When to Use Resin Bond Diamond Polishing Pads？

Jun. 09, 2025

How to Select Diamond Resin Pads for Concrete - Aramsco

Choosing the right resin diamond pad plays an essential role in effectively polishing concrete. If the contractor chooses the wrong pad it can result in a costly mistake.

Leading Diamond Tools supply professional and honest service.

If you’re trying to decide what kind of pad you need, you should consider a few factors before making your purchasing such as the bond of the pad, the grit of the pad, wet vs dry pads, and of course pricing.

Let’s take a look at these below.

Why use diamonds?

Diamonds are one of the hardest substances on earth, making them ideal for grinding extremely hard surfaces such as concrete.

Synthetic diamonds are most commonly used due to the ease of which they can be sorted and graded. This results in more control of the shape and hardness of the diamond. A diamond like this gets more consistent results in grinding and polishing.

Explaining the bond of the pad

The bond serves a couple purposes. Its primary function is to hold the diamond grit in place for the crystal to cut, grind, and shape the concrete. The pad also needs to wear appropriately in order to expose new, unused crystals to the surface.

The pads work by keeping the sharpest diamond grit on the surface to achieve the desired result. As a general rule the following guide will help you achieve the best results when using a resin:

Hard Bond: best for soft concrete
Medium Bond: best for medium concrete
Soft Bond: best for hard concrete
Extra soft bond: best for very hard concrete

Wet Vs Dry Pads

Often you need to watch for whether the resin pad is designed for a wet or dry surface.

When it comes to choosing wet vs dry it is often a preference of the contractor; there are many advantages and disadvantages to both. The main difference between the two is the amount of dust control. With wet pads you will create a slurry paste, and with dry pads you will create a lot of airborne dust.

With either choice you will need a cleanup process to deal with the slurry or dust.

What to expect when comparing price

As you research what diamond resin pads you should buy, you will come across a wide range of pricing. There are a few reasons for this but one of the common reasons are the type of resin pads.

There are two types of resins for polishing: hybrid and polishing pads.

Hybrid resin pads are often used as a transitional pad between a metal and a polishing pad. At 6-8 mms, they are usually a bit thicker. Quality hybrid pads should last between 5,000 – 10,000 square feet.

Are you interested in learning more about Resin Bond Diamond Polishing Pads? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

Polishing resin pads have more of a plastic appearance. They are thinner than hybrids, and are typically 2-4 mms thick. Polishing resin pads should last between 10,000 – 15,000 square feet.

Overall, the price you will pay depends on the quality of your diamond pads. With less expensive pads you may only get 5,000-10,000 square feet rather than 10,000 – 15,000 square feet. The diamonds might not stay in the bond, making the pad useless.

A safe bet for anyone looking for a good quality diamond pad are some of the top brands in the industry such as Husqvarna, Lavina, Truloc, Stonecrete, STI, CPS, and many more. We carry a variety of these brands, so be sure to check them out.

Enjoyed reading this post? Read the following articles:

The Basics: Diamond Resin Bond

We continue our series called: The Basics, with an in-depth review of the different diamond bond types. In our first article on industrial and synthetic diamonds, we highlighted the importance of selecting the proper grade diamond for the task, but the bond that holds the diamond is equally as important.

There are four common diamond bonds: resin bond, sintered bond, electroplating and vacuum brazing, shown in the image below. In this article we will first cover resin bonded tools commonly known as resin polishing pads. But before we delve into some specifics, it’s important to understand some basic mechanics.

Resin bond, sintered bond, electroplating, vacuum brazing.

The Mechanics

The bond serves two important functions. First, is that it holds or contains the diamond grit in place for the crystal to be able to cut, grind, shape or polish. Second, the bond needs to progressively wear in order to expose new, unused crystals to the surface. Working materials can range greatly in hardness and abrasiveness. The rate of diamond exposure is dependent on the density, type of bond and the working material. Paring the correct bond with the working material is critical for performance and tool life.

The Process

Resin bonded diamond tools or resin polishing pads are made by mixing diamond grit with various formulations of resin powders to produce a solid homogenous, multi-layered bond commonly used for very light grinding and polishing.

Visible diamond grit suspended in a resin bond

The Application

There are three major resin bond types: marble, granite and concrete resin bond. Each resin bond is specifically formulated to enhance the performance of the tool on the material. Each of the materials vary widely in their density, hardness and abrasiveness, so selecting the correct resin formulation is critical.

Marble, granite and concrete.

Marble Resin Bond

Marble and other natural stones in the marble category such as limestone and travertine are all soft and delicate stones that require a specifically formulated matrix. Marble scores between 4 and 5 on the Mohs hardness scale and is comprised of metamorphosed limestone. Typically marble resin bonded tools are run wet to diminish the heat build-up and subsequent resin transfer onto the surface. The resin wears at a slower rate as to not prematurely exposed new diamond crystals that can heavily scratch the delicate surface.

Granite Resin Bond

Granite on the other hand can be up to twice as hard as marble scoring between a 6 and 7 on the mohs hardness scale. Granite is an igneous rock that contains quartz crystals. A resin bond designed for granite will wear efficiently to expose new diamond crystals to effectively grind and polish the surface. These pads typically have a higher tolerance for heat and are proportionately denser to tackle a harder surface. The quartz and density of the granite requires a more robust matrix and a higher-grade diamond.

Sidebar: Engineered Stone

It might be important here to slide in a quick note on engineered stone. Engineered stone is a composition of quartz crystals and resin binder that make it very difficult to polish. In addition to the tough quartz crystal, the resin binder has a tendency to burn polishing pads not specifically designed for engineered stone. Special high-heat tolerant resins need to be used to avoid marking the surface.

Concrete Resin Bond

Concrete is characterized as a very abrasive material that can vary widely in hardness depending on the local aggregate used. Typically resin bond tools designed for concrete are run dry and require a high-heat resistance. In addition, they need to be of a higher density to withstand the weight of a concrete machine that can weigh up to 10 times more than a marble machine. Concrete pads also run on planetary machine heads, which means that they rotate many times more than a stone resin pad.

Diamond resin bonded pads have greatly evolved over the years as new applications, new materials and new machines come on to the market. While it may appear on the surface that all resin polishing pads are created equal, it is certainly not the case. Understanding how these products are made and what constitutes a high-performance product can mean all the difference.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Diamond Polishing Pads.

Comments

0/2000

All Comments (0)

Previous: Custom Step Drill Bits Supplier vs. Off-the-Shelf Options: Which Wins?

Next: Which Wire Cup Brush Do You Need

Guest Posts

If you are interested in sending in a Guest Blogger Submission,welcome to write for us!