Ditto on Glenn's remarks. I have tried the cheaper blades (several times) for my 18" saw and much prefer a good blade made for cutting the hard materials you describe. The better blades will be a little thicker so you might think you are losing some material. A cheaper thin blade end up cupping, which makes the blade wobble while it cuts. This produces cutting marks on the agate that require a lot time grind off. so you end up losing material anyway. The down side is that the good blades can be about 2.5 times more.

From Mark - September 15, 2008 at 08:20:38

Message: 66980