What's The Best Diamond Blade For Cutting Asphalt?
Diamond blades are excellent for cutting asphalt as they leave an accurate, straight edge that can be easily sealed when the asphalt is repaired and won’t easily break down. But asphalt is a very abrasive material that will quickly wear down the wrong sort of blade.
Multi-purpose diamond blades go some way towards reducing this wear rate and are useful if you need to cut other materials such as concrete as well as asphalt as they save you from constantly changing over the blade, but if you are cutting a lot of asphalt it’s worth investing in a blade that’s designed specifically for this task.
How to identify a diamond blade for asphalt
Let’s look at the features of an asphalt-cutting diamond blade.
Diamond blades for asphalt have a segmented rim
If you look at our range of asphalt diamond blades, the first feature you will notice is the segmented rim.
Diamond blades for asphalt have wider gullets
Compared with other diamond blades, the gullets – spaces between the blade segments – are wider on an asphalt cutting blade.
Diamond blades for asphalt often have undercut protection
Due to the highly abrasive nature of asphalt, a good quality blade used to cut this material has undercut protection. This makes the blade safer to use and prolongs its useful lifetime.
What else can an asphalt diamond blade cut?
The primary feature of an asphalt-cutting diamond blade is its superior abrasion resistance. This means that it is also suitable for cutting other very abrasive materials.
While asphalt diamond blades should never be used for general concrete cutting, they are a good choice for newly laid or ‘green’ concrete, cement screed and render.
They are also good for cutting lignacite, or abrasive concrete blocks and other highly abrasive materials.
What sizes of asphalt diamond blades are there?
Asphalt diamond blades are used either on a handheld saw or a floor saw, so the bore of the blade will vary between 20mm for handheld saws and 25mm for floor saws and the outer diameter will be either 300mm or 350mm for a handheld saw and 350mm or 450mm for a floor saw.
Choosing a diamond asphalt cutting saw blade
It’s important that you select the right blade for your saw and task, both for your safety and the best blade performance.
If you would like further information or advice, speak to a diamond blade expert. Our friendly, professional technical team can be contacted on 020 8311 1144 or via email at customersupport@cmt.co.uk. Alternatively, you can visit our website and speak with us on live chat.
Which blade should you choose?
All the OTEC asphalt blades cut at similar speeds, the difference is in how long they last
- Best cheap blade – D20T – suitable for cutting small amounts when low cost is your main consideration
- Best mid-range blade – D20B - this blade balances cost with length of life very well
- Best overall blade – D20 – the D20 is in fact the most cost-effective blade of all despite being the most expensive to buy. This is because the extra life that it gives outweighs the extra initial cost giving the best ‘Full life value’
