Self-cooling grinder blade
SpeedWave grinder blade
• Manufactured by Bosch
• 877-267-2499; www.boschtools.com
• Cost: about $45
The first time I used the SpeedWave grinder blade, I was repointing the joints in some old brickwork. I cut down the middle of the joint between two courses and drove the blade from side to side as I watched mortar fall out with ease. You might say to yourself, “Sure, every new diamond blade does that.” And you’d be right—for about five minutes. Then the metal on the blade heats up, and the diamonds jump off the wheel. Not with the SpeedWave, though.
This diamond-cutting wheel has a bright-yellow plastic disk in the center that resembles a miniature segmented blade. The idea is that as the blade spins, these plastic segments move air—sort of like the blades of a fan—across the arbor of the tool and the surface of the blade to help dissipate heat. Combined with the wavelike pattern of raised, laser-infused diamonds, this makes the blade cut more smoothly and last longer.
How long will these blades last? As always, it depends. But over the years, I’ve worn down hundreds of diamond blades to nothing more than smooth disks, and I can tell you that this blade is worth every penny.
By the way, I tried only the 41/2-in. SpeedWave, but Bosch also sells it in 5-in., 7-in., and 9-in. diameters for larger cutting tasks.
Photo by: Krysta S. Doerfler
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