MICK the Tiler

Ok so now we got the Safety part of the thread out of the way. We can now concentrate on wheel selection and a quick guide on the different types of materials you may come across when working with tile and how diamond blades work and on what material.

This is by no means a definitive explaination and i've tried to keep alot of the very technical stuff out of it so all you guys and gals who are new to tilng can get an easier grasp of some of the expalainations.


In general, a diamond blade's performance is measured in two ways. The first is how proficiently the blade grinds through the material, and the second is the life of the blade; or the total footage yielded by the blade.

When you select the best suited diamond blade for the job/application/material, you will ensure peak performance and maximum investment return.
Diamond blades consist of four components: diamond crystals, a bonding system, a segment, and a metal core.

Diamond Crystals - The diamond crystals are synthetic (man-made) rather than natural. This gives them a consistency that can be relied upon during the enormous stresses they encounter while grinding. The foremost performance factor in diamond blade sawing is the type, concentration and size of these diamond crystals.

Bonding Matrix - Diamond crystals are held in place by a sintering process of specially blended metal powders. This bonding matrix is crucial to the overall performance of the diamond blade, and serves several vital functions:

•Disperses and supports the diamonds
•Provides controlled wear while allowing diamond protrusion
•Prevents diamond "pull-out"
•Acts as a heat sink
•Distributes impact and load as the diamond attacks the cutting surface

During the sawing action, the wearing away of the matrix exposes new diamond crystals providing fresh cutting points for the blade.

Metal Bonds - The diamond crystals and bonding matrix are heated and shaped into specially engineered rims/segments. These rims/segments are wider than the blade core to which they will be attached, and provide the clearance to promote material discharge and discourage blade binding. The rims/segments are specifically designed to wear at a rate appropriate to the material being cut. Large particles of soft, abrasive materials wear down the matrix faster than the small particles removed from hard dense materials. Therefore, softer, more abrasive materials require a "tough to wear" (hard) bond; and less-abrasive materials require an "easy wear" (soft) bond.

Premium Steel Core - The diamond saw blade cores are made from high alloy, heat treated steel. Depending on the type of blade selected, the steel cores are specifically designed to support the appropriate rim or segment. About the periphery of the core, the various rims or segments are affixed through a brazing or laser welding process. An arbor hole is precisely bored in the center, and the entire core is "tensioned" or tuned; so that the stresses of centripetal force are minimized permitting the blade to spin true on the spindle.


Diamond blades do not really cut, they grind the material through an action of friction with the synthetic diamond bonding matrix. The diamond crystals, often visible at the leading edge and sides of the rim/segment, remove material by scratching out particles of hard, dense materials, or by knocking out larger particles of loosely bonded abrasive material. This process eventually cracks or fractures the diamond particle; breaking it down into smaller pieces. As a result of this phenomenon, a diamond blade for cutting soft, abrasive material must have a hard metal matrix composition to resist this erosion long enough for the exposed diamonds to be properly utilized. Conversely, a blade for cutting a hard, non-abrasive material must have a soft bond to ensure that it will erode and expose the diamonds embedded in the matrix. These simple principles are the foundation of "controlled bond erosion".


There are two basic types of cutting-Dry or Wet. The choice of which type of blade to use depends on:

•The requirements of the job
•The machine/tool utilizing the diamond blade
•The preference of the operator


In the case of DRY cutting, the overwhelming popularity and quantity of hand-held saws and the flexible nature of MK Diamond blades to professionally handle most ceramic, masonry, stone and concrete materials, make the DRY cutting blade a very attractive tool.

When using a DRY blade, the user must be aware of distinct operating practices to ensure optimum performance. DRY cutting blades require sufficient airflow about the blade to prevent overheating of the steel core. This is best accomplished by shallow, intermittent cuts of the material along with periods of "free-spinning" for several seconds to maximize the cooling process.

During wet cutting operations, liberal amounts of water act as a coolant to support the cutting effectiveness and longevity of the WET blade. Additionally, using water adds to the overall safety of cutting operations by keeping the dust signature down.