When buying Diamond Blades, it is crucial to understand how long each type will last. You can waste a lot of money on blades if you don’t properly understand your job needs and what type of blade you need to be using.
Here are some simple things to pay attention to, in order to get the most out of your diamond blade.
CHOOSE THE CORRECT BOND
This is probably the most important thing to understand when buying any type of diamond blade. The bond is basically the mix of metals that surrounds and exposes the diamonds as you are cutting. If you buy a blade with the wrong bond for the surface you are trying to cut, one of two things will happen.
- Your blade will stop cutting because the bond is not wearing away fast enough to expose new diamonds. This is referred to as “glazing over”
- Your blade will cut very fast, but wear too quickly.
The biggest thing to understand about bond is that it needs to be opposite to the material you are cutting. For example, if you are cutting a very hard surface, you need to use a x-soft or soft bond blade. This means the bond will wear away from the diamonds at the right speed, resulting in effective cutting.
Most reputable places that sell blades will have a list of surface hardness’s to help you figure out which blade and bond will work best.
DON’T DEFAULT TO A MULTI-APPLICATION BLADE
One of the most common blades in the market are multi-application blades. They can cut many different types of materials and can be a great tool, but not always.
If you plan on cutting many different materials with the same blade, this may be the best option for you. If you are cutting on specific material, you will not get effective production and life out of these types of blades.
Think of these as a Jack of all Trades, master of none. They will do a decent job in many different scenarios, but will be drastically outperformed by a material specific blade.
LET THE BLADE DO THE WORK
If you purchase the proper blade, make sure that you let it do the work. Many people tend to push the blade to much when cutting because they think it will make the job go faster. The reality is, diamond blades are designed to cut at high speed. The faster they turn, the more material is removed. If you push them too hard, you will cause the saw RPM to fall and subsequently cut slower
As you drop it into the cut, you will feel the diamond blade hit a sweet spot where it seems to be walking along. Once you have found that just continue at that pace. It will be easier on the operator as they will not be fighting against the blade, but working with it.