List Of Different Types Of Attachments For Concrete Grinders And What They Are Used For

With Concrete Grinders there are multiple different attachments called “Discs or Plugs” These different discs and plugs are replaceable and need to be changed depending on what you are trying to remove from the concrete. They are incredibly expensive and if the wrong disc or plug is used for the wrong surface they will get “eaten” away a lot faster costing you huge amounts of money. You must always ensure you are using the correct attachment for the job.

One of the most important parts of any Concrete Grinder is the disc or plug attachment used by the machine. These are the diamond-encrusted metal discs or stone plugs that are attached to the Concrete Grinder. These attachments are what make contact with the concrete and gradually grind it away.

– Concrete Polishing Pads: 
These pads are used to give a glass-like finish to concrete, marble, granite, terrazzo, sandstone, or limestone. They can be used with a wet or dry variable speed grinder. They vary from 16 – 3,000 grit.

– Concrete Grinding Discs, Plugs and Shoes:
These discs, plugs or shoes come in different shapes, sizes and styles. The design of the disc, plug or shoe determines what it can do.

– Flap Discs:
These discs are used for heavy-duty tasks like removing rust, edge grinding, and blending weld seams.

– Bush Hammers:
Extremely aggressive, great for tackling extremely thick, tough coatings, which are too strong for PCD diamonds.

– Scarifier Attachment:
Extremely aggressive, great for tackling extremely thick, tough coatings, as well as removing several MM of concrete per pass.

– Wire Brush Wheels:
These wheels are used for various tasks, such as removing rust from reo bars to prepare for waterproof membranes and concrete cancer repairs. It is also effective at removing paint and rust from metal surfaces.

– Concrete Grinding Discs:
Concrete Grinding Discs are generally less aggressive than plugs and they generally come in the same options.

– Concrete Grinding Plugs:
Concrete Grinding Plugs are generally more aggressive than discs, they generally come in the same options, such as PCD plugs, instead of PCD discs. They are great for tackling thick coatings.

– Corner Tip Concrete Grinding Tool:
These can be attached to Hand Grinders to get into the edges of the room.

– Concrete Grinding Beam Flails:
Beam flails are used to remove paint, grease, dirt, ice, and rust from concrete and asphalt. They can also be used to remove carpet and tile adhesive.

– PCD Concrete Diamond Disc/Plugs:
PCD plugs are great for tackling thick, tough coatings, they clog up less than discs and don’t overheat as much.

– General Abrasive Concrete Grinding Disc:
General abrasive concrete grinding discs are great as a “finishing disc” and great at removing minor imperfections.

– Turbo Concrete Grinding Discs/Plugs:
For EASY to grind surfaces as well as adhesives, paints, blackjack, epoxy, weaker carpet glue, vinyl glue, tile glue, Polyurethane, PS glue, rubber back residue, screeds, waterproof membranes, magnesite residue, as well as a few others.

– Arrow Head Concrete Grinding Discs/Plugs:
For TOUGH to grind surfaces as well as adhesives, paints, blackjack, epoxy, weaker carpet glues, vinyl glue, tile glue, polyurethane, PS glue, rubber back residue, screeds, waterproof membranes, magnesite residue, as well as a few others.

– Cut-Off Discs:
Cut-off discs are often used for cutting through metal pipes, tubes, and flat sheets. They are used in many industries, including shipbuilding, rail, and general metal fabrication. Cut-off discs can also be used for cutting through other dense building materials, such as plastic. Some discs are made with a diamond grit coating on the edge for cutting ceramic tile or stone.

– Sanding Discs:
Sanding Discs can be used on Concrete Grinders to remove paint, glue, rust and other materials from timber subfloors, instead of concrete subfloors.

Different Concrete Grinders may have different ways to attach the disc, plug or other attachments depending on the machine. Please read the manual for how to attach the discs or plugs if you are unsure. In general, the plugs just slide in and can be tapped out using a hammer. While the discs are normally screwed on, or click in with an attachment pin or attached with another method.

TYPE: Arrow Head Disc or Plug

USES: For TOUGH to grind surfaces as well as adhesives, paints, blackjack, epoxy, weaker carpet glues, vinyl glue, tile glue, polyurethane, PS glue, rubber back residue, screeds, waterproof membranes, magnesite residue, as well as a few others.

DESCRIPTION: Arrow Head Disc/plugs have a segment with a sharp leading edge for slicing, grinding and scrapping simultaneously. This makes them aggressive, and ideal for glue removal and quick removal of thick layers 3MM and under.

TYPE: Turbo Plugs

USES: For EASY to grind surfaces as well as adhesives, paints, blackjack, epoxy, weaker carpet glue, vinyl glue, tile glue, Polyurethane, PS glue, rubber back residue, screeds, waterproof membranes, magnesite residue, as well as a few others.

DESCRIPTION: Turbo plugs have a large centre hole to increase cooling capacity and also to keep glues and mastics clear of the centre of the plug.  They have a segment with a sharp leading edge for slicing, grinding and scrapping at the same time. This makes them aggressive, and ideal for glue removal and quick removal of thick layers 3MM and under.

TYPE: PCD Discs/Plugs

USES: For pressure-sensitive glues, cementitious glues, sticky paint, sticky epoxy, mastic, urethane, waterproofing membranes, tile beds and strong, thick adhesives.

DESCRIPTION: Turbo plugs have a large centre hole to increase cooling capacity and also to keep glues and mastics clear of the centre of the plug.  They have a segment with a sharp leading edge for slicing, grinding and scrapping at the same time. This makes them aggressive, and ideal for glue removal and quick removal of thick layers 3MM and under.

PCDs feature extremely rough diamond particles for fast removal of thick and sticky compounds like paint, epoxy, mastic, adhesives, urethane and residues. They are more aggressive and longer-lasting than standard diamond cup wheels. They are commonly used when conventional diamond cups will not grind the material quickly enough or they tend to get clogged up.

PCDs will not load up or smear the coating like a conventional diamond cup wheel but do leave a rougher finish. They are great for removing thick layers of materials over 3MM

PCDs in the glue removal process are used to remove 80% of the glue while leaving about 20% of the residue. This is because PCD discs get damaged if they grind on raw concrete, so once 80% of the glue has been removed move on to the next section. Once you have finished grinding the whole area with PCDs then swap back to arrowhead discs, arrowhead plugs or turbo plugs to clean up the remaining 20% residue.

TYPE: General Purpose Disc

USES: For general-purpose concrete grinding, also great as a “finishing disc”, removing minor bumps and minor imperfections.

DESCRIPTION: General purpose discs are designed for general purpose grinding, and flat grinding. They are ideal for the aggressive removal of imperfections and minor concrete bumps. The double row gives them a smoother finish and a very long life. They are also great for cleaning up the concrete after the use of an arrowhead or PCD disc to give it a cleaner finish.

Discs And Plugs For Concrete Grinders – What Is The Difference?

Each disc or plug for concrete grinders is suited to a different stage in the concrete preparation process – “Plugs” are for heavy-duty grinding, while “discs” are for finer work.

As you progress with your concrete surface preparation, you will need to switch plugs and discs. Switching plugs is very easy (we always recommend you wear gloves). Get a hammer and tap it on the plate near the plug and the plug should fall out. To put plugs in, just push them with a bit of force and they will bind in.

When it’s time to change from plugs to a disc, take the plug out and put in the magnetic plug that comes with the discs. Next, put the insert through the disc and then attach the disc to the magnetic plug. (When changing discs back to plugs, make sure you take magnetic plugs out).

To change the discs on the smaller concrete grinder/edger you’ll need to find the locking pin on the side of the machine to lock it in place. Once locked, take a spanner and use it on the centre nut to remove the disc. Replace with the new disc and tighten up again.

What Are Concrete Grinding Shoes?

Concrete grinding shoes, also known as diamond grinding segments, are metal shoes covered in diamonds used to grind concrete with a concrete grinding machine. They are a vital part of a concrete floor grinder. Different companies may have different attachments for their Concrete Grinders. So if your Concrete Grinder doesn’t fit a “Concrete Grinding Disc” or a “Concrete Grinding Plug” then it will most likely fit a “Concrete Grinding Shoe”.

Arrow Head Discs VS PCD Discs

If the coating you are attempting to remove from a concrete slab is thicker than 3MM or is quite sticky you are normally better off using a PCD disc over an arrowhead disc.

If the PCD discs are working too slowly, try using a PCD Plug. PCD Arrowhead discs will run into the following issues if you try to use them on sticky coatings or thick coatings:

– the disc/plug will have issues with overheating
– The arrowhead will clog up frequently
– It will struggle to break through a coating thicker than 3MM and will take a lot longer than a PCD would.

It should also be noted that every hour it’s best to check the disc/plugs so that you can scrape off and clean any glue or coating residue build-up on discs and plugs. you can even sand them if you have any sandpaper. Keeping the discs/plugs clean will keep them running cooler and a lot more efficiently.

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