Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
(OP)
We are having a office debate on what the "best" way is to get the ends of our cylinders in tolerance before conducting compression testing. We handle roughly 400 cylinders per year. Currently they either do nothing or use a hand grinder. I would like to drag them to the right way.
I'm trying to get a feel for industry standard.
secondly,
what tools/setups are being used (so I'll know what sort of investment we are talking about)
Thanks much!
I'm trying to get a feel for industry standard.
secondly,
what tools/setups are being used (so I'll know what sort of investment we are talking about)
Thanks much!





RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
With regard to C39, the proper way to achieve planeness is to trim the cylinder with a diamond blade or an abrasive blade. Abrasive blades tend to bend and be less accurate than diamond blades. Hand held grinders should NEVER be used.
If you are having planeness issues with your cylinders, check first with the fabrication of the cylinder...are your technicians properly trained? Do they use proper equipment? Do they understand the need to finish the top of the cylinder as accurately as practicable? Teach them to finish the top of the cylinder as if it were a critical floor slab...flat and smooth.
Your volume of cylinders is quite low. My experience has been more on the order of several hundred per week. With that volume, you should not have an issue with planeness, as they can be properly fabricated or trimmed if not in compliance with C39 planeness requirements.
If you ever get into a litigation situation, you'll be grilled on your techniques. Make sure they comply with the standards...otherwise, you might have some liability issues.
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
I laid it out plainly and told them that if we did not conduct our testing per the specs then our results were not defendable (thus useless); do it right or don't do it because its not worth the liability.
Here's to getting them on the right track.
Does anyone have a saw recommendation?
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
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http://www.edcoinc.com/masonry-saws-ms-20.html
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RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
i'm buying a saw in the next month so i'll try to pass along any info i can. if you'd like, shoot an email to my g mail account using my username and i'll shoot one back.
and i've been away for a while but glad to see bigh and ron (and others) are still around helping all of us be a little wiser.
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
back to the topic on a semi-related topic: for you guys that don't use sulfur cement, what is your preferred gypsum/cement type capping compound (name brand please)? i've played around with a few but am not completely satisfied. compressive strength is fine and haven't had any performance issues as far as i can tell but am trying to find something easy to find, works well, sets in a reasonable amount of time and satisfies asmt. would a non-shrink cement grout from the local hardware store work while satisfying astm? all i've ever used is sulphur but i'm trying to stay away from sulfur due to the whole ventilation & safety related issues...plus it smells like hell and i don't think the nearby tenants at the new place would appreciate it.
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
Yeah, sulphur is a bit pungent...but smells like money in our business!!
You can use a "neat cement" paste, but you'll have to cast it when you first start curing the cylinders and then be careful not to break the caps.
I would go with neoprene caps and sulphur correlation.
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?
RE: Concrete Cylinders ends - cut, grind, or cap?