A clear understanding of blade terminology can help avoid confusion when discussing cutting problems.

1. Blade Back - The body of the blade not including tooth portion.
2. Thickness - The dimension from side to side on the blade.
3. Width - The nominal dimension of a saw blade as measured from the tip of the tooth to the back of the band.
4. Set - The bending of teeth to right or left to allow clearance of the back of the blade through the cut.
5. Kerf - Amount of material removed by the cut of the blade.
6. Tooth Pitch - The distance from the tip of one tooth to the tip of the next tooth.
7. TPI - The number of teeth per inch as measured from gullet to gullet.
8. Gullet - The curved area at the base of the tooth. The tooth tip to the bottom of the gullet is the gullet depth.
9. Tooth Face - The surface of the tooth on which the chip is formed.
10. Tooth Rake Angle - The angle of the tooth face measured with respect to a line perpendicular to the cutting direction of the saw.