How Do I Grind Faster Using a Hand Grinder?

The first thing a contractor will often think about when Hand Grinding is not going fast enough is “Do I have to get different diamonds?” This is not always the best for the budget or even possible especially when you may be working on a weekend or you aren’t anywhere near.

So the question is; how can we make what you have got work for you? first, let’s look at some of the variables we are dealing with and why this has happened to you. It is a known thing that every slab is different, even areas within the same slab can vary from easy to grind to Hard to grind. Here we describe what is actually happening and why we need different grades of diamonds and grades of matrix to make machines work.

The main thing that causes a diamond to stop cutting is that the matrix that holds the diamond chips is not wearing out fast enough to keep fresh diamonds exposed and the diamond chips lose their edge. this means that the diamond chip ends up not protruding out of the segment and therefore rounding off and not cutting the concrete or stone… hence, the grinding process slows down a lot.

Faster diamonds or diamonds that cut faster have features common to them. Changing the following variables within the disc or blade and the segments mounted on them creates a faster cut.

Method 1 – Wetting the concrete before Hand Grinding helps to expose the diamonds a little more. Try to scratch open the surface first with a few light grinds while dry, then apply water and give it a couple of minutes to soak in. Broom off the puddles and remaining water to leave the surface wet. This process makes the dust a little heavier which cuts the matrix more to expose more diamonds to improve performance when grinding hard concrete. The dust will appear to be the same as if the water has done nothing, but grinding will be more productive. Repeat this process for each new cut.

Method 2 – Lowering the effect of the dust extraction, or vacuum: When we suck away all the dust from the Hand Grinding process this changes the way the segment erodes away and in turn the amount of segment poking out of the segment. Not sucking away all the dust from under the Hand Grinder when on hard concrete will allow the dust to erode the matrix and the diamond will protrude out of the matrix and scratch the concrete properly creating a faster grind. In turn, sucking away all the dust produced can slow the wear of your diamonds on soft concrete.

What Other Methods That Can Be Used To Increase Hand Grinding Speeds?

– Turn your dust extraction down.
This will leave the dust from the grinding process under the head and this creates wear to the matrix of the diamond segment exposing the diamond chip again.

– Add weight to the head of the grinder if the power available permits.
This will put more pressure on each segment and wear out the matrix to expose the diamond chips.
More pressure per segment helps wear the matrix at the same rate as the diamonds wear.
The extra weight does little to the wear factor of the diamond chips.

– Use soft bond tooling with fewer segments to overcome the issue.
The softer bond refers to the matrix, not the diamonds. the result of a softer bond is that the matrix wears out faster and keeps the diamonds fresh and exposed.

– Throw a little bit of sand (or dust from previous grinding work) onto the slab.
This will wear the matrix away which will increase the chance of opening up new diamonds again to increase productivity.

– Add a mist of water to the concrete.
This will make a slight paste between the diamonds and the concrete which will increase the chance of opening up the diamonds again.
Grind or cut on a soft concrete slab to open up fresh diamonds.
Using a known soft slab or even a paver or m0bile pieces of concrete can open the diamonds up again so they have a fresh edge.

– Reverse the rotation if that function is available
Reversing the rotation of the machine can change the dynamics of the way the diamonds are being worn out and give a fresh edge to the diamonds.

– Using the correct tool or diamond
It’s extremely important to use the correct disc, plug or shoe for the job, PCDs or Bush Hammers are generally used for coating removal, while #16 – #30 grits diamonds are generally used to finish the job once roughly 75 – 85% of the coating has been removed.