If you have ever had to remove a bunch of large cores (up to 6”) before typically you will find it’s not a terribly pleasant job. Commonly guys will use two screwdrivers and pry the core up and then try to grab the lip and pull it out. This core extracting tool from Diamond Products Core Bore makes the job much easier and will save you a ton of time and energy. It’s such a simple design, why was this not invented years ago. The Core Extractor ($36, Ohio Power Tool) is a little pricy for what it is, but well worth it for the time it will save you.
Selecting the Right Concrete Core Drill & Diamond Core Bits
I apologize in advance for the dry material but we get lots of questions about concrete core drilling and hopefully we can clear it up a few of the basics in this post. There are lots of options when it comes to coring drills & rigs in terms of price, quality, size, power source, etc. Each type of drill has its place and it’s not always easy to select the right one and not make the decision totally based on which is cheapest. Ohio Power Tool offers a wide range of different types of core drills to cover the majority of needs out there which we’ll look at but obvious there are dozens of other brands out there that could be matched up.
This was the first year anyone from coptool.com has had the opportunity to attend the World of Concrete. As a first timer I have to say it was a very impressive sign to see. Perhaps, down from last year but still just an amazing show with all the indoor and outdoor exhibits, vehicles, competitions and hands on demos. There is a true art to a trade show of this proportion, what kind of freebies you got, how you run the hands-on and demos, floor placement, how pretty the girls are if you have any and its probably important that you’ve got good tools as well. Just the shear effort alone that went into the setup and the volume of concrete poured just to destroy everyday… Checkout this time laps video of the effort it took to set up just one of the hundreds of outdoor exhibits.
Competitions
All week long there were several competitions which were really interesting to watch and/or take part in. The Bricklayer 500 would have to be the main event where teams build brick walls in 60 minutes and get judged on speed as well as accuracy and precision. There was also a Bosch Tools skills challenge open to anyone and several truck & large equipment contests for anyone with a license. The artistry in Decorative Concrete was surely the most skillful competition. Some real head scratchers as to how they did some of this amazing work. (See some pictures here)
Exhibitors
Everyone in the concrete product business was here it felt like. Some personal highlights in tools; seeing Concrete Cutting Saws & Wall Saws in action from Diamond Products, Bosch had nice hands on demos for breakers, hammer drills as well as a few new products (post coming very shortly), Makita had some attractive girls I wasted some time talking with and alright Hilti’s booth was kinda impressive (which is saying a lot because Hilti is my mortal enemy). For the bigger equipment like the Ride on Trowels and smaller compaction, Wacker had a huge area (see video below) as well as Multiquip and a slew of others. Two days of 9 to 5 walking and I still didn't see close to all the booths.
All in all it was a great show and really could not even begin to do it justice in just one post. There are new videos popping up every minute on YouTube and www.ForConstructionPros.com. Also checkout all my photos in this facebook album.
In this post we are just going to look at selecting portable wet/dry cutting Diamond Saw Blades which would typically go on a handheld gas saw such as the SpeediCut Core Cut 12”, 14” or 16” saws. One would think this would be very simple right, possibly 3 or 4 options but you would be very wrong. In a 14” x .125 size alone we are looking at over 50 options so with the different sizes there are hundreds of possibilities. Why so many options… it comes down to money, after all we are talking about real diamonds.
Diamond Quality - Just like gemstone diamonds there are quality grades to cutting diamonds. High quality solid diamonds are more expensive than “flawed” diamonds with lots of carbon imbedded; they also cut better, longer. Diamond Quality is the main factor in pricing any diamond blade, without the diamonds these are basically just big pieces of sheet metal.
Segment Height – The metal in the segments are used for one basic thing to control the cut rate of the diamonds. The segment metals are far less expensive than the diamonds baked into them and really play little significance in the price; often the taller segments are used with lower grade blades. This seems counter intuitive because there are more diamonds in a larger segment, but often these are lower quality diamonds. Since the lower quality diamonds have more flaws they will not last as long and the metal needs to wear quicker exposing fresh diamonds to make more cuts.
Material Being Cut – It is very important to match the right blade with the right material if you have any intention of preserving the blade and getting the most value for your dollar. The basic rule of thumb is you want a harder blade for softer material and softer blade for harder material. This of course has everything to do with controlling the rate the diamonds are exposed. Asphalt is very soft, a hard segment will hold the diamonds in place and allow them to cut much longer. Cured reinforced concrete would be much harder and in ture use a soft metal for the blade, if an hard blade was used it would hold the diamonds in place too long and you would end up trying to cut with very dull diamonds. Good news is if you went back to asphalt or other soft material the blade would eventually recover provided you hadn’t pushed it and burnt the blade up. A hard concrete blade on the other hand will work like butter in asphalt because the soft segment in the soft material wears away quickly exposing new diamonds constantly. The bad news is the blade will be used up very quickly.
Blade Size & RPM – Each size saw spins at different speeds, 12” have the highest RPM while the 16” spin the slowest. The 14” saws spin at 5400 RPM for instance so all the 14” blades are made for that speed. The 12” blades are will work on the 14” saw because they are being used at a slower speed which may not be ideal but work just fine. Never however use a blade above its max RPM rating. The blades have a concaved shape and spinning them faster will cause them to heat up and potentially be very unsafe.
Wet vs. Dry – All the dry high speed blades can be run wet or dry for most applications. With large surface area and intermittent cutting the saw blades are constantly exposed to plenty of air cooling the blade. If the same saw blade however were used in a walk behind saw, half buried in concrete for continuous use water would need to be applied or the blade would over heat.
Hopefully this will help when you make your next diamond blade selection. Typically if you are working with a knowledgeable company, like Ohio Power Tool and have a general idea what you will be cutting they will be able to help you select the right blade at the right price. Everyone’s situation is different if these blades are going to be used by new employees with little training the inexpensive Star Blue blade with high segment and low quality diamonds will ensure limit risk due to improper use. For the professional with many years of experience cutting the same material a Heavy Duty Orange or Premium Black blade will be a better value in the long run, lasting longer and cutting faster.
If you are shopping around for 14” Diamond Saw Blades, now is the time to buy, while supplies last you can pick up a 14” SpeediCut Gas Saw for Free just by purchasing a few blades. If you purchase 10 Cut-All Multi-Purpose Blades 14” x .125 which sell for $334.10 each, then you get a Free 14” SpeediCut Jr Saw SC6514 (Sale Price $629.10) instantly. You could also purchase 15 of the Heavy Duty Orange Blades 14” x .125 which sell for $364.65 each and get a Free 14” SpeediCut SC7314 (Sale Price $1032.40) instantly. Either way both of these deals are instant rebates so the saw will be delivered with the blades in a few days. No mail-in rebates or any of that nonsense, just a high quality gas saw to your door for free. If you have any questions about this deal, Diamond Products or any concrete sawing applications please feel free to contact Ohio Power Tool at 800-242-4424 or email sales@ohiopowertool.com. With some many different style blades and applications if you would need a different style blade or 16” saw or any other kind of substitution please contact us and Ohio Power Tool, there probably is a way to accommodate you.
New CoreCut SpeediCut Jr Concrete Saw from Diamond Products
The new SC6514 SpeediCut Jr. handheld gas saw is a great new product at an incredibly low price. The unit is powerful with a 4.8 HP “hemi” engine and a poly V-belt for maximum torque transfer. It is also versatile using 12” or 14” blades with 22mm or 1” arbor. These units are used to cut concrete, steel, masonry, stone, asphalt, wood and many other materials. Handling the SpeediCut Jr. is pretty easy thanks to the compact lightweight design at 22 lbs and enlarged protected trigger guard which allows the user to wear gloves. Emissions and noise concerns are a growing factor these days but with advanced exhaust features, digital ignition and fuel efficient gas tank this is one of the most efficient saws on the market.
Ohio Power Tool is currently selling the SpeediCut Jr. SC6514 for $629 which is a great price for such a versatile saw. The similar size Partner/Husqvarna saws are in the $900-1000 range. If you are looking to save some money this is defiantly a great saw. If you have any other questions about the CoreCut SpeediCut saws or any of our other Diamond Products please call 800-242-4424.
Diamond Products CB500-HH Low Cost Hand Held Core Drill
The new Core Bore CB500-HH from Diamond Products is a hand held coring drill, capable of drilling up to 3” diameter holes in concrete and other material. This is not a revolutionary product idea however this new product is priced at $521.10 from Ohio Power Tool, which makes it much more economical for many companies consider purchasing.
How can the new CB500-HH cost so much less than the WEKA DK12 ($1597)? You are giving up some power and flexibility but for drilling small diameter holes it may be a better option. The CB500-HH can be mounted to a core rig such as the M-4 but even then it is not designed to handle more than 3” holes. The WEKA DK12, DK13 & DK16 all have a 3” drill capacity when used as hand held units but when mounted on an M-4 rig can handle up to 6” diameter drilling. The gear box for the CB500-HH is only two speeds (1100 & 2200 RPM) which is good enough for small diameter drilling while the other units all feature three speeds to handle larger jobs.
For those that never intend on using the coring drill for more than small holes this light weight, low-cost unit might be just the answer they are looking for. The unit also features a shoulder brace for added stability and feels like it was really designed for hand held use where the other units are a little beefier for mounted and large hole drilling.
