Kryss Tominay, a creative visionary working with stone & masonry, tells us why the CG 15 is his go-to grinder.
About the company
After achieving a level 3 qualification in stone masonry and starting work in the stone industry at just 16 years old, 2 years ago, Kryss Tominay from Tominay Stone decided to start his own business, commissioning bespoke design work in stone, for residential and commercial use. His work now includes ornaments for gardens, stone fireplaces, residential and company signage.
The Challenge
In order to create his bespoke designs, Kryss uses his grinder on a daily basis, sometimes for between 5-7 hours a day. Using a mixture of 5 inch and 9 inch grinders in a process which requires him to carve, shape, sand and finish varying types of stone, day in, day out, meant he was experiencing premature grinder failure on a regular basis. Using grinders this frequently and in this particular environment was leading to a multitude of failures including motor burnouts, within the first 6 months of his business, he had tried multiple grinders from multiple brands. On his worst day he had 2 separate machines fail, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back!
His current grinders struggled to cope with the amount of dust that was generated from his work . Also the workload placed on the machine and the frequency with which the grinders were in use would lead to motor breakdowns and constant frustration for Kryss. Constant breakdowns coupled with downtime was slowing down work process and efficiency.
Simply put, Kryss needed a grinder that met the rigorous demands on working in stone masonry on a daily basis.
The Solution
One of our technical experts, through a partnership with our dealers Data Power Tools and Elite Stone tools, got in touch with Kryss to gain an understanding of how he used grinders within his business and to better understand the applications he was performing and his pain points around his current choice of tools. It was through this visit that Kryss decided to test the CG 15 and found a markable improvement when it came to cutting and polishing stone and some of the other applications he was performing on a daily basis.
The CG 15 Grinder, boasts a fully enclosed brushless FEIN Powerdrive Motor, this eliminated his issue with dust ingression. It also allows for up to 2.5x more removal compared to grinders with universal brushed motors, removing the need for carbon brush changes and eliminating the common issues surrounding damage to brushes, brush holders and commutators. The CG 15 also boasts improvements in safety with features including a 0.2 second brake feature, overload protection and advanced kickback monitoring.
The Benefits
After making the switch to the CG 15, Kryss found:
- POWER VS PERFORMANCE -The CG 15 has better performance and power, this allowed him to work the stone quicker – leading to a drastic improvement on efficiency and productivity
- 5 INCH GRINDER – the addition of performance allowed Kryss to reduce his needs to use a larger, heavier 9 inch grinder, switching to the 5 inch CG 15 meant he could use a lighter grinder for longer which led to a better balance between productivity and safety.
- NO MORE BURNT OUT GRINDERS - The fully encapsulated motor led to less failures – it could cope with the amount of dust generated within the stone industry.
- Reduction in Havs – as a heavy duty grinder user, Kryss found after a days work his hands would feel tingly due to vibration. Using the CG15 drastically reduced his exposure to vibration and HAVS.
- Longer Service Life – after trying products from 5 competitors in 6 months, the CG 15 is still going strong at nearly 18 months, saving time, efficiency and money!
- Pride in his tools – Kryss is very proud of his bespoke design work and now has pride in his tools to match!
Speaking about the partnership, Kryss said: ‘I started my business because I love the idea of creating something that will be around for longer than I will and I take real pride in every stonemasonry design I make. What I create will stick around in the world as my legacy and I am so proud of what I do. By partnering with FEIN, I have now also found a grinder I am proud of, it has made my life so much easier, offering me the perfect balance between performance, efficiency and safety. I truly believe the CG 15 is the perfect grinder for stonemasons’.
Nathan Ford, national sales manager at FEIN, adds ‘Working with people like Kryss is truly what FEIN is all about. Taking the time to better understand his motivations for his work, his applications and needs and wants and then recommending a product like the CG 15, which has truly added value to his work, this is why we do this and it’s great to have such positive feedback from a heavy-duty grinder user like Kryss who truly puts the CG 15 through its paces on a daily basis’.