Diamond cup grinding wheel TYPE: Laser welded, double row. DIAMETER: M14 MAX RPM: 10,400 The cup grinding wheel is used with an angle grinder to clean granite, masonry, concrete and stone surfaces. A diamond blade grinds, rather than cuts through material. The blades typically have segments which contain diamond crystals embedded throughout the segment for grinding through very hard materials. What is a diamond blade? A diamond blade is composed of a circular steel core and the diamond impregnated segments. The segments are seperated by slots in the core. These slots assist in cooling the blade during operation by allowing water (wet cutting) or air (dry cutting) to flow between the segments. The segments or rims are a mixture of diamond powder and metal powders. The diamonds are industrial diamonds of different sizes and qualities depending on the material to be cut as well a the blade type. How does a diamond blade work? The individual diamond crystals exposed on the leading edge and the sides of the segment or rim carry out the cutting. The operator pushes the rotating blade into the material and the surface diamonds thus exposed mill a groove in the material. When the blade mills the material, the latter exerts wear on the blade. During cutting the exposed diamonds may crack or break. The material simultaneously starts to abrade the metal matrix, which releases more diamonds. The more abrasive the material, the more rapid the tendency to wear down the matrix. Blades for cutting hard, denseless abrasive materials (such as tile, bricks, stone or cured concrete), require a softer metal matrix. This will wear down faster, replacing the worn diamonds fairly quickly so that the blade continues to cut. Blades for cutting soft, abrasive materials (such as green concrete and asphalt), must have a hard, abrasion-resistant metal matrix in order to retain the diamonds for a longer time.