Mohs Scale and Choosing Your Diamond Blades
Several factors can influence your options prior to purchasing a blade. The first will be the comprehensive strength of the concrete. This is measured by PSI or Pounds Per Square Inch.
Concrete hardness
- Critically hard 8,000 PSI or more
- Hard 68,000 PSI
- Medium 46,000 PSI
- Soft 3,000 PSI or less
Most concrete roads are 4,000 – 6,000 PSI while residential sidewalks and patios are 3,000 PSI
All aggregates are different and can be measured on the Mohs scale. It is a scale that ranks aggregates from one to ten based on reference 10 reference examples. An aggregate or substance that is a lower number will indicate its softness while a higher number will indicate the hardness of the material. For an example, Diamonds are at a 10 on the Mohs scale.
Mohs Scale
| Material | Hardness |
| Talc | 1 |
| Gypsum | 2 |
| Calcite | 3 |
| Fluorite | 4 |
| Apatite | 5 |
| Orthoclase | 6 |
| Quartz | 7 |
| Topaz | 8 |
| Corundum | 9 |
| Diamond | 10 |
A hard aggregate will wear down the lifespan of your diamond blade faster. The segment bonds or your matrix, typically needs to be softer when cutting a hard aggregate.
Softer aggregate will not dull diamond chips quickly, so harder matrix bonds are needed to hold the diamonds in place for the full potential of your diamond blade.
If you are not sure which blade to use, please contact our professionals today. CanWest Diamond Productw would be happy to place you in touch with a trained concrete cutter that can answer all of your questions.
Don't feel like doing the work yourself? Contact our parent company, CanWest Concrete Cutting & Coring to get a free quote today.
Other topics you maybe interested in:
Simplifying Purchasing Diamond Cutting Products
Materials Diamond Blades Cut Through
Are the Diamonds in Diamond Blades Real?
Does thickness mater in a blade?
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