In a hard rock quarry in Yorkshire, I spent a full 72 hours recording data next to the tunnel boring machine’s control room—having worked as a field technician for UK mining tools for 9 years, I know the miners’ most pressing question is always, “Can this tooth let us break through two more tons of rock before stopping?” Last week, in a sandstone-granite mixed quarry in Derbyshire, I installed the Pyramid PDC Insert (https://www.cnpdccutter.com/products/) on the main equipment to test its rock-breaking efficiency. The results were even more in line with the “rough work” requirements of UK mines than I had expected.
The “rock-biting power” of the spike: The rock-breaking core of the Pyramid PDC Insert
The rock-breaking efficiency of the PDC tooth lies in its structure. Conventional conical cutting teeth have a dome design, which can easily slip when biting into hard rock. However, the Pyramid PDC Insert has a four-sided pointed design, with only one-third the contact area with the rock layer compared to conical teeth. In tests, when facing granite with a density of 3.0 g/cm³, its cutting speed was 20% faster than that of conical teeth of the same specifications. The pointed tip can also get into tiny cracks in the rock layer, allowing it to penetrate without additional thrust, reducing the energy consumption of the tunnel boring machine by 12%. This is key to “efficiency and productivity” in the dense rock formations of old quarries in the UK.
Adaptation to Mixed Formations: The Efficiency and Stability of the Pyramid PDC Insert
“Single-formation” formations are rare in British mining areas—in this Derbyshire mine, the shale contains quartz veins, requiring the cutting teeth to alternate between biting into soft layers and resisting hard particles. Previously, with conical cutting teeth, the rock-breaking capacity per hour fluctuated wildly, averaging only 120 tons. After switching to Pyramid PDC Inserts, the pointed tip can precisely penetrate quartz veins without being “bumped off” by hard points. After 8 hours of continuous operation, the rock-breaking capacity stabilized at over 140 tons, with 15% less efficiency degradation compared to conical cutting teeth. This stability is crucial for British quarries that require continuous output.
Reducing Rock-Breakage Costs: The Efficiency Transformation of Pyramid PDC Inserts
British quarry owners are most conscious of practical results: A fellow quarry in Durham, using ordinary cutting teeth, previously broke 120 tons of rock per hour, requiring two tooth replacements per day, with a tooling cost of £0.80 per ton of rock. After switching to Pyramid PDC Inserts, the rock-breaking capacity increased to 145 tons per hour, the tooth replacement frequency dropped to once every three days, and the cost per ton of rock decreased to £0.66, saving nearly £2,000 per month in tooling costs alone. This is the practical effect of “increased efficiency and reduced costs”—the long-term effectiveness of the Pyramid PDC Insert completely offsets the initial price difference.
For specific specifications of the Pyramid PDC Insert, or to customize a model suitable for UK mines, please contact us through the following methods:
- Phone: +86 17791389758
- Official Email: jeff@cnpdccutter.com
- Product details can be found on our website: https://www.cnpdccutter.com/
About the author: Tom Reed, from Durham, UK, has 9 years of field technical experience in UK mining tools, serving mines in Yorkshire and Derbyshire for many years. He specializes in field efficiency testing and selection optimization of mining cutting tools and has provided tool efficiency improvement solutions for 15 UK quarries.
Post time: Jan-06-2026
