Diamond Blade Tour

Diamond Blade Tour

Tour of Diamond Blades and Their Uses

All you have to do is a few brief searches on the Internet for “diamond blades” and you will realize very quickly that that there are a plethora of products that fit that description. And it is much more complicated than trying to sort through dust collection equipment Is there really a need for all the different diamond blades? Is one blade better than another? Can one blade be used for many materials? We will answer those questions and more in this diamond blade tour and their uses.

What Are Diamond Blades?

Diamond blades are pieces of equipment that are used in conjuction with all sorts of power saws. These blades though, are not lie a blade you would use for cutting lumber or use in a wood shop. Instead, diamond blades, as there name implies, are blades that ahve diamonds embedded in the segments (similar to the “teeth” on a blade for wood). The diamonds are what do the cutting and they, along with the material in which they are embedded, are a key part of the blade’s operation.

Kinds of Diamond Blades

There are many different diamond blades and their uses overlap in some cases. Wikipedia.org says the following about diamond blades:

There are many types of diamond blade, and they have many uses, including cutting stone, concrete, asphalt, bricks, coal balls, glass, and ceramics in the construction industry; cutting semiconductor materials in the IT industry; and cutting gemstones, including diamonds, in the gem industry.

Here in our diamond blade tour, we will mention the uses of the various diamond blades that we consider, but we won’t delve into the many different industries that page mentions. Instead, we will stay in the stone and fabrication industries.

So what kinds of blades are their for cutting stone? Well, a pretty big selection really. Here is a list of some of them:

  • Bridge Saw Blades
  • Turbo Blades
  • Tile Blades
  • Jigsaw Blade
  • Side Cut Blades
  • Grinder Blades
  • Miter Blades
  • Contour Blades
  • Granite Blades
  • Marble Blades (A.K.A. Calcareous Blades)
  • Multi-purpose Blades
  • Porcelain Blades
  • Diagonal Layered Blades
  • Hard Stone Blades
  • Quartzite Blades
  • Economy Blades
  • Low Horsepower Blades
  • Sintered Stone Blades

As you can see from the above list, there are many types of diamond blades and it could be mind-numbing to try to cover what every single one of the many kinds are. What we will do here is try to explain the reasons for so many different ones.

Why So Many Kinds of Blades?

Contemplating the many different blade types can be exhausting. Thus, question sometimes arises, “why are there so many kinds of diamond blades?” That is a good question. And honestly, it depends on what you mean by “kinds”. As we said earlier, there is some overlap between the “kinds” of diamond blades. Let’s look at a basic example from the list above.

That list of blades contains a couple of entries that we will look at. They are bridge saw blades and hard stone blades. Looking at these two “types” of blades we can see two things right off the bat. The first is that some blade types are indicative of the tool on which they are used; bridge saw blades is an exmaple of this. The second is similar to the first, sometimes the blade’s type indicates the material for which they are best suited; hard stone blades in this case.

Is there really a need for all the different diamond blades? That depends on your particular opinion. But if you take into consideration the fact that unwanted products do not usually last all that long on the market, the answer would be yes. People are looking for and buying all those different blade variants.

Best Diamond Blades

What kind of a diamond blade tour would this be if we didn’t consider which diamond blades are the best? Is one blade better than another? Well, think about it. Is one kind of car better than another one? See, the answer to the question, “what is the best type of diamond blade?” is a loaded question. It assumes that all blades are used for doing the same task on the same material. The truth is, diamond blade are used for all sorts of tasks and they are used on many types of materials – as we have already established.

Best Diamond Blade for Hard Stone

One of the most popular kinds of diamond blades are those used on hard stone. bridge saw blades for cutting hard stone make the list for fabrication shops frequently. You may be thinking, “that sounds redundant, I thought all stone was hard!” It’s true stone is hard, no matter what kind it is. However, some stone is harder than other stone. And in fact, there are even man made materials that are even harder than that. For example, blades for cutting ceramic material are also very popular.

So the hardness of a stone material is relative. Hence, there are stone materials that are considered “soft” as well. These types of material require a specific type of diamond blade too. When cutting soft stone, as the cut is being made, the debris from the slab has a tendency to bunch up and get betwen the blade and the rock. This gums up the blade and hinders the quality of the cut. Hence, special blades are made for cutting that type of stone. Natural stone that is high in calcite is known for this so you will often see calcareous stone blades if you are shopping for diamond blades online. These blades are also just referred to as blades for cutting marble.

Is There a Multi-purpose Blade?

The natural follow up question to the idea of differnt blades being the best for various materials is, ” Can one blade be used for many materials?” The answer to that question is yes. However, blades that are multi-purpose are most likely not going to win as the best blade in any one category. But there are some blades that perform well on several materials. As you look for a these kinds of blades you will want to keep your eyes open for all around blades or multi-purpose stone blades. These blades are designed to cut a variety of materials well and are not “tuned” to a specific hardness.

Well, that will round out this diamond blade tour. As you can see from the list on this page, there are many more blades than we have time to consider in this one article. But knowing a bit about what constitutes a kind of blade helps you understand what to look for as you make your selections.

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