Anyone use a Hexpin surface prep system?

[slowTA]

My garage has some crappy floor paint on it now and Home Depot has this http://www.tfiinc.com/pearl/surface_prep.htm to rent, $75 for 24 hours. At the bottom of the page "17" Hawk Buffer".

It looks like it will dig into the concrete and send me spinning! The guy working there wasn't sure if it would take paint off but said it was made to resurface concrete. Does anyone have tips for using this... is your tip to find something else to use?

 

[jnyost]

Looks cool. Subscribed.

 

[jnyost]

Btw.... I rented an EDCO diamond grinder for the weekend and it is clogging up like crazy with the sealer the concrete guys put down. I wish I had something like that for removal. It says it removes coatings.

 

[Dragster Racer]

I never thought of this before, but what about sand blasting? Probably take longer and make more of a mess. nevermind.

 

[jnyost]

I never thought of this before, but what about sand blasting? Probably take longer and make more of a mess. nevermind.

Read up on that too. Biggest down side is the mess.

 

[thegarageguy]

It looks like it'll work but its gotta be hell to control.

 

[jnyost]

It looks like it'll work but its gotta be hell to control.

I used a similar device at a rental place. It was a spiro-somethingorother. It was very easy to control. I would say right on par with the EDCO I had this weekend.

 

[SC-Eric]

You want to make sure that they give you the right kind of diamonds for coatings removal... you want PCD... Poly-Crystalline...

 

[andyman_sf]

I just rented this 2 days ago. Paid about $200 total including the rental for the hex-pin, the grinding bits for this tool, the sander this tool attaches to, and a hand grinder for those tough to reach spots. I also had to pay $60 for the diamind cutter taht goes with the hand grinder.

to cut to the chase, the hex-pin unit is good for scrapping up about 200 - 300 sqft of concrete before the 8 disk gets clogged up. So if you need to do more flooring then buy additional sanding disk. I also noticed that this thing doesn't work as well as my portabale diamond laced cutting bit for the hand grinder. But this will cover a large surface area and do it quickly too. It can be a bear to handle on any surface that has an incline or isn't smooth because the thing can catch on irregular surface and deflect.

Over all I got my project acclomplished and the floor is ready for epoxy. Just reviewing my next steps on the exact epoxy to buy.

 

[jnyost]

I just rented this 2 days ago. Paid about $200 total including the rental for the hex-pin, the grinding bits for this tool, the sander this tool attaches to, and a hand grinder for those tough to reach spots. I also had to pay $60 for the diamind cutter taht goes with the hand grinder.

to cut to the chase, the hex-pin unit is good for scrapping up about 200 - 300 sqft of concrete before the 8 disk gets clogged up. So if you need to do more flooring then buy additional sanding disk. I also noticed that this thing doesn't work as well as my portabale diamond laced cutting bit for the hand grinder. But this will cover a large surface area and do it quickly too. It can be a bear to handle on any surface that has an incline or isn't smooth because the thing can catch on irregular surface and deflect.

Over all I got my project acclomplished and the floor is ready for epoxy. Just reviewing my next steps on the exact epoxy to buy.

What did your floor look like before? Coating?

 

[andyman_sf]

My floor was bare concrete with no coating. I believe if there was this system would not work. It would clog up too fast. If you do have a coating your only option is sand blast or spending the $ on a large diamond cutter OR using the smaller one and spending a lot of time on it. On my floor using this tool, it basically scratches the surface and preps it for adhesion. It doesn't take off as much material as the diamond cutter. But it is good enough to grind the floor for epoxy (assuming floor has no layer of paint)

 

[jnyost]

10-4

Thanks. I rented an EDCO and have a TON of hours in grinding my floor so far. The acrylic sealer *****.

 

[slowTA]

The machine in the link I posted doesn't use pads, it just has these sharp looking teeth with an inverted V cut in them. If anything I could see the teeth collecting a bunch of buildup but never getting clogged. However I'm really leaning towards having the floor done, I figure it this way... I can spend a bunch of money on an epoxy and cross my fingers. Or I can spend a little more and have a warranty.

Then again I'm also thinking of just getting a cheap epoxy from a box store and touching it up as needed.

 

[jtrace]

Whe I worked in the rental industry (16 years) we rented the hex pin grinder with the carbide teeth worked well for coatings and thin set removal.If your using a floor grinder like the Edco which we carried I recommend throwing down some sand on the floor that will prevent the stones from clogging so fast. If there is any other questions let me know I worked on the machines as a mechanic so I know them pretty well (worked on everything from electric drills to the delivery trucks)

John

 

[andyman_sf]

ahh shoot I should have clicked the link. So the unit I rented from home depot is called the turbocut hexpin.

http://www.nationalequipment.com/grinders/Hexplates_continued.html

That sucker is the one I feel is not that great and clogs easily.

andy