The World Champions of Concrete Cutting
Published: 24/7
The finals of Tyrolit’s fifth International Cutting Pro Competition were held in February at the Salzlager Center in Austria, featuring 24 competitors representing 13 nations.
The competition consists of each participant competing in three disciplines, aiming to complete set of work at the fastest possible time. They included concrete cutting with a Tyrolit HRE 410, a high-cycle powered electric hand cutter; wall sawing a section using Tyrolit’s high-frequency WSE 1621; and applying the Tyrolit DME 32 core drilling system to a concrete slab.
It was a tight and nerve-wracking battle between participating concrete cutters. Water and concrete sludge occasionally swirled from the stage, and the competitors did their utmost to achieve the shortest total time. The competition was very tight, and all competitors performed with an amazing degree of skill.
This year the victory went to Arnoldas Grigonis from the Lithuanian company Technominas. Grigonis walked away with a Tyrolit WSE 1621 wall saw and €3,000 (US$3,200) in prize money. Second place was won by Gaetano Casale from Ediltaglio of Switzerland. He won the Tyrolit DME 32 drilling system and €2,000 (US$2,134). Third place went to Arnold Ortner from Austria’s Ortner Bohr-Schneidetechnik, who earned the Tyrolit HBE 400 ring saw and €1,000 ($1,065).
Interesting show with lots of news
The competition was the culmination of a day-long Tyrolit trade show that featured many interesting new products, with the spotlight on products for grinding and polishing concrete surface. Many have been developed under the guidance of former Scanmaskin CEO Paulo Bergstrand, who now plays a key role in Tyrolit’s sales and marketing efforts (see page 9).
The new products included five new floor grinders with grinding diameters of 11 to 28.7 in (28 to 78cm), with remote control available for the largest models, the FGE515 and FGE780. Tyrolit has also launched two new floor strippers, three floor cutters, three shot blasters and seven dust handlers for absorbing sanding dust. Tyrolit also released three new drill motors, the DME20, DME26, and DME32; the VPE600 vacuum pump; and the FSE808 floor saw. On the tool side, a new core drill was released as well as two new diamond wires, the electroplated DM-CG and sintered DWB-C. Tyrolit also announced the acquisition of a major stake in the German manufacturer Contec to strengthen its presence in machinery and equipment for processing concrete surfaces. Contec is a well-known developer and manufacturer of a range of machines and tools for treating concrete and other floor surfaces.
