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Diamond Saw Blade       It costs more, but rarely needs sharpening. Is it worth it? April 10, 2005

Question
I am considering going to a diamond blade on our sliding table saw. Here are our specifics: We cut veneered panels only. We cut plywood and MDF core. We do not use scoring. We currently sharpen our Leitz blades every 2 weeks. I am not sure how long the blades will last - it is safe to say less then a year. The blade must be cleaned every day. We keep the blade tilted 50% of the time which causes extra friction which causes the blade to get dirty quickly.

My questions: Does anyone have experience with diamond blades? How long might I expect the blade to last? Can it be re-sharpened or the equivalent? When our blade starts to get dull it needs to be cleaned more often - is cleaning frequency different with diamond? Can we use standard saw cleaner? If there is another question I should be asking, what is it?

Forum Responses
(Solid Wood Machining Forum)
From contributor A:
All of the diamond blades that I am familiar with use abrasion to cut hard materials like tile and stone. I never heard of a wood-cutting diamond blade, but I will be very interested and surprised if there is such a thing.



From contributor B:
Why does your blade get dirty when you only cut MDF and VC? I don’t think sharpening the blade once a week is enough to justify a diamond blade. Some shops sharpen their blades every day. Diamond blades are expensive but will stay sharp for a very long time.


From the original questioner:
To contributor B: It is simple mathematics. The yearly cost of the blade(s) and sharpening is around $900. I have read a diamond blade can last years. If the blade is less then $1,800 and it will last two years I want to consider it. If, because it stays sharper, I don't need to spend 15 minutes a day cleaning it, that is a savings. 15 minutes a day is over $1,000 a year in labor. I realize it will likely need to be cleaned but hopefully less often. I think we need to clean often because we tilt the blade quite a bit and it causes a lot of friction.


From contributor C:
With out knowing the size, but assuming it’s a 12" (300mm), cost would be under $2000.00 for a fully serviceable unit. Service on our product is 8+ times. We use a nick-alloy coating that assists in the resin from building up on the blade. PCD type tools enjoy a constant feed - this is where you achieve the longest tool life, probably double that of a manual fed tool. Again assuming that your machine is a manual fed type unit, you can expect 30 to 40 times the life versus carbide. I hope with this information you can decide if this is a cost savings to your operations.


From the original questioner:
To contributor C: Thanks for the input. I have a few questions. What do you mean by serviceable? Assuming it is sharpening or equivalent, what does that cost?


From contributor C:
Serviceable means it can be serviced or sharpened. A ball park price for sharpening is about $300.00. This does not include adding a PCD tip.
Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below?
  • KnowledgeBase: Knowledge Base

  • KnowledgeBase: Solid Wood Machining

  • KnowledgeBase: Solid Wood Machining: General

  • KnowledgeBase: Solid Wood Machining: Tooling

  • KnowledgeBase: Solid Wood Machining: Tool Grinding




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