Cut off saw blades

[happyvalleyff]

My department recently had a fire where we had to perform a number of cuts into a metal structure. We use regular aluminum oxide blades and some of the guys were not happy with how rapidly they deteriorated while cutting. After doing some research online it seems that the diamond blades appear to last much longer though they are very expensive as compared to a standard abrasive blade. Any help or opinions as too which works better would be very helpful. Thank You

[KB1OEV]

All of the diamond blades I have seen are for use on masonry. They are not intended for use on metal. Can you post some specs on the blades you have been looking at?

My dept has aluminum oxide blades for metal, diamond for masonry and a carbide demolition blade for wood.

[KB1OEV]

Update: I did find a few diamond blades that are intended for use on metal. The price tags run between $350 and $600 for a 14". Thats a far cry from a $20-$40 aluminum oxide blade. To justify that price difference the diamonds had better blow the oxide blades out of the water.

Anyone have/use one on metal?

[MEAN15]

I recently needed to cut a farmhouse roof that was constructed of VERY heavy tin over some very heavy tongue-in-groove planking. Long story short - that roof kicked our asses. Other than a $400 diamond blade, what would be the tool of choice for this construction???

(I realize this doesn't belong in the extrication section, but hey, I'm not the one who started this thread)

[happyvalleyff]

Does anyone have any experince with different abrasive blades that can recommend one over the other.

[ffmedcbk1]

just curious where the metal blades are kept. if you store them near gas or other petroleum products they will breakdown.

we use caribide chunk type blades and i also have a diamond blade. we however still have the standard metal blades on the rigs. anything thicker than a guardrail shouldn't be cut (according to our mfg's of the blades) with the carbide or diamonds.

also consider a cycling of the blades each year.

[Halligan84]

We use the tiger tooth blades and have cut bars, sheet and various metal and concrete with no issues. They are not very good on wood, but will get through it. We used the D'Ax blade and it did ok on metal but not as good as the tiger tooth.

[happyvalleyff]

No the saws blades are kept seperate from any gas except for the ones on the saws themselves. So deterioration shouldnt be an issue.

[ffmedcbk1]

No the saws blades are kept seperate from any gas except for the ones on the saws themselves. So deterioration shouldnt be an issue.

how old were the blades?

[happyvalleyff]

The blades were approximately six months old. I only remember that as they were ones we did not use from a forcible entry class.