Diamond Blade Selection Tips

Diamond blades can be divided into General Purpose Diamond Blade or Application Specific Blades. As a rule, general purpose blades will be less expensive per blade. Application specific blades will be more expensive per blade but offer a lower cost per cut and will offer lower overall cost when the price of the blade is expensed over the total mount of cuts the blade will make over it’s life.

A General Purpose Diamond Blade is useful for a contractor who wants to cut a wide variety of different materials. Tool Planet offers blades for concrete, brick, masonry, asphalt, block, slate or field stone.

All purpose diamond blades are good when:

1. jobs are small
2. jobs that are not scheduled
3. the saw user does not want to change blades
4. the saw user’s experience is low
5. cost per blade is more important that cost per cut

The cost per cut may be slightly higher for a General Purpose Diamond Blade used for cutting a combination of materials. Sometimes the flexibility and convenience of buying one blade makes combination blades a wise choice.

Application Specific diamond blades are good when:

1. jobs are large
2. jobs are well scheduled in advance
3. changing blades is not an issue
4. the saw user’s experience is high
5. cost per cut is more important that cost per blade
6. jobs are for cutting one type of material

Selecting the correct diamond blades for application specific cutting

When you are cutting mostly one type of material, a dedicated blade is best. Application specific diamond blades cost more but, the lower cost per cut makes them a great choice when the same material is being cut over and over. ToolPlanet.com sells blades for specific materials including asphalt, brick, block, concrete, masonry, ceramic tile, stone, marble and granite.

Material Hardness and Material Abrasiveness

Once you have made the decision to go with an application specific blade, there are still a number of factors that must be considered. Material hardness and abrasiveness is an issue. Generally speaking, the harder the material, the less abrasive it is and vise versa.

Cured Concrete

Cured Concrete will vary in hardness depending on the hardness of the aggregate used. Click here to view our aggregate map for the United States. This will give you an idea of how hard the aggregate is in your area. If a blade is intended for concrete that is very hard, we will note this on the blades item page. Additionally, concrete that is re-in-forced will be harder to cut. If you need further assistance in this area, please call us toll free at 1-888-535-8665.

Green Concrete

Green Concrete is soft and abrasive. This material is rated by its age in hours. The more recently the concrete was poured, the softer and more abrasive it will be. After 24 hours concrete is usually not considered green.

Asphalt

In addition to being soft and abrasive, asphalt breaks into larger pieces when cut. These pieces can clog a blade and or damage the blade’s core. Most Asphalt Diamond Blades are designed to deal with these issues.

Brick:

Masonry materials, like concrete, vary in hardness. General brick used for walls and exteriors tend to be less hard that bricks used a pavers which can be very hard. Refractory bricks used to line things like kilns and coke oven are extremely hard and always require a dedicated blade. Tool Planet carries a full line of Masonry Diamond Blades.

Blade and Saw Speeds

When selecting a diamond blade, make sure that the blades rated speed and type is compatible with your saw. Most gasoline operated hand held saws are specifically designed to operated a high speeds. Click here to see our blade RPM speed chart.

Cutting Depth

When selecting a diamond blade, the blade diameter will dictate how deeply you will be able to cut. As a general rule, a blades cutting depth will equals 1/2 the blade’s diameter minus 2 inches. Look here for a complete listing of cutting depths for blade diameters.

Saw Horse Power

Some diamond blades are specially designed to run on higher horse power saws like walk-behind saws. The saw operator should not attempt to use lower torque blades on these saws. We include the horse power rating in the operation specifics section of our products page. Blades in our Concrete Premium Series Diamond Blades are formulated to run on walk behind and high speed saws up to 13 HP. Others, like our Supreme Series U-Slot, are made for higher torque created by more powerful saws. For pavement saws in the 65 HP range, use our Professional Diamond Blades.

Blade Design

Some blades designs allow the blade to produce a specific type of cut. Regular segmented diamond blades produce a relatively clean cut. However, this type of cut may not be smooth enough for certain materials like marble, tile or for concrete or brick that will be used in a presentation setting. For smoother cuts turbo rim style may be more effective. Tile and stone applications usually require a continuous rim blade.

Blade design often aids in safe use. Most asphalt blades feature undercut protection. There are many different protection styles. Some blades like our Segmented Heavy Duty Series feature a slanted type undercut protection. Another popular style is the wide gullet U-Slot featured in our U-Slot Heavy Duty Series. This series features alternating deep segments. The U-Slot gullet design clears the larger pieces of debris expelled when cutting asphalt.

Wet and Dry Cutting. Dry cutting blades can be used wet or dry. A wet cutting diamond blade can only be used wet. Wet cutting blades are almost always sold as application specific blades.

Blade Use and Operational Safety:

1. Blade direction: Make sure that you blade is mounted to spin in the direction indicated by the arrow embossed or stamped on the blade
2. Seating: Be sure that the blade is firmly seated on the arbor and that the flange is securely tightened down over the blade. Read the operators manual for your saw thoroughly before mounting the blade and starting the saw.
3. Don’t force or push the blade. Allow the blade to make the cut.
4. From time to time, your diamond blade may become glazed over which prevents the release of diamonds. To clear the blade, cut in a piece of abrasive material like cinder block
5. Make only straight line cuts. Do not attempt to make curved cuts
6. Make sure your saw is properly maintained. Keep your saw serviced and checked regularly.
7. Make sure your diamond blade is rated for the speed of your saw