Well, you were right. The American made blades at Harbor Junk which sell for about $23 would last OK, but I went for a couple of Bosch ones and haven't broken it yet. Stalled it a few times, but haven't broken it.

The saw is still a hunk of junk though. No endorsement of the big box store here, but it looks like this one is a step up:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Jet-3-4-...UFBQUFGNjE1U0U