Changing diamond blades

I have a Vitrex 900 bridge saw, can't remember the name of the blade I'm currently using. I have a cutting platform made from a couple of granite tiles clamped to the top set at 5mm and the blade is fixed in position.
Then I have a stack of marble tiles 10mm and 12mm thick (all about 100mm - 150mm squares) that I feed these through cutting them into 5mm strips. I'll do about 40 - 50 tiles each session.
The saw is run for a maximum of 10 minutes before I rest it for a couple of minutes.

My question is, how do you judge when your blade needs changing? I've been cutting like this for a while and have been changing them when I feel the speed at which I can push the tiles through has slowed down too much but I want to get some other opinions so I'm not wasting blades.

There are some where I notice chipping on either side of the cut and but I'm using different types of marble, some cut perfectly and some I lose about 30% due to shattering so it doesn't give much of an indication.
Cheers

pretty much judge it the way you do Lawrence, ie when I feel it's taking a lot longer to pull the blade through I feel that the blade is now tired and less efficient....time for a new one.

Just to say that if there is meat on the blade and the blade cutting slows, then try honing the blade to expose new diamonds before you chuck it.


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That's great, thanks. Just didn't want to be changing blades before I have to.

Originally Posted by Dave

Just to say that if there is meat on the blade and the blade cutting slows, then try honing the blade to expose new diamonds before you chuck it.


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How do you hone a diamond blade, Dave? Would that work for grinder discs, too?

You run the blade dry through a piece of sandstone , this removes worn particles exposing new diamonds


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Not a lot, they just wear down.

And only works on diamond segmented blades and not composite
Grinder blades


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oh, ok, Ta. learned something new there