Which blade???

One question we seem to hear over and over in the diamond blade industry is: “Why is this blade more expensive than this other one?” or “Why would I want to use a blade that only cuts concrete when I can get this other one that cuts so much more?”

Think of it this way, would you put mud tires on your race car? You bought that Little Red Corvette because it’s fast, right? (Well, that and there’s a great Prince song written about it!) What about racing slicks on your 4-wheel drive? If you put big, heavy mud tires on your sleek little street car or Hoosiers on your truck during hunting season, chances are you’re not going to get optimal performance out of them.

Will your vehicle still operate? Yes. Will it still take you where you want to go? Yes. But what about the life and performance of your tires? I suspect if you try to compete on the Talladega 500 track with a set of Cooper mud tires, you will probably get lapped in a hurry. You get the picture.

Diamond Blades are uniquely designed for very specific purposes. Diamond grit is dispersed through a metal matrix, or bond. This bond determines whether the blade can be for sawing or grinding concrete, asphalt, masonry, etc. While the diamond grit in the blade segment is grinding away the material, the material is wearing away the segment. The hardness of the material causes the diamonds to fracture and break apart as they cut. The abrasiveness of the material wears away the metal bond. Eventually, as the bond continues to wear it releases the “used” diamond and another “new” diamond is exposed.

On hard surfaces like concrete or ductile you want a softer metal bond that will wear down quickly in order to continue exposing “new” diamonds to keep the blade cutting. On the other hand, for soft surfaces like asphalt or green concrete, you want the bond to be hard enough to resist the abrasion and hold the exposed diamond long enough to do the maximum amount of grinding.

Essentially, your blade needs to match the appropriate cutting surface if you want peak performance, efficiency, and blade life.

There are times when it is appropriate to use a multi-purpose blade with a specially designed bond and diamonds. For example, utility crews often use a multi-purpose blade when they need to cut ductile or PVC pipe. To access pipe, they may need to make a quick cut through asphalt and/or concrete; and in the interest of time, they don’t want to change their blade out. Just be aware that whenever you move to a multi-purpose (or general purpose) style blade, you may sacrifice blade life or performance in order to have the versatility of using it on multiple applications.

Lucky for you, at Cutter Diamond Products we have an abundance of resources available to guide you in selecting the correct blade including: 1) Quick blade key recommendations 2) Diamond Blade Training pdfs upon request or available on our website 3) Trained expert technical advice and support available to answer all your questions.

We are here to help you make knowledgeable blade selections in order to get the most our of your diamond blades. This is what we do. Call the professionals at Cutter Diamond Products.

We won’t let you get caught this hunting season trying to drag your trophy 10-point behind your giant truck with tiny little racing tires!

—
Seana Alexander