could go with it. I cut numerous nails, screws and bolts. It was not enough. I had to find something more challenging. I cut a dead
drill up. The blade went right through the whole motor and transmission. It went through ball bearings, gears and the hardened steel Armature shaft.
Watch it here
???https://instagram.com/p/BOF6oEqBGWg/
I even bought a grade 8 bolt just for testing purposes. It was 5/8″ diameter 5″ long. I first cut the head off which was way too easy.
Watch it here??https://instagram.com/p/BOfvDdfg7Xz/
Next I clamped it in the vise and sliced it all the way down the middle.
Watch it here??https://instagram.com/p/BOfyqPcgaHR/
Remember this is designed as a wood blade. Also remember that a single blade was used for all of these tests
After that I decided that my elbows and hands needed a rest from testing sawzall blades.
With such an outstanding heritage and relentless improvement the Milwaukee ax family and especially the carbide ax blades represent an unbeaten value and stand as my number one choice in Sawzall blades.
Buy the carbide ax at Home Depot
At NPS16 We were privileged to watch 1 carbide Ax cut 2×4 lumber over 1400x’s
I am a Milwaukee blades lover. I always used Milwaukee blades in my reciprocating saw. It is cutting faster and smoothly. These posts are indeed very valuable indeed. All your information is authentic, thanks for your informative information.
I’ve always been fan of Milwaukee blades, the torch is still one of my favorites but the Ax carbide does awesome work on metal, even though its a wood blade. Diablos are nice but their non-carbides are less than stellar.
Wait till you use the carbide torch??
I’ve got a few of these in my Fuel Sawzalls tough box (big thanks to Murray Kruger) and they mean basically all other blades stay in that box. These blades are insanely tough and well worth using over cheaper blades. Definitely a product that lives up to the “nothing but heavy duty” motto. Nails. Screws. Whatever you care to reduce to scrap and rubble, this blade will do it for you.
I love when they come back from the lumber yard and they purchased Ax Blades they are by far the best Saws All Blades out there from the originator of the reciprocating saw. IG @socialdisturbance
I love these ax blades, I’m not even bothering to buy anything else for rough in and demo work. Demo it a boiler then roughed out duct work, used the same blade on the next job, just keeps on cutting. It stays sharp
can you send your addressss for the blades?
Great review! I have been waiting for these to hit the shelves at my local Home Depot but haven’t seen them yet! Can’t wait to give these a go.
@maurzy01
German carbide? Impressive!
Can you send me your address for the blade?
Incredible blades! Don’t have to change them up like the ‘old’ sawzall blades.
Insta- jesseanthonywilson
Looks damn near indestructable.
Never used them. Looking forward to it!
The speed and the efficiency with which these blades cut is surprising. As evidenced by the gnarly cut that I got on my thumb the other day. Feeling pretty lucky to still have all my digits. Still though the best reciprocal blade I’ve ever used.
I’ve used a couple of the new Ax Carbide blades now and I am impressed. Before that I used whichever blades were on sale. I burned up a lot of blades, haha.
Good review. Great blade!
Never knew that they had the ax out for so long nor about the carbide factory in Germany! That’s actually very impressive.
It was a really cool tour.
could you send your address for the blade?