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Concrete cutting saw blades
Are composite concrete cutting blades worthless?
Using a Stihl TS420 saw with a Stihl composite stone cutting blade it took about 15 minutes to cut a 6" thick retaining wall block in half.
A "cheap" diamond blade took about two minutes.
I expected the composite blade to wear quickly but never thought it wouldn't cut.
Does anyone really use composite blades for this type of work?
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Concrete cutting saw blades
I can only guess from your comments that you were using the blade dry.
The big difference between composite and steel 'diamond' blade is the size of particles taken and how those particles are handled.
A diamond blade takes bigger 'bites' per tooth and because of the added weight the particles get ejected better.
A composite blade on the other hand sort of grinds it's way through the work, the resulting particles are extremely fine and without water to carry them away they quickly clog the cutting wheel. There is a marked difference between using a comp. blade wet or dry.
The composite blade however leaves a MUCH finer cut than a regular diamond blade will. For precast concrete this doesn't matter much, if you were cutting marble or granite and needed a finished appearance it would make a BIG difference.
Best of luck.
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Concrete cutting saw blades
I was cutting wet with both blades. I was astonished at how hard it was to cut with the composite stone blade.
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Concrete cutting saw blades
(pretending to be Kenny) What's this composite blade ya'll are talkin' 'bout?
KW, purty soon yous gonna be a contractor yerself! Next thing we know we'll be comin' to you for info. And that's a good thing!
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Concrete cutting saw blades
I don't know about being a contractor but I've learned a lot and the wall is turning out real nice. I'll post pics once I get it done (which will have to wait until my back heals up - those blocks are heavy!). I couldn't have done it without the good advice from you guys.
Here's a link to the Stihl composite blade (they call it an "abrasive wheel" . I was using the hard blade for stone. Don't believe the BS about "super-fast cutting", it's a real dog compared to a diamond blade.
Link:
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Concrete cutting saw blades
I use regular diamond blades. I'm not overly concerned about using them wet or dry as I don't always have a water supply---sometimes the tailings mud they make is worse than the dust the create.
I prefer a customer who, like you, has been in the trenches and appreciates hard work. But then I shudder when I go to do an estimate for someone that hasn't done any actual work but knows everything because they either read on the web, a neighbor told them, or a drunk brother-in-law told them---or, has been my luck they are mechanical or software engineers with no practical application exp. Clients--esp. educated ones, don't like to be told they are just plain wrong. My last client had me waste a whole day redoing what I told him was not going to work. Now he actually wants solicits my opinion AHEAD of time because everytime he wants something done I tell him, "You're the engineer" He don't wanna hear that 
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Concrete cutting saw blades
Ahhh---the composite abrasive blades. Their "super-fast" cutting oddly wasn't in the context of concrete cutting I noticed. I do know first-hand they can really tear up flesh lickety split! I use them for cutting steel when I have to.
Speaking of cutting steel, I usually rail against Clarke tools sold at TSC. Well I will have to make an exception to that: I bought one of their "metal cutting circular saws" for about $139. The box it came in said it would cut 5 times faster than an abrasive blade--and they ain't kidding. I cut a 40' ocean-going shipping container in half in under 45 minutes including cutting the hardwood floor and cross members. It cuts Cor-Ten steel like it was butter. It doesn't like material thicker than 3/8" as it chips the teeth off. New blades are $30.
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Concrete cutting saw blades
Hey... take it easy on us software engineers I knew it
would be hard work but I underestimated the timeline by a
factor of three. A lot of that was just due to mistakes made
by a dumb rookie.
The literature put out by the block manufacturers make it
sound *so easy*. When I post a finished picture I'll type up
a long list of lessons learned.
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Concrete cutting saw blades
Dang! I thought I would be able to s-l-i-d-e that engineer thing by you!
Factor of 3 isn't too bad---I usually figure about 2.
Does your total time include spending time on TP?
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Concrete cutting saw blades
EW, including TP time it would probably extend the factor to ten!
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