Grinding and cutoff discs for angle grinders

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

The 5" machines are much more expensive as are the discs, stick with 4.5" machines, they are also to clumbsy for small work, OK for industrial work., For normal grinding use depressed centre discs of 1/4" or 6mm thickness, for cutting use 1 or 1.2mm cutting discs. The thin discs, let them cut at their own speed , force them and you will wear it out very quickly. Use both hands to steady the machine in use, if you let it bounce on the work it will also wear very fast. DO NOT try to bend the disc round a corner – it will rip the centre out – to cut a circle do a series of flats and then clean up once you have the rough circle out of the sheet.. I found the small body of the Hitachi very good in the hand, easy to hold and use. Bear in mind you get what you pay for ! Good Luck. Noel.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

The main reason to spend a few quid more than the very cheap grinders for occasional home use is that they are much better to use: quieter, smoother and cooler running.

4.5" is the sweet spot for availability, cost and running costs. The 5" ones use a surprising amount of extra space, which can be a nuisance in use.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Try a diamond segmented blade, the performance is streets ahead of discs but not cheap.

Tony

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Posted by Tony Pratt 1 on 05/06/2022 12:17:54:

Try a diamond segmented blade, the performance is streets ahead of discs but not cheap.

Tony

I don't like them at all for cutting anything metal, and I use them for a living.

Edited By Pete Rimmer on 05/06/2022 12:27:12

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

The diamond-segment blades seem really for cutting stone, concrete and ceramics.

You can also buy for ordinary 4.5" grinders, segmented glass-paper discs for wood-finishing, and cup-form wire brushes e.g. for heavy rust-removal.

Wear a mask as well as eye-protection for all those dust-throwing uses.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Posted by Pete Rimmer on 05/06/2022 12:26:53:

Posted by Tony Pratt 1 on 05/06/2022 12:17:54:

Try a diamond segmented blade, the performance is streets ahead of discs but not cheap.

Tony

I don't like them at all for cutting anything metal, and I use them for a living.

Edited By Pete Rimmer on 05/06/2022 12:27:12

Sorry I missed we were only talking about metal cutting So, try a diamond segmented blade, the performance is streets ahead of discs for cutting stone but not cheap.

Tony

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Jack

Whatever grinder you decide to buy make sure it comes with a hard case. Easier to store, somewhere to keep all the bits together including a disk or three and no chance of the cord getting entangled in something else so it crashes to the ground when the something else is grabbed.

The price differential between big box store special and a name brand such as Makita isn't that great these days in absolute terms so I'm not sure that its worth going too far downmarket unless its for one or two jobs only. My experience is one you have it its going to get used a lot more than planned.

For example I bought the then equivalent of this **LINK** ,

https://www.lawson-his.co.uk/makita-ga4530rkd-4-1-2-115mm-angle-grinder-diamond-blade-and-case-replaces-9554nbkd-240v

several years ago for around £40, albeit with a normal grinding disk and thin cutting blade as well as the diamond one so a slightly better deal, and its done just fine.

Worth a nooge round Facebook market place or other advert sites. Lightly used brand named ones turn up around the £25 – £35 mark on a regular basis.

Hafta say I'd pony up the extra and go 18V battery as the cord can be a pain. But I already have batteries. So I will switch sometime.

Clive

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

One tool in a hardcase takes up far too much space for me, and they quickly go in the bin. If you buy one of THESE, then you don't even need to cable tie the disc spanner to the end of the power cord and that's the only accessory needed to run a grinder

[egaParticipant @ega]

Better yet, get a tool-free nut; not cheap, but worth the cost in convenience.

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

Posted by Pete Rimmer on 05/06/2022 08:57:47:

My advice is get a 5" grinder. If you're using the thin cutoff discs you'll get a lot of extra use from that extra 1/2" of disc and the extra 1/4" depth is very handy sometimes too. The smaller the diameter of grinder, the more disc is wasted if you're cutting stuff like sheet where the housing will foul the work.

Aldi angle grinders and discs are 5" so may be a more reasonable option.

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

50 years ago I used to buy 9 inch stone cutting discs & some metal by the 1000 to get the cost down. I burned out so many angle grinders that I started using air ones off a big diesel compressor. I have had a variety of machines, including paving slab cutters & fixed machines for cutting 38mm bar for sash weights. Blades used to come complete with a paper washer for mounting. Seem to be omitted these days & people do not bother.I am not sure that is a good thing.

I now use 9 inch bosch & Makita ones to cut chain & odd bits of metal. I used to cut chain by standing with my legs slightly apart on it & cutting a link between my feet. I now put the link in a drill vice bolted to a bit of ply on which I stand .

In all those years I have only ever broken one disc. My foot slipped off the chain & it flew up jamming the blade. The bits went across the sailing club ground about 6 metres

I do think people do go a bit over the top about these tools. One has to hold them firmly & not wave them about like a flag waving exercise. Get in a firm standing position. Make sure the item to be cut is secure & the offcut will not jam as it droops down. Line the blade up with the cut & do not let it wander from side to side. Check that you have no loose clothing in the way & you are not going to burn a hole in your trousers. Make sure the wife's car is well clear of the sparks & just get on with it.

But some people just have not got it. You can see them with a screw driver. The handle waves about all over the place forming a neat wide circle, whilst they are trying to undo a screw. they are the people who should not have an angle grinder

BUT do not forget the goggles.

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 05/06/2022 17:08:23

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Posted by Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 05/06/2022 14:52:32:

One tool in a hardcase takes up far too much space for me, and they quickly go in the bin. If you buy one of THESE, then you don't even need to cable tie the disc spanner to the end of the power cord and that's the only accessory needed to run a grinder

Hmmn. Having had a disk or two work loose way back when I had my first angle grinder, an early Wolf Grindette, I'm unconvinced of the security and safety of those tool-less centre nuts. Back then the sanding disks were most likely to be problematical. Academic now as I've not used a sanding disk since discovering flap wheels "mumble-mumble" years back.

But if memory serves me right there have been some moderately subtle changes over the years in the the details of how the disk attachment system works. Hafta dig the Wolf out of the emergency use store and check! Retired it from active duty due to noise and vibration but it still ran the last time I checked about 10 years back. Must be 40 odd years old by now. Probably new bearings would fix it properly. 20 years (ish) of active duty, nothing else has lasted that long.

I've generally found that hard cases effectively increae the storage capacity per yard of shelf over naked machines. Primarily because you can stack boxes. Having a sensible supply of consumables in the box, along with some essential extras if there is room, makes life a lot easier when the tool has to go to jobs outside of the workshop. Which is basically every job with my angle grinder as I don't like the mess in the shop so grinding, cleaning et al is all done outside. I'm not completely convinced by the space efficiency of the Makita MacPac system but stacking under the bench rather than on shelves works OK(ish). But my shop layout was frozen long before MacPac so possible a layout better attuned to the system would be more convincing. Certainly the size 4 for my 18V drill and 1/4" hex impact driver has a lot of extra bits packed in for when the tool has to go to the job.

Clive

Edited By Clive Foster on 05/06/2022 21:03:34

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

+1 for Nicholas Wheelers comment

Cheap off-brand grinders tend to be heavy, noisey and poorly balanced (both handling and vibration). For anything other than very occasional, rough work the investment in a branded tool will be repaid with easier use, better performance and less noise.
Personally I like Bosch and DeWalt (I have a battery DeWalt, not something to keep in the car unless you want a conviction for "going equipped" ).

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Whether you use a proper case for the tool – if supplied with it or a by secondary purchase – depends perhaps on how and where you use it, but I've always found it preferable to do so.

The purpose-made case is only slightly larger than the tool, has room for small accessories, protects the tool (and if mains-powered its unwieldy lead) in transport and storage, and renders storing it much more civilised!

That for my angle-grinder contains the second guard as its design enforces changing that when changing between grinding and cutting disc. It also holds its own spanner, plus a spare spanner I modified for releasing a cup-brush too confined for a conventional spanner.

In the last week or so I have been using my Parkside (Lidl or Aldi) battery-drill a lot at my club's track. Room in its own carrying-case not only for drill, charger and a small pack of drill- and screwdriver- bits, but also for a few extra, small tools also necessary for the task in hand. Easy to cart about and the lid forms a useful tray to make it less easy to lose the small tools in the grass.

++++

Regarding free-hand nine-inch grinders, I see them as industrial tools for them as know what they are doing with them – and are built like rugby forwards. Which I am not. I have used one, once, to cut some concrete blocks; but have refused to touch them since. It's as well to know one's limits, and a tool like that is physically too heavy and powerful for me. I once had a 4.5" inch cutting-disc snatch in steel plate, and that was bad enough. It pulled the grinder from my hands, freed itself from the cut and with the switch-lock on, it was no joke to recapture the machine.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Another reason for spending a little more money on a grinder(most power tools really) is the power cord: cheap ones have poor quality cords that are too short for real jobs – like under/inside cars, or up ladders.

 

I have a cordless grinder that is far more useful than I expected it to be, although it isn't suitable for long jobs.

 

Back to hardcases:

every one I've ever had was at least twice the size of the tool, and still needed the cable wrestled in so that the damn thing shut. And you often have to dismantle the cutter/working part to get it in. The hinges and latches are rarely up to much. If it's a blow moulded case, there's little room for your own accessories. I find the time of getting them off the shelf, using and putting everything back to be a real time thief. And the case just gets in the way while the job is done.

Most of my power tools came in them, none of them are now.

The only tools I reluctantly keep in such cases are the ones that have lots of small parts that are needed to make them work and don't get used very often, like the cooling system tester, or valve spring compressor.

Cables are a problem, but a small loop of velcro soon fixes that

Edited By Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 05/06/2022 23:12:49

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

+1 for what Nicholas says about power cords.

The world has changed for the better since the stiff, orange, cracks after two years or so horror beloved of Black and Decker for too many years of a certain era. But you can still find its descendants, usually less garishly coloured, busily proving that the apple hadn't gotten far from the tree.

My Makita has an impressively soft and flexible one about as long as is practicable for a hand held tool without becoming a trip hazard. If I want more I have a selection to choose from ranging from a big ass reel down to 12 ft of nice cable with a metal switched 13 A socket box securely fitted to the end. Although I use the common un-switched socket on reels et al I'm not that happy about having the power switch far away. Often the 12 ft cord gets used as an intermediate simply so I have a switch, in addition to the one on the tool, not too far away. On a "stop – do something else for a bit – restart" type job I'm much happier having two positive steps between the tool and power giving time to make sure my head really is in the game. Tool switch alone makes getting rush-headed a bit too tempting.

Clive

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

Since the thread has morphed into power tool leads, I will add my bit. I had a Black and Decker SDS drill from their professional range about 25 years ago. It dropped some comutator segments about 15 years ago and was replaced by a cheaper DeWalt which I still use occasionally. The first part to be salvaged was the nice supple black power cable which was immediately fitted in place of the horrible stiff lead originally fitted to my Bosch drill.

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

I have replaced the lead on several mains soldering irons with the silicon non-melt flexible non-bossy type.

You used to be able to buy them as a spare part but they seem to have disappeared – If I want to replace any more I shall have to buy a reel of the cable.

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 06/06/2022 20:48:32

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