We’ve been talking a lot about Milwaukee and Diablo when it comes to carbide-tipped blades and many of you asked “what about Lenox?” That’s a fair question, so we brought in the LENOX LAZER CT Carbide Thick Metal Reciprocating Saw Blade to see how well it performs against the guys in red.
Before we dive into the testing, here’s a quick overview of the features.
LENOX LAZER CT Carbide Thick Metal Blade Key Features
8 TPI (Teeth per Inch) for an Aggressive Cut
With 8 teeth per inch, it’s quite a bit more aggressive than a standard metal cutting blade, but on par with Diablo’s 8 TPI and Milwaukee’s 7 TPI.
Tall Blade Profile
Slightly taller than both Milwaukee and Diablo, the LENOX LAZER CT Carbide Sawzall Blade for Thick Metal should be even more stable. That rigidity works alongside the next feature to improve cutting speed and power.
Thick Metal for Thick Metal
At nearly 1/16″ thick, the LENOX LAZER CT carbide thick metal blade is slightly thicker than either Diablo or Milwaukee. This should also help stabilize it during the cut. If you’ve ever felt a blade bend under the strain of cutting through thick steel, you know that extra stability can really help.
Additional Feature Notes
You can feel the difference in weight between what LENOX brings to the table and what Milwaukee and Diablo have. The extra weight LENOX carries should pay off in a more stable cut with less chatter.
LENOX LAZER CT Performance Testing
To see what kind of performance and life I could get out of the LENOX LAZER CT Carbide Thick Metal Blade, I grabbed some 5/8 rebar and got to work. It started fast, averaging around 7 seconds per cut with the fastest cut of 6.31. But where the other blades start to slow down, Lenox keeps up the pace well. It didn’t break the 20-second mark until it got past its 60th cut. Milwaukee and Diablo both recorded times higher than that within 10 cuts.
In the end, we called it a day after LENOX completed 69 cuts. Milwaukee made it to 42 and Diablo only managed 24. That’s a huge difference in both cutting speed and blade life.
We also made cuts through 3-inch Charlotte cast iron pipe. This is a tough pipe to cut. Previously, we only used diamond grit blades to get through it—and that took a long time. This blade made two fairly quick cuts through that material before requiring a replacement. If that doesn’t sound impressive, you haven’t dealt with the joys of cutting through installed black pipe on-site. We’ll happily charge the blades to the job! After that, we ran the LENOX LAZER CT Thick Metal blade on some ancient cast iron pipe we salvaged from a historic home. The results were the same.
Why Such a Big Difference?
When you’re cutting in thick metal and especially solid metal like rebar, vibration and chatter take their toll from the blade, not just your arms. Those lateral movements cause the teeth to try and cut through the side of the cut and not just through it. It’s a violent encounter that you can feel as vibration and sometimes see as the blade trying to jump around.
That thicker and taller design that Lenox brings to the table gives the blade more stability. In turn, you experience smoother, faster cuts and longer blade life.
Price and Value
At just over $15 each, the LENOX LAZER CT Thick Metal blade prices closely with both Milwaukee and Diablo. However, it’s clearly the superior blade, so even paying more isn’t unreasonable.
Final Thoughts
Faster cutting and longer life—what more can you ask for in your thick metal Sawzall blade? The LENOX LAZER CT Carbide Thick Metal reciprocating saw blade gives you both—with a significant gap to its closest competition. You may pay a couple of dollars more for the blade, but it’s worth the upgrade.
LENOX LAZER CT Carbide Thick Metal Reciprocating Blade Features and Specs
- Up to 10X longer life than bi-metal reciprocating saw blades
- Straight cuts in large diameter materials
- Engineered for fast performance
- 8 TPI design
- 1″ tall
- 0.052″ thick
- Price: $15.98 (single)
- Model: LENOX 2014224 (single), 2014225 (5-pack)