A rip cut is a basic cut that follows the grain of the wood or board from one end to the other. This cut cuts along the grain and is an easy cut to do using a circular saw blade. So rip cut is one of the best first cuts to learn and master. Rip cut can be performed with a table saw, circular saw or most other types of power saws. When using power saws, blades designed for rip cuts can be identified by the smaller number of larger teeth.
What is a Cross Cut?
Just as the name implies, a cross cut is done across or through the grain. In other words, cutting board from side-to-side rather than top-to-bottom. For a clean, safe cross cut needs to use a blade that has far smaller teeth than a rip cut blade, to achieve a clean cut. Opposite to the rip cut, the cross-cut is used for woodworking projects that requires go perpendicular with the grain of the wood.
How a blade cuts best is determined, in part, by the number of teeth, the size of the gullet (gap between the teeth), the tooth configuration and the angle of the cutting teeth. There are a variety of combination blades that can be used specifically for ripping and cross-cutting.