wrote in message
Will a guy like me gain a noticeable improvement with a cheap 80 or
100 or 140 or (jeez) 200 tooth blade, as compared with the 40 tooth I
have now? If I get too high a "tooth count", might I just as well use
a torch for all the burning I'll do??

It depends on that you want to cut with it and how you use it. A cheap 80
tooth blade may make very fine cuts for you, but it's sharpness will
probably be short lived. It also may not be capable of being resharpened
effectively like an 80 tooth carbide tipped blade. As well, good quality 80
tooth blades are commonly used for cross cutting veneered plywood and
quality hardwoods in table saws. They're not commonly designed for circular
saws which commonly use blades in the range of 7.25 inches. In fact, I've
never seen an 80 tooth blade for a circular saw. The teeth would have to be
very close together to fit them all in.

=Cheap blades advertised with some "super titanium tipped coating" or some
other attention getting ad, are still cheap blades. For me, I'd treat them
as soon to be replaced items in the unlikely event I may even have one.

So, my answer would be "no", you'd just be wasting your money using such a
blade in your circular saw. I understand that money is tight for you, but
should you (when you) graduate to a table saw, even a cheaper one that's
properly aligned, you'll immediately see a major increase in the quality of
your saw cuts, introducing you to a whole new level of woodworking.