Trends in Diamond Tooling for Polished Concrete

This is an excerpt from the new e-book “Concrete Polishing Today,” part of a series of reports from ConcreteNetwork.com on trends and insights about decorative concrete applications.

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Aside from the actual polishing machine, the diamond tooling is the most important part of the equipment package. It is the interface between the machine and the concrete and determines the scratch pattern and final look of the polished floor. According to Vernon Talbot, managing director of Retro Plate Inc., Provo, Utah, each diamond pattern and grit imparts a scratch to the floor. The goal is for the entire floor to have the same identical scratch pattern so you achieve a uniform look and luster. “The next level of diamond tooling removes the previous scratch pattern and imparts the new grit or scratch pattern,” he says. This process of removing the previous level of scratches and imparting a finer level of scratches is how a floor gets polished. That is why it’s critical to have quality diamond tooling, since poor-quality diamonds will result in nonuniformity in the polished finish.

“It’s the diamond tooling that is the workhorse and can make the difference between being profitable or not,” says Bob Harris, owner of The Decorative Concrete Institute, Temple, Ga. “Back when we started, there were very few choices with regard to tooling. Today’s market offers an array of diamonds that can increase production and remove scratches more effectively, not to mention last longer.”

Going hybridBrad Walker, owner of Lone Star Decorative Concrete, Watauga, Texas, has improved his efficiency by using transitional diamonds, also known as hybrid diamond tooling, on certain projects. Hybrid diamond tooling combines the deep cutting and grinding action of metal tooling with the softer polishing action of resin tooling. These hybrid tools have made the transition from the metal grinding steps to resin polishing steps easier and faster.

The hottest trend in diamond tooling is the use of diamond-impregnated pads. These lower-cost pads come in many sizes and work with different types of machines. When used properly and in the right scenarios, the pads last longer than traditional diamond tooling and are much easier to work with. “The evolution of the hybrid and transitional tools has dramatically improved the quality of the polish,” says Harris. But if not used properly, diamond-impregnated pads can create a problem on polished floors. Some installers skip the critical early grinding stages and use the pads as a shortcut to the higher polish grits, resulting in a poor-quality polish that doesn’t hold up as well.

Harris recommends that installers bring a complete “tool box” of diamond tooling when mobilizing on a project so they avoid trying to get the floor to fit the tooling.

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