Wet Saw Blade Life?

ponch37300

How long does your wet saw blades last, how many sq. ft. before you purchase a new one? What brand are you using? Thanks

ron schenker

Depends on what you're cutting. I use a Boesh blade and replace it when it stops cutting clean.

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Floordude

There are different blades for different material. If you use the right blade for the application, they last quite some time. Dry cut blades don't last as long as wet cut blades.

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Tileguytodd

I use Felker TM5 & TM7 blades pretty much exclusivly.

How long do they last???
When work is slow a Really LONG time
When I'm busy as lone bull in a field of hieffers..not nearly as long

Anybody got a better answer LOL

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Bill_Vincent

Ron, I bet you have a BUNCH of blades that still look half new!!

Have you guys ever heard of something called "dressing the blade"? What I use is a patio block from one of the big box stores. I'll get one of the 12x12x2" thick patio blocks, and once the blade starts slowing down, I'll run it through the stone about 6-8 times, cutting off about a 1/4" at a time. After that, the blade will cut like it's brand new.

What happens is the diamonds on the blade get worn down, especially when cutting the harder materials, like granite or porcelain. After a while, the diamonds are almost worn smooth to the metal matrix of the blade's rim. The patio block is hard enough that cutting it will wear down the metal, but soft enough that it WON'T wear down the diamonds, thereby exposing more diamonds, and "sharpening" the blade.

One other thing-- I saw atleast one person talking about using the right blade for the right material. I use all purpose blades all the time, with one exception-- when I'm cutting the extra thick porcelains, like Cerdomus Tiles. Any other time, the all purpose blades will do just as well as the specialty blades and even last longer. The only time a specialty blade might do better is if you're cutting glass. But as far as the porcelain blades are concerned, they're a marketing ploy, and a reason to charge you more money for an inferior blade. Read the following article, and it'll explain why I make that claim:

http://powerpr.com/articles/articles.asp?include=971

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ron schenker

I let my last blade go a little too long. When I checked it there were no more diamonds left, just metal. No wonder the ceramic tiles were chipping
I don't tile full time so I've only gone through about a dozen blades in my life. Thanks for the tip Bill

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ponch37300

Thanks for the tip Bill. I've heard of that before but haven't tried it yet. I will hve to see how that works next time my blade starts getting dull. Happy Thanksgiving everyone