Appreciation post: The before and after of switching from wet to dry diamond blades for brick cutting

I've been laying brick for about 12 years now, mostly residential work here in Nashville. For the first 8 or so years I always used wet saws for cutting brick, figuring the water kept dust down. About 4 years ago I picked up a dry diamond blade for my angle grinder on a job where I couldn't run water easily. The difference was pretty shocking. With the wet blade I always had slurry everywhere and the cuts were good but slow. With the dry blade I cut twice as fast with a much cleaner edge, almost no chipping. The trade off is all that silica dust gets airborne, so I wear a respirator now. Some older guys at the supply house swear wet is the only way to go to prevent thermal shock on the brick. But after using dry blades for years now, I'd never go back for general cutting. Has anyone else made this switch and noticed a big performance difference in their cuts?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason.anna10h ago

Man, the spray bottle trick is a game changer, I tried it after a buddy recommended it on a hot job and it really does keep the mask from clogging up so fast. I still get paranoid about thermal shock on really dry old brick, so I'll back off the pressure if I see any little cracks forming. It's funny how those old school guys will die on that wet saw hill, but even my grandad switched over once he tried a good dry blade on a demo job and saw how much faster it was.

calebrivera10h ago

Have you tried running the dry blade just a little wet, like a spray bottle mist? I found that trick from an old mason in Missouri and it changed everything for me. It keeps just enough dust down so my respirator lasts longer, but you still get that clean fast cut without the slurry mess. I think a lot of those older guys who swear by wet saws never gave dry blades a fair shot with proper technique. Once you dial in the speed and pressure, dry cutting just feels more natural. Plus my angle grinder lasts way longer now since I'm not soaking the bearings every time I make a cut.