Tile saw blade quality

[Don Burt]

I have a low end tile saw. 7" blade with 5/8" arbor. I want to plough-through dalle de verre and glass castings. I don't care about a little chipping and I don't require a thin kerf. I have been using $34 Home Depot-quality blades and now need a new blade, because the current blade is dull. I'm suspecting that cheap blades are the way to go for me, based on my requirements. But I'm now needing blade #3, and I'm wondering about the cost effectiveness of purchasing a more industrial quality blade....e.g. a diamond resin blade or something. So my questions are: do expensive blades outlast cheap ones by enough that make them worth the investment on longevity alone? And, can cheap blades be dressed to get a little more life out of them?

[Brad Walker]

I don't think expensive blades last much longer, if at all. They cut smoother, but they're often thinner.

Have you tried dressing the blade you have by cutting through some kiln shelf material? Just a few cuts to wear away some of the diamonds and give the blade a little more life.

The least expensive blades I've found are from Harbor Freight. I use the Diamondback continuous rim blade for cutting through stone.

[Don Burt]

Thank you for the info, Brad. I'll try cutting some hard ceramic and see what happens to the blade. Last time I changed kiln elements, I sliced a little bit of a ceramic insulator off with the blade. That stuff is hard. I suspect, now that I remember it, that it may have effectively dressed the blade in addition to shortening its ultimate life. Doesn't hurt to try it again.