# ceramic vs. porcelain blades



## troubleseeker (Sep 24, 2006)

Can someone tell me what is the difference between a wet saw blade for ceramic as compared to a blade for porcelain tiles? Thanks.


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## JJC (Nov 5, 2005)

Let me take a stab at it. Porcelain being hard and dense has very little abrasives removed from the tile when being cut. Ceramic on the other had does have more abrasives. as does quarry tiles. The blades are made with a matrix, usually nickel) that holds the diamond grit in place. Let say you use a porcelain blade which has a "soft" matrix to cut porcelain and it does a real good job and will last a very long time. The next 2, 3, or 4 jobs all have ceramic or quarry tiles to be installed and you use the porcelain blade. Because it has a soft matrix and your cutting a whole bunch of tile tiles that have a high abrasive content. It will eat the blade up by eroding the soft matrix and exposing more diamonds that are not needed yet. The end result is you have accelerated the life span of that blade, wearing it out too early. The opposite is true for ceramics using a harder matrix to maintain the life of the blades. Another thing is to always dress a new blade before you use it for the first time. Also dress it on a regular basis and the blade will last a long time.
Thats my stab at it!


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## MattCoops (Apr 7, 2006)

Pretty sound advice from post above.

We actually have different blades for different tile materials.
Three general purpose blades, (turbo, continuous, slotted). A porcelain wet saw blade (which we also use on marble). And a granite wet saw blade.


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