Contractors, particularly site work guys, are always short on time. The last thing they want to do is switch out a diamond blade every time they go from cutting concrete to asphalt. On top of that, they don’t want to spend money on 6 different diamond blades to cut 6 different things. Concrete, Asphalt, Granite Curb etc. If you bought a specific blade for each application, you’d go out of business. Unfortunately, the best bang for your buck does in fact put you cutting asphalt with asphalt specific blades and cutting concrete with concrete specific blades etc. BUT! There is an alternative. The combo diamond blade!

When you cut hard stuff, concrete for example, you need a soft bonded diamond blade. When you cut soft stuff, like asphalt, you need a hard bonded diamond blade. I won’t bore you with the science of this (I do that in previous blogs) but obviously having a blade on hand that will cut both concrete and asphalt effectively is extremely beneficial.

There are two attributes about a diamond blade that makes it able to be used effectively as a combo:

1. Medium bond. This lets the blade cut either material and not minimize the life.
2. Drop segments. These prevent undercutting when being used on an asphalt application.

Overall, combo diamond blades are a little more expensive. If you are a contractor that simply is not going to take the time to switch around blades when going from cutting concrete to cutting asphalt, then the extra investment is well worth it.