In praise of angle grinders

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

George thanks for the tip about the Stanley knife blade, might just be able to regain my credibility on the domestic front.

Dave

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Believe me; Angle Grinders and the residue therefrom are VERY good at coating UPVC doors and windows with a beautiful orange deposit, that appears after a rainstorm. If you don't like the shade, it is very difficult to remove, sadly.

Howard

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Also good at coating those white resin/marble statues used for garden ornaments, we have one with rust marks all over her feet. Anyone know how to remove the rust marks so that I can retrieve even more credibility on the domestic front?

Dave

[Martin DowingParticipant @martindowing58466]

Sometimes when I need to slice some larger diameter bars (for me "larger" means more than 50mm) and also steel plates I will use hand held carbide tipped circular saw *meant* for metal. Similar construction is often used by carpenters.

This saw really does miracles. So 3 inch MS bar goes in 1-2 minutes, stainless very much as fast, steel plates are going very much like wood. Cast iron bars for some reason will resist this method. I will make some sort of jig for this saw. It largerly sent my angle grinders on holiday.

Martin

[Robin GrahamParticipant @robingraham42208]

I have a groove in my left kneecap thanks to a concentration lapse of about 300 milliseconds when using an angle grinder. Also ruined a good pair of jeans – I don't much go for the 'bloodstained torn knee' style of trousering. Very much a tool of last resort for me. There are easier and safer ways of cutting metal. That's the only serious wound I've had from a machine. I felt confident with what I was doing, but it happened so quickly that I hadn't a chance. My most hated (but sometimes indispensable) tool. Once bitten, twice shy perhaps.

Rob

 

Edited By Robin Graham on 11/10/2017 00:53:29

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

Posted by Phil Stevenson on 04/10/2017 09:44:37:

Interestingly, Screwfix have a face mask which is cheaper than the Ebay model quoted, has a specified impact rating and you can touch and feel before you buy. Or even take it back if it doesn't behave. I've had a few clouts in the chops saved by a mask like this in my woodturning ventures, but never threatened by lumps of metal. **LINK**

I have that face mask it is very good much better than goggles comfort and visibility wise and offers better protection i.e. covers the rest of your face – you can also put it on one handed

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Posted by Men Ifr on 10/11/2017 17:02:44:

Posted by Phil Stevenson on 04/10/2017 09:44:37:

Interestingly, Screwfix have a face mask which is cheaper than the Ebay model quoted, has a specified impact rating and you can touch and feel before you buy. Or even take it back if it doesn't behave. I've had a few clouts in the chops saved by a mask like this in my woodturning ventures, but never threatened by lumps of metal. **LINK**

I have that face mask it is very good much better than goggles comfort and visibility wise and offers better protection i.e. covers the rest of your face – you can also put it on one handed

I use an open face motorcycle helmet bubble visor mounted on a frame from an old welding mask.

Flips up easily with one hand and drops to cover all my face with a nod of the head. It's about 3mm thick, so probably a lot more substantial than most of the cheaper ones from engineers/DIY suppliers.

Bill

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Bought Lidls fixed angle grinder yesterday and I thought I'd share

The main reason I'm posting on it is its portability and adaptability

Behind the electric cord is a second black lifting handle so you can lug it outside like a toolbox and put it on an extension outside or in the garden(away from the carrots etc of course).

When I got it I stuck a bit of 40mm rebar in and set it off, and away it went

and went

and went

At first I thought "oh dear me I've bought a lemming" (or various unprintable words to that effect)

On closer inspection the metal cutting disc was probably too thick, even a 1.6mm disc has to do 60% more work than a 1mm disc, which is my preferred hand held angle grinder option

I cant find 1mm by 175mm discs but I've ordered 150mm ones, I only use stainless steel cutting disks, 115mm from blue spot have been really good for me

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

So I took out the parkside disc, stuck in a 115mm blue spot, the grinder spindle is a standard 22mm affair, removed the internal stop to increase the cutting depth to about an inch and a bit and went after my rebar again

Pure doddle, took 5 mins to do 3 cuts on the 40mm rebar with an undersize disk, turning the bar between cuts

The cuts took seconds, most of the time was spent lining up between cuts

Edited By Ady1 on 21/02/2018 10:55:44

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

It gives you a nice fast and very portable alternative to hacksaws and is rated to 50mm

Apart from my fluffy cocktail dress and high heels I use welding gloves and a full face mask as recommended by the chaps in here(in this thread actually)

[Mike CrossfieldParticipant @mikecrossfield92481]

Regarding the problem of rust stains from steel grinding particles.

I find that "Jenolite" applied with a small stiff brush such as a nailbrush, or (if the surface will not be damaged} one of those green abrasive pads, works well. Available from car accessory shops or online.

Also very good for removing rust marks from stainless steel sinks when someone from the workshop with filings on their hands has washed in the kitchen sink……….

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

I don't know how powerful your motor is, but I have the RAGE EVO saw and it would eat that job. Just be careful of the hot blue chips that fly off, I use goggles plus face shield !!

RAGE 185mm multipurpose blade – look it up on various sites.
BobH

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I use hand held stuff but this is a portable fixed bench unit where nothing moves, costs 40 bananas and has a 3 year guarantee, a great starter pack choppy uppy setup for any poverty stricken ME dude

Rebar for example is a chrome vanadium steel, tuff stuff

Those rage evo things look pretty mental bits of kit, bet you don't get 10 discs for 15 quid

Edited By Ady1 on 21/02/2018 11:44:21

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

To Robin,

' Angle grinder knee', very common these days with the 'young people' ,they all seem to have had the same accident while wearing their jeans.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Seems especially common with girls, what to they do with angle grinders?

Mike

[Fowlers FuryParticipant @fowlersfury]

Posted by Samsaranda on 10/10/2017 08:23:28:

If using an angle grinder outside make sure where the Sparks are going is nowhere near any Windows, the red hot debris in the spark stream will embed itself in the surface of the glass, don't ask me how I found that out.

Dave

"Did you use the stanley knife blade scraper to get the nibs off, got me out of a hole when I did that to the bosses' windscreen."

<><><><><><>

Got myself into trouble last week from SWMBO (again). Used the angle grinder outside and peppered a window with embedded grit. I did take a scraper to the glass and yes, "the nibs" came off but left permanent craters in the glass surface. What perplexes me is why, although wearing gloves, areas of my left wrist were being covered with the same hot 'sparks' at much closer range they produced no more than a mild 'tingle' yet the sparks – farther away – embed themselves into glass? Presumably, "the bosses' windscreen" would be tougher than window glass.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Hi Ady 1, thanks for the info on the Lidl metal cut-off grinder, have been looking out for some sort of cut off saw for a while, paralysis gradually encroaching on my right side means using a hacksaw is very tiring. Was impressed by the price at £39.99 as others I had seen were approx £100, a new Lidl has just opened last week at Polegate, about three miles from me, so I went and had a nose around. Bought the cut-off saw and fell to the temptation of an air die grinder and digital multimeter as well, didn’t have to hide the purchases from higher management as she was with me, so approval was granted for the acquisitions.

Dave W

[Chris BradburyParticipant @chrisbradbury76252]

At last a subject that I know something about. In the past I have built two steel sailing boats therefore an angle grinder became a tool of necessity. Here are a few things that experience taught me.

Wear overalls, steelcap work boot with leather laces (they don't melt like the normal laces), cotton socks same reason as the laces, leather welding gauntlets, hat, full face mask and a cotton neckerchief (grindings get everywhere).

Make sure that there is nothing in the surrounding area that is combustible (that includes carrying a paper tissue in the top pocket of your overalls).

Grindings will fall off your clothes into places where they will cause trouble for you (toilet bowl, sink and shower tray).

Crunchy sandwiches and gritty tea, ah happy days.

So take care a angle grinder is a great tool to have and use, but it needs a lot of respect.

[SandgrounderParticipant @sandgrounder]

And don't be tempted to do what I did, putting a cup brush onto the threaded spindle I screwed it on a couple of turns and the thinking I would be clever in saving time switched on, the grinder accelerated to about 10000RPM in about a microsecond and the brush screwed itself onto the spindle so hard I had to hacksaw it off.

John

[thaiguzziParticipant @thaiguzzi]

Posted by Chris Bradbury on 21/02/2018 15:20:44:

At last a subject that I know something about. In the past I have built two steel sailing boats therefore an angle grinder became a tool of necessity. Here are a few things that experience taught me.

Wear overalls, steelcap work boot with leather laces (they don't melt like the normal laces), cotton socks same reason as the laces, leather welding gauntlets, hat, full face mask and a cotton neckerchief (grindings get everywhere).

Make sure that there is nothing in the surrounding area that is combustible (that includes carrying a paper tissue in the top pocket of your overalls).

Grindings will fall off your clothes into places where they will cause trouble for you (toilet bowl, sink and shower tray).

Crunchy sandwiches and gritty tea, ah happy days.

So take care a angle grinder is a great tool to have and use, but it needs a lot of respect.

Jeez, and i thought i was ok wearing my safety glasses….

Combined with shorts, flip flops, and with something really filthy, a t-shirt…

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Got the 150 x 1mm discs this am

They cut a max of 40mm with the stop removed in 60-90 seconds, so 3 inches if you come in from each side

Not even that noisy, Wish I'd done this years ago

(The garage does smell like the hoose is on fire though)

Edited By Ady1 on 24/02/2018 10:49:21

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