How To Pick The Right Diamond For Your Concrete Grinder

So How Do You Pick The Right Diamond For Your Concrete Grinder?

Diamond tooling selection is crucial for making a profit and not going backward on a job as diamond discs and plugs are extremely expensive. Using the wrong disc/plug for the job could cost you thousands! When selecting your diamond disc/plug you need to understand the following information:

Bond

Each diamond is set in a metal bond, the metal bond breaks away exposing the diamond, which in turn cuts the concrete. bond is critical when it comes to wear rate and performance on harder concrete slabs. The bond itself suspends the small ‘grits’ of polycrystalline diamonds so that they do not fall out onto the surface being ground. The bond wears away to allow the diamond to be exposed.

This is required to sharpen the diamond to allow it to cut the concrete. Basically, as the diamond is dragged across the surface of the floor it is slowly blunted by the force of friction. At the same time, the bond wears around the diamond exposing it more and more. Once the exposed diamond reaches a certain point, it splits and shatters creating more sharp surfaces which continue to cut.

The rate of exposure the diamond will require to stay sharp will depend on how hard the concrete is. In the case that the concrete is hard then the diamond will blunt quickly and require constant splitting/fracturing to ensure it stays sharp. Of course, the downside to the need to quickly expose diamonds is the increased wear rate on the disc or plug.

Alternatively, where the concrete is soft or very gritty the opposite problem exists. Because grit and dust are abrasive to the bond it increases the speed of wear. This allows the diamond to become exposed, splinter, and re-sharpen well before it blunts. While this does ensure maximum concrete grinding speed, it reduces the lifespan of the diamond disc or plugs. In this case, a hard bond product will ensure wear is slowed to a more reasonable level.

A SOFT bond diamond disc or plug is more aggressive, but it will wear out quickly, especially on soft concrete!

A HARD bond diamond disc or plug will wear slowly, but it will cut faster on soft concrete.

Soft concrete is more aggressive compared to hard concrete. So when selecting the diamond disc or plug we do the opposite:

With SOFT concrete – We use a HARD bond diamond disc or plug.

With HARD concrete – We use SOFT bond diamond discs or plugs.

Segments

Discs & plugs have a series of blocks called ‘segments’ attached to them by way of high-temperature solder. These segments are the component of the diamond disc and plug that does the concrete grinding. Once these are worn completely away, the disc or plug will no longer be usable. Discs with fewer segments will be more aggressive. While discs with more segments on the wheel will deliver a smoother surface/finish.

The MORE segments a disc or plug has the LESS aggressive it is.
(EXAMPLE: This blue disc has A LOT of segments, making it a less aggressive disc)

The FEWER segments a disc or plug has the MORE aggressive it is.
(EXAMPLE: This red disc has VERY FEW segments, making it a very aggressive disc)

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