Saws - Materials Used For Saws

Materials Used For Saws

There are several materials used in saws, with each of its own specifications.

Brass

Mostly used in back saws because of its low price and its flow characteristics, which make it relatively easy to cast. Brass contributes to the rigidity that is needed in back saws, which require less force to operate than other kinds of saws because of the pulling motion involved.

Steel

Used in almost every existing kind of saw. Because steel is cheap, easy to shape, and very strong, it has the right properties for most kind of saws.

Diamond

Fixed onto the saw blade's base to form diamond saw blades. As diamond is a superhard material, diamond saw blades can be used to cut hard brittle or abrasive materials, for example, stone, concrete, asphalt, bricks, ceramics, glass, semiconductor and gem stone. There are many methods used to fix the diamonds onto the blades' base and there are various kinds of diamond saw blades for different purposes.

High speed steel (HSS)

The whole saw blade is made of High Speed Steel (HSS). HSS saw blades are mainly used to cut steel, copper, aluminum and other metal materials. If high-strength steels (e.g., stainless steel) are to be cut, the blades made of cobalt HSS (e.g. M35, M42) should be used.

Tungsten carbide

Normally, there are two ways to use tungsten carbide to make saw blades:

1. Carbide-tipped saw blades: The saw blade's teeth are tipped (via welding) with small pieces of sharp tungsten carbide block. This type of blade is also called TCT (Tungsten Carbide-Tipped) saw blade. Carbide-tipped saw blades are widely used to cut wood, plywood, laminated board, plastic, grass, aluminum and some other metals.
2. Solid-carbide saw blades: The whole saw blade is made of tungsten carbide. Comparing with HSS saw blades, solid-carbide saw blades have higher hardness under high temperatures, and are more durable, but they also have a lower toughness.