The "Fusion" blades were developed for longer life and
less need to sharpen the blades. From the picture in the
link, the bottomside of the blade has a strip of tungsten
carbonite impregnated into the steel. TC is much harder than tempered steel, and the "theory" is that the bottom
of the blade surface will wear less and keep the beveled,
sharpened surface sharper...longer. I can tell you from
experience....depending on HOW you're using these blades,
they may not last ANY LONGER than traditional, standard
blades. Case in point....I know of a small college that
purchased an Excel/Hustler 60" Super-Z, which comes
EQUIPPED WITH Fusion blades. The college also used a bagger
system on this Z bagging leaves this past fall. The Fusion
blades were completely WORN OUT in 35 hours of use. The
considerable abrasive condition brought on by bagging leaves, sandblasted the lift wing and top side of the blade
and it was literally...EATEN UP...in 35 hours of use. In
this example, the Fusions were NO BETTER THAN the standard
commercial blades that would be used on this Z-mower. If a
mower is being used "exclusively" cutting lawns, where the
grass is well-established, the Fusions could go a long
time between blade sharpening intervals. For an additional
15-20% MORE THAN the standard blade....I'm not sure it's
worth the extra expense ??? in my humble opinion.

T-Man

When mulching leaves/sticks or mowing in dusty, sandy conditions, it is wear on the lift tabs that's critical, as T-man says. When these tabs get worn to 1/2 thickness, they become a real danger because a rock can chip a piece off. You don't want pieces of the blade flying around. Keep your eye on these when you sharpen your blades. The 'Fusion' blade with the reinforced cutting edge probably would be great for regular grass cutting, but I'm not interested. It's the lift tabs that generally junk my blades because I mulch leaves in the fall. This really cleans the inside of the deck and makes good stuff for flower beds, etc., or just makes your wooded areas look 'kept'. You could buy bags of walnut shell media to run your mower in to clean it, or just rake up some dry leaves/small sticks and plow in! LOL. The best blade I've seen so far for keeping an edge/general wear is the Honda 'Quadracut' twin blade system. These blades are thinner to keep the weight down because there are two blades, so they evidently have made them of tougher steel.