Just realized how much faster a diamond wheel is for cutting thick glass compared to a standard abrasive wheel

I had to cut a dozen 3/4 inch thick panels for a storefront in Austin last week. The old abrasive wheel on my saw was taking over 2 minutes per cut and chipping the edges. Switched to a new 10-inch diamond wheel and it cut through in about 30 seconds with a clean edge. Is the higher upfront cost of a diamond wheel always worth it for heavy-duty jobs, or are there times you'd stick with the cheaper option?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_vera2mo agoTop Commenter

Oh man, you're not kidding. I had the same thing happen cutting some thick quartz countertop pieces. The old abrasive blade was just dusting up the place and taking forever, maybe a minute and a half a cut. Put a diamond blade on the grinder and it went through like butter in maybe twenty seconds. For anything more than a couple cuts, the diamond blade pays for itself just in time saved. I only use the cheap ones for rough stuff where the cut doesn't matter now.

kim.wren2mo ago

My dad tried to cut some pavers with a regular blade once, the dust cloud was insane. He looked like a ghost for a day.

johnfoster21d ago

Friend of mine tried to cut a bunch of old brick pavers with a regular circular saw blade. The blade started smoking about halfway through the second paver. He finished the job but the blade was toast afterwards. The dust was so thick you could see his footprints on the garage floor for weeks. He finally broke down and bought a diamond blade for the next project and still talks about how mad he was he didnt just do that from the start.