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?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_vera23d 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.wren23d 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.