Can an angle grinder be used to cut block paving?

[acone]

Hi,

I have some red paving blocks that I need to trim down. So I bought a cheapish angle grinder which came with diamond blades and stone grinding discs.

However the diamond blade is not really cutting into the block at all. It just makes a mark a few mm deep and gets hot. Are these blocks just too hard? as they seem to contain a lot of stones/pebbles in them or do I need some other type of blade?

I tried a stone grinding disc out too. The disc wore out pretty quickly and really just polished the side of the block rather than remove any material.

It's only a few blocks I have to trim down so I don't really want to spend a lot or hire.

It's the first time I've used an angle grinder so any advice is appreciated. If it's not possible, I may have to go back to using a chisel and hammer.. a very slow process .

Thanks.

 

[danhiltonplumbingservices]

a grinder should but you need a good disc for it i advise hammer and chisel if its only a few hit the top of the block once then flip the block over and hit the bottom then the sides they normally break easy i have recently block paved my drive which had loads of cuts and i used a hammer and chisel ( bolster chisel is best for the job)

 

[ColJack]

ok 3 questions..

what size grinder ( 4, 4.5, 5 or 9 inch? )?
what type of diamond disk ( picture would help.. )?
are you sure you had the disk in the right way round?

 

[Thermo]

a decent blade on a 9" grinder should go through block paving very easily. Some are easy to do with a hammer and get a neat cut others arent a give a jagged edge.

 

[joe-90]

That ain't no diamond disc kiddo.

 

[Burnerman]

Acone - the harder the material is, the better a diamond disc works.....
use a 9" grinder if you can, but a hired Stihl saw could be better.
John

 

[ColJack]

I'm just wondering if it's a 4 inch grinder with a solid rim tile disk he's trying to use..

I've recenty cut 2 12 inch concrete gravel boards down with my 4.5 inch grinder and a diamond blade, it went through the stones and steel bar in it no problem..

 

[acone]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm using a 4.5" grinder (I was going to flip the blocks over and cut from both sides).

The blade is a budget brand am-tech, similar to the one on the far left:

From your comments I'm guessing it's the quality of blade that's the problem. The current blade is really just rubbing on the surface and getting hot, it's not cutting through.

The actual style of blade I'm using with the segments is correct though isn't it? Does the thickness of the blade matter? Current ones have 115x1.9x7x22.23 printed on them so I'm assuming they are 1.9mm thick.

I'll head out to some diy stores and see if I can get better blades, any recommendations appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[joe-90]

You really want 9 inches. (ooer missus!) The speed the blade travels at the outer edge is way faster than 4.5.

 

[Thermo]

well theres your problem! am tech are a pile of ****e. the packaging will make more of an impact than the blade!

 

[1john]

You really want 9 inches. (ooer missus!) The speed the blade travels at the outer edge is way faster than 4.5.

4.5 inches is enough for any man, especially if you are tackling the job from either end. The problem here is lube, or lack of! Have you tried to cool the block as you cut, obviously exercising extreme caution when combining electric power tools with water outside, make sure you have an RCD too. Try getting someone to add a trickle of water into the cut while you do it. Please be careful though.

 

[woodgnome]

Thermo is right-9" grinder is the one .Word of warning-I bought cheapish one from Argos last year which included a free stone cutting disk.When using for the first time the disk promptly disintegrated sending molten fragments everywhere-thank god I was wearing eye protection.Bought a real disk and the thing did the job ok but noticed how much slower it was compared with my old Makita 9",

 

[jctilingservices]

just a couple of thoughts here

firstly have you the cutting disc the right way around???

secondly you find with certain cheaper diamond discs that you have to rough the diamonds up before they will actually cut, just press the disc into a chunk of concrete a few times ( obviously while the grinder is running )

 

[Thermo]

theyre amtech, they wouldnt even be any good as drinks coasters