Anyone converted from abrasive to diamond slitting discs ?

[ruxy]

This afternoon I was chopping up some ancient  3" x 4"  RSJ's   into posts to drive in the ground ,  doing diagonal cuts across the flanges to obtain a point to aid hammering in.    It took  6 qty.  Dronco    (I normally use Dronco or SAIT)   115 x 20 a 1mm slitting discs - to produce 10 posts.   The section was abt.  1/4" / 3/8" in flange  &  1/4" in web.

This evening - I followed a Youtube  back/back test  of  Dronco  115x1mm  against  Lenox (diamond)  new disc 115x1.5mm ,   main advantage claimed will last duration of 30 abrasive discs & maintains full dia.  -  great  ,  however on the various steel 'test-pieces'   IIRC  the time to cut through was approx. 50% to 100%  longer  -  not so good because I would have been on morning & afternoon , possibly his extra 0.5mm on disc thickness slowed ?   

     I was using a good   wattage  on 240V  by AEG.  I do have a  25+ years old Toshiba  5"  (beast - no soft-start)  -  I only use the thing for slicing through exhaust pipes but a slitter a bit more than 1mm,  also I have a 5" Makita (back -handle) - bit reluctant to use that also on 1mm abrasive slitting discs - I don't think I would have the control.    Mind you - the bloke on Youtube was using a  battery powered back-handle grinder , on the diamond disc he had a bit of snatch but he seemed to think with mains power it would not have been present.      

I ask because in near future I will probably be cutting some heavier Universal Beams - they are more like 12mm in the flanges.

Possibly I should try some other makes of discs  ?      Looking on Ebay ,  a pack of 10  by Silverline costs more that the 80p to £1 each I pay for Dronco or SAIT  ,   plenty of choice on Ebay but when you look at the photographs / write up many are made in  PRC   -  best stick to EC or Ex-EC !

[alsfarms]

I have a "Diamond" cut of wheel on my 4.5" high speed Metabo.  I certainly had my breath taken away with the initial price for the Diamond wheel, but I feel like I have already got more than my moneys worth with tool longevity.  I am not continually changing cut of wheels like when I used conventional abrasive discs.  I do recommend the Diamond cut-off wheels.

Al

Edited August 31, 2020 by alsfarms