Alright cold saw crew, gather around for the lowdown on these blades that power our favourite tools. cold saw blades are what make or break your cut quality so let me shed some light. There’s mainly two types – solid high speed steel and carbide tipped. I’ll break them down.
First up we got high speed steel blades. Made from specialised alloy tool steels, these blades get heat treated super hard for crazy edge retention. Not as brittle as you’d think either. Depending on the hardness scale, you can use HSS blades for cutting ferrous (64/65 HRC) and non-ferrous (58/60 HRC) materials.
HSS blades are almost always hollow ground behind the teeth for chip clearance during cuts. Letting those chips evacuate quickly is key to smooth slicing. And the term “high speed” steel is kind of literal – it doesn’t necessarily mean super fast cutting. These blades are typically run below 350 surface metres per minute max for long life. Going way faster than that can cause overheating issues since HSS isn’t quite as heat resistant as carbide.
Coatings make a difference too – black oxide is standard but some toolmakers slap on titanium nitride or similar for that much slippier finish. Big difference when machining oily materials!
Next level is tungsten carbide tipped blades. Where HSS is good, carbide is straight up god-tier for serious production work. How these things stay sharp cutting steel alloys at insane speeds is incredible -.the tungsten inserts just don’t quit. Only downside is vibration “hates” carbide, so rigidity is key there.
Both blade styles can totally be resharpened too when they finally do get dull. Way cheaper than replacing and better for the environment. You Just got to know when teeth are damaged beyond repair.
And always match your blade diameter and tooth count to the job. Coarse teeth crosscut wood quickly but fine ones smooth out metals like butter. You’ll be amazed how much optimization can boost your speed.
With some smart choices blades will seriously last you years, paying for themselves countless times over. So invest in quality and you’ll be slinging swarf in no time.
