What is a Diamond Blade

Diamond blades consist of four components – Diamond crystals, a bonding system, a segment, and a steel core.

Bonding matrix Diamond crystals are held in place by metal bonding matrix. The bonding matrix plays several vital roles:

-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 grind the cutting surface

How do diamond blades work? Diamond blades don’t really “cut” like a knife… they grind. During the manufacturing process, individual diamond crystals are exposed on the outside edge and sides of the diamond segments or rim. These exposed surface diamonds do the grinding work. The metal “matrix” locks each diamond in place. Trailing behind each exposed diamond is “bond tail” which helps support the diamond. While the blade rotates on the arbor shaft of the saw, the operator pushes the blade into the material. The blade begins to cut through the material, while the material begins wearing away the blade. Exposed surface diamonds score the material, grinding it into a fine powder. Embedded diamonds remain beneath the surface. Exposed diamonds crack or fracture as they cut, breaking down into even smaller pieces. Hard, dense materials cause the diamonds to fracture even faster. The materials also begin to wear faster, allowing new layers of diamond exposure to continue cutting. This continuous grinding and wearing process continues until the blade is “worn out”.