301 vs 303 blade - 10"

Hey Bob, I bought one of each my last time I got new blades. Both are really good blades but for me the 303C 10" by .050 proved to be the most durable, fastest cutting, and needed less dressing. Slabs come off almost lapped. The 301 is a notched rim type and cuts a little rougher and for me, needed to be dressed more often especially when cutting tough stuff like pet wood. Seemed to have more tendency to bog down and stop in the cut and worked less well with the really dirty oil I usually run ( I don't drain and clean my rig often cause the Covington's a pain in the ass to clean). I can't tell you how long the 301 would've lasted because I broke a rock that jammed the blade and wrecked it. The 303C is still going and still has diamond after hundreds of slabs. If I don't mess it up it looks like it will last till all the diamond is gone which never seems to happen for me with notched rim blades.

I don't know why the 301 costs more. Maybe more expensive to manufacture notched rim blades. I used to always buy them because you could send them in to Barranca and have them repaired and sharpened for $50 for my big 20 inch blades. Continuous rims could not be repaired. Now that this is no longer an issue, I think I'll stick with the 303C's.

As a side note, booth 10 inch blades were a bit too large in diameter for the precut slot the blade runs in on my Covington. Had to file the slot larger to accommodate the new blades and the 303C was even a bit bigger than the 301 was. No big deal but when you install the blade, make sure it turns freely in the slot before you turn on the saw motor.....Mel

I think you run a notched 15-20% faster than a continuos.

301 has a a different core designed for harder materials and a higher diamond concentration
303 has a core designed for everyday use.
Both will work but if you are only cutting hard agates like Montanas or Brazilians all the time the 301 is designed for that purpose specifically.

Tony

I bought a MK 303S 18 inch. The MK guy asked me saw brand and speed. He was intent on speeding up the segment over the continuous.
Helped with(Covington) pulley speed calculations, said it would do some smooth cuts, better than the continuous blade supplied with the saw.
He was right, never looked back, great results with 303S. Blade a bit thicker so fatter kerfs, but rigid and few saw marks.

I believe he said the reason for increasing the speed was the segments reduced the amount of diamonds the rock would see and faster removal of mud.

Guess you haven't checked your inbox yet today? Just bought the 303c from you a few hours ago.

The 301 cuts as smoothly as the 303? You recommend the 301 over the 303?

ob, I had your order ready to ship before reading tis post yesterday. Figured it was you after reading here. I started using 303C blades years before I became a dealer. I used the green blades I bought from a show dealer for a really low price. Last one I bought was so warped it would not run true but he may have been selling seconds. I bought (yikes! full list price)from Diamond Pacific an MK303C. It cut so well (both fast and smooth) I never bought another Chinese blade. When Barranca abandoned making the old notch rim blades they had the same Korean factory making the 303 blades make the new 301. I think they wanted the notched rim look of the old 301 blades and had the tooling made to cast the rim with "wedge shaped notch like segments"cast in the otherwise similar rim as the 303C. They made it about 25% taller as well. When they told me it worked even better than the 303C I said no way. I tried it on my MK101 3200 rpm tile saw and became a believer. Cuts agate like a meat slicer but dulls quickly at that speed (both rpm and heavy handed feeding). I've heard of a couple of cases where saws stalled out cutting really hard material with 303C but cut through with 301. In fairness I have not tried a 303C on either my MK101 or my Cut Above saw (both turn around 3200 rpm). I did a lot of hand cutting back in the day with a .032" 303C on my old Frantom. I have a customer that cuts jade on his cut above saw with a .032" 303C and he says other than wanting to deflect from the thin core it cuts very well. Most of the clubs I sell to are using the .040" 303C you ordered. The thick core stands up to abusive club members and cut is very smooth. I think you will be happy with it.

Daniel, when people ask I always tell them everyone that tried both buys the 301 except one guy. Guess who? There are people that prefer 303C blades on trim saws. I've heard a couple people say the notches on the 301 pick up more coolant so messier to trim with. Can't say as I only use the 301 on my tile saw. I didn't notice a difference between 305 and 301 on my drop saw except extra thickness on 305 trims slabs slower.