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slidebite posted:In general, yes. Something that happens that many don't think of is that in addition to a 6+ grinder being physically larger to hold, the larger wheel can sometimes become an encumbrance if you need to reach into or work around something. Well obviously you use the grinder to cut through the obstruction and keep working.
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Apr 25, 2020 17:12
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Krakkles posted:re: angle grinders ... what size is best for general usage? I think I heard 4.5-5 at some point, but want to make sure I'm looking in the right direction. What's the most common size of wheel where you would buy them? Get that size. 115mm or 125mm over there.
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Apr 25, 2020 17:12
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4.5" is your every day general purpose grinder. I use my 3in cutoff very infrequently (usually on exhaust collector studs, hardware in hard to reach corners, etc) and larger grinders are mostly only useful in large scale metal fabrication not automotive use due to how much space they take up and how impossible they are to get into corners. As for grinding consumables check out roark supply and heleta. As I recall both beat the prices from harbor freight with a better longer lasting product. I only buy abrasives from HF and HD when I need them NOW and I ran out.
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Apr 25, 2020 17:40
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Wasn't there a scare about the HF discs a few years ago? Like extremely toxic materials?
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Apr 25, 2020 17:44
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Dunno that I'd call it a scare but I did post that they have cancer warnings on them. No idea what cancer causing thing it is, could be wood dust, could be fiberglass, could be asbestos, they're made in Russia where most of the asbestos still being mined comes from after all.
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Apr 25, 2020 18:17
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boxen posted:Lightweight and airy. Oh good, yours had factory air like ours did.
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Apr 25, 2020 18:39
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C-Bangin' it 
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kastein posted:Dunno that I'd call it a scare but I did post that they have cancer warnings on them. No idea what cancer causing thing it is, could be wood dust, could be fiberglass, could be asbestos, they're made in Russia where most of the asbestos still being mined comes from after all. If its from Prop65 from California, then it could be anything in them that causes cancer. My fishing rod had a warning label that said it contained something known to the state of California as a cancer causing agent or something like that.
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Apr 25, 2020 19:17
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cakesmith handyman posted:What's the most common size of wheel where you would buy them? Get that size. 115mm or 125mm over there. So, Milwaukee has five (I think) that fit in this category:
I'm thinking the extra capacity to 6" isn't a bad thing (and, oddly, the 2981 is apparently lighter than the 2781.) I think Slide Switch Lock-On is definitely what I'd prefer, are there any other criteria I should be looking out for? (Yes, I'm staying in the cordless Milwaukee eco-system, so these are the options.) wesleywillis posted:If its from Prop65 from California, then it could be anything in them that causes cancer. Is Asbestos cheaper than whatever newer ones are made from?
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Apr 25, 2020 19:23
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I'm not sold on cordless grinders unless you have a good reason for cordless. For the price of a single cordless you can get a dedicated corded grinder for each grinder operation (with money left over for a pile of consumables) and not have to change disks all the time. I've got one with a death wheel, one with a grinding disk, one with a flap disk, and another little one with a worn down disk for tight spots. Oh and a big 7? Inch that I've never used but I got for free. e: I've also just never felt 'ugh, I wish I didn't have this drat cord in the way' when using my angle grinders. I'm definitely on board with cordless tools but I would get a collection of corded grinders before getting a cordless unless I needed one for a specific job. Galler fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Apr 25, 2020 |
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Apr 25, 2020 19:38
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Galler posted:I'm not sold on cordless grinders unless you have a good reason for cordless. For the price of a single cordless you can get a dedicated corded grinder for each grinder operation (with money left over for a pile of consumables) and not have to change disks all the time. I've got one with a death wheel, one with a grinding disk, one with a flap disk, and another little one with a worn down disk for tight spots. Oh and a big 7? Inch that I've never used but I got for free. This is true I guess. But I've burned out 4 or 5 of those HF grinders. And if you hit at the right time you can often get a free tool when you buy a battery 2 pack which is how I scored my ryobi grinder.
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Apr 25, 2020 19:40
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You definitely want the locking switch. I'm gonna jump on the get a corded one train though, cordless are nice for small cutting/grinding jobs, but if you're doing any heavy work the corded is lighter and you don't have to worry about eating batteries. Metabo makes a nice corded grinder for a good price, and you can get a two-pack for cheaper than a cordless and leave one with a grinding disk and one with a cutting disk, which is nice and convenient.
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Apr 25, 2020 19:49
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Galler posted:I'm not sold on cordless grinders unless you have a good reason for cordless. For the price of a single cordless you can get a dedicated corded grinder for each grinder operation (with money left over for a pile of consumables) and not have to change disks all the time. I've got one with a death wheel, one with a grinding disk, one with a flap disk, and another little one with a worn down disk for tight spots. Oh and a big 7? Inch that I've never used but I got for free. Elviscat posted:You definitely want the locking switch.
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Apr 25, 2020 20:16
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I don't recall the exact wording but I don't think it was the prop65 warning. For what it's worth though, I just checked every 4.5 cutoff wheel they currently sell in the pictures on the website and I can't find any cancer warnings on any of them, so whatever it was they have removed it from the recipe. That being said... Wear a respirator while using a grinder to cut anything, it keeps your boogers from being structural grade the next day and I'm sure it's better for your health. There aren't many kinds of non-organic insoluble particulate dust that you actually want in your lungs anyways...
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Apr 25, 2020 20:57
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Corded is 100% the way to go, unless you're cutting small amounts of tile/brick/concrete, doing light demo, or other random construction things that require only a few minutes of use. My cordless Ryobi could eat a 4Ah battery in 20 minutes of intermittent work and would overheat the 6Ah battery so bad that it started to die early. I'm sure that tech has gotten better, but that experience and my M18 mini shop vac have left me leery of cordless tools that need to spin very, very fast If you need to be cordless, I'd go for 5in. Most wheels are designed for 4.5in, but a lot of specialty wheels are 5 or 7 inch only, so it'd have more versatility and power at the cost of more weight and a larger, more awkward head Speaking of grinders, why is Ryobi the only company that had a good trigger grinder? Sure, it's less safe, but it feels so good in the hand E: I'd love to get my hands on one of these. I don't even care that it's not red, Metabo rules https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HZO1CY2/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_ZslPEb5W3KRJF The Door Frame fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Apr 25, 2020 |
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Apr 25, 2020 23:02
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I was just using my two grinders, one to cut and one to grind, and of course now I need to switch over to a flap disk and wire wheel. I should probably just get two more grinders. These may become the electric version of hammers where there's never enough. Also I thought the grinding dust was good for me to get the necessary iron in my system?
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Apr 25, 2020 23:48
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Iron sure, but you don't want manganism or heavy metal poisoning from the poo poo that isn't iron 
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Apr 26, 2020 00:05
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grinderchat: It doesn't matter what you get, you just need like 3+ of them so you don't have to change wheels . Even Ryobi makes a totally serviceable 4 1/2". But beyond that, rat tail Makita 6" is the unbeatable champ of the fabrication world. In the standard 4 1/2" world, all of the Dewalt grinders are excellent and very difficult to kill. If you want to spend more money, Metabo makes incredible 4 1/2, 5 and 6" grinders. Not many people need 7 or 9" grinders, but Milwaukee and Makita make the best ones. 4 1/2" cordless is lifechanging, but it's not the ideal first. They kick rear end for flap disc or wire wheel stuff while doing fabrication work.
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Apr 26, 2020 00:21
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I guess I did it wrong, but the only grinder I own is a Makita XAG20Z, 4.5/5" paddle w/brake. I don't end up doing a lot of work that needs different wheels at the same time, but it's been great for rustbelt auto work and some metalwork on a porch railing. I've also got 5 of the 4AH and 5AH batteries, so running out of juice is never an issue. Next task I need to buy some new wheels for is some floor tile work, so if there's any ceramic cutting/grinding wheels that can be recommended, I'm all ears!
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Apr 26, 2020 01:03
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Krakkles posted:re: angle grinders ... what size is best for general usage? I think I heard 4.5-5 at some point, but want to make sure I'm looking in the right direction. Two grinders. I suggest a Makita 4" and a name-brand 4.5". Put a flapdisk on the 4", and a hard rock on the 4.5". Wait, you needed a cutoff wheel on a grinder, right? Three grinders. A Makita 4", a name-brand 4.5", and a cheap 4.5". Put the cutoff wheel on the other 4.5". Put the knotted wire wheel on the other grinder. Wait... We're out of grinders again. Four grinders. A Makita 4", a name-brand 4.5", a cheap 4.5", and a 5"/6" Milwaukee or Makita. Flap, hard rock, cutoff, wire wheel. But you need two different grits of hard wheel, right? Five grinders. A Makita 4", a name-brand 4.5", a cheap 4.5", a 5"/6" Milwaukee or Makita, and a 9" Makita because gently caress it why not. Flap, 2 hard rocks, cutoff, wire wheel. But you need to cut aluminum or stainless and those take different wheel construction. Seven grinders. Plus one for lending out. Eight sounds right. But it's so close to ten. Ten grinders is more than enough. poo poo, I forgot about a diamond cup for grinding concrete or granite. Twelve grinders. Final answer. Wait, cordless. Gotta get a couple of those. Fifteen grinders.
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Apr 26, 2020 01:25
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I like the way you think and also think it would be good to sell grinders in at least two packs. I would definitely be happy to spend $200 and get 4 grinders.
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Apr 26, 2020 01:39
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The only grinder worth putting a cutoff on is a 6" Fight me (unless you're using it in a stupid place and then any 4.5" with no handle and guard will probably be fine)
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Apr 26, 2020 01:44
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sharkytm posted:4.5". Buy one name-brand. Makita, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Metabo (German Metabo, not HPT). Put whatever hard rock wheel you need on it. Put a cutoff on the other grinder. Wait, did I say one grinder?
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Apr 26, 2020 01:52
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https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Power-Tools/Fastening/Ratchets/2560-20 fff
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Apr 26, 2020 01:52
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I bought a Skil brand 4 ½" grinder for $17 goddamn american in 2008, used it pretty frequently up until the last couple years when I started to try to maliciously kill it (trigger sucks, ergonomics suck, plenty powerful though) a project came up where I needed to cut like 50' of concrete, so I put a diamond wheel on it and operated it for over an hour, cutting concrete and steel, wearing rubber gloves so it wouldn't shock me, with it discharging water mixed with abrasive concrete cutting dust in a geyser out of the fan it showed no ill effects, and has been relegated to my dedicated cutting grinder because holy gently caress I can't kill it. I bought a pair of Metabos anyway, and they're permanent grinding wheel/flap wheel duty, wire wheels and anything odd go on the Grinder Which Will Not Die. If I need to grind or flap wheel all day, I borrow my roomate's 7 ½" Metabo, his rat-tail DeWalt 4 ½ is nicer than any of my grinders too, but not worth the cost, especially over the $40 Metabos that are pretty nice to use and power through anything.
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Apr 26, 2020 07:50
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All this grinder chat, someone (me) needs to post this old gem: https://twitter.com/colfox_/status/1045488547027914752 The Smoke.....
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Apr 26, 2020 17:48
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wesleywillis posted:All this grinder chat, someone (me) needs to post this old gem: I’m sure this is just ignorance, but I’ve always had this instinct that smoke which pools downward like that is, like, super-toxic. Not buying a harbor freight grinder, check.
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Apr 26, 2020 18:26
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That's the grinder's blood.
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Apr 26, 2020 18:42
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pretty high up on the list of things to fabricate is an angle grinder stand on wheels, like the one that the Project Binky madmen built. Hangers for four grinders, power cord management, storage for extra discs and some PPE is what I had in mind.
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Apr 26, 2020 19:17
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Invalido posted:pretty high up on the list of things to fabricate is an angle grinder stand on wheels, like the one that the Project Binky madmen built. Hangers for four grinders, power cord management, storage for extra discs and some PPE is what I had in mind. I've got the 4 legged wheeled base from a 50s all-metal office chair that would be great for that. Hmmmmm. (I have the chair too but gently caress that thing.)
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Apr 26, 2020 19:47
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Invalido posted:pretty high up on the list of things to fabricate is an angle grinder stand on wheels, like the one that the Project Binky madmen built. Hangers for four grinders, power cord management, storage for extra discs and some PPE is what I had in mind. I haven't made a grinder stand yet, so I'm always unknotting the three that are sitting on the worktop. I DID make a stand for the disks though, and it has a little post for the two pieces that come off when you use the big cup wheel. Not the best system but I can move it around and it's better than the cardboard box I was using before  
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Apr 26, 2020 19:56
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Krakkles posted:What toxic hell is coming out of that?  My one and only grinder is a That said, is there a special wrench or spanner for grinder wheels? It came with a two prong wrench for use with disks that you clamp between two rings (I assume for thin cut off wheels?) but the nut on my cut off wheel is like 1.5 or 2" across, I don't own a wrench that big. Is there a special wrench for this purpose? The only wrench I have that can fit the cut off wheel is a crescent wrench, and it almost too thick to do the job with the guard on.
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Apr 26, 2020 22:27
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Krakkles posted:What toxic hell is coming out of that? Probably the insulation for the wiring heating up and vaporizing into some nasty stew of plastic fumes. I bet they did something fun like feed 240 volts into it.
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Apr 26, 2020 22:40
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Krakkles posted:What toxic hell is coming out of that? Usually most of toxic fumes from Harbor Freight tools are basically just walking into the store.
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Apr 27, 2020 00:05
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Crotch Fruit posted:the $20 POS (although I think the DIY Tools thread said those ones tend to be cockroaches that never die). I used my 10+ year old $20 HF grinder today to strip some rust off old ax heads. Also, if you're paying $20, you're spending too much.  And at that price, for light duty tasks like wire wheeling, they're almost disposable. EDIT: For just a few bucks more, you can get the "Heavy Duty" model. 
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Apr 27, 2020 05:00
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I ended up buying a corded metabo (W850-125). Y’all convinced me. I mean, I still want a cordless one, but I don’t need it right now because I’m not going anywhere anyway. Now on to welder shopping. What’s a reasonable price for a decent TIG? I know Lincoln / Miller should be the go-tos, but I’m very open to suggestions. I’d like to get a decent one to avoid struggling due to bad equipment.
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Apr 27, 2020 06:43
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TIG prices depend not only on brand but also lot on the amount of fancy functions you want. Will you be welding aluminum? If so you need AC, which is generally a more expensive machine. Steel alloys only and you can get a DC only machine which tend to be quite a bit cheaper. If you need to weld a lot torch cooling becomes an issue if you want to avoid down time because of that. A pedal is really nice, even necessary if you want to make use the full potential of the technique regardless of what alloy you're working with. Pulse functions and the like can be nice but aren't necessary, especially if you have a pedal for power control. Make sure you get a machine with touchless arc start whatever you buy. Scratch start seems like a nightmare. Also make sure you budget for all the peripherals you'll need. Gas is the big one, but there's lots of little doodads and it adds up. Fillers, cups and gas lenses, tungstens and a way to sharpen them - these sharpeners can cost hundreds of dollars. I just use a dedicated flappy disc and chuck up the tungstens in a cordless drill, but perhaps this method isn't ideal. I have a chinese inverter TIG. It has lots of knobs and switches and also does plasma cutting and stick welding at 200 amps really well. It cost like $1000 and I like it, my only complaints are the size of the thing and the lack of a graphical user interface - analysing all knob settings takes some though with my machine. The seller left a 5 year warranty so it seemed safe enough to buy. Time will tell I guess.
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Apr 27, 2020 07:52
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n0tqu1tesane posted:I used my 10+ year old $20 HF grinder today to strip some rust off old ax heads. I've had one of each of these for years now. I did the HF thing to each one: opend them up straight out of the box, removed the chinese gutter honey that they put in where actual grease is supposed to go, added whatever happened to be in the grease gun that day, closed them back up and treated them like $9 and $15 grinders. They're still working great.
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Apr 27, 2020 18:00
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Motronic posted:I've had one of each of these for years now. I did the HF thing to each one: opend them up straight out of the box, removed the chinese gutter honey that they put in where actual grease is supposed to go, added whatever happened to be in the grease gun that day, closed them back up and treated them like $9 and $15 grinders. They're still working great. Ding ding. I've got the red one and I filled mine with hi-temp wheel bearing grease. I've kicked the hell out of that thing for years now and it keeps taking it. The original poo poo I dug out of it looked like ear wax.
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Apr 27, 2020 20:32
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Invalido posted:TIG prices depend not only on brand but also lot on the amount of fancy functions you want. How are Forney welders? I think Astonishing Wang uses one and liked it, but I'm curious how good they are overall. If they're at all decent, the price points are definitely attractive - they've got low end stuff under $200, and this 3-in-1 (MIG/Stick/TIG) for just under $1k. Edit: found a reddit post pointing out that it lacks AC for aluminum welding, which is not a deal breaker. I guess it comes down to: is $1000 for this to have all three worth it over what a decent MIG might cost (which, open to suggestions...) just to have TIG? I do see myself wanting to practice and learn all three, and welding thick and thin things. Aluminum probably isn’t a big deal but would be cool to get into eventually. At some level, that'd be perfect to me - having all three available would be awesome. I just don’t know if trying to get one of these is way worse than just buying a Lincoln/Miller/Hobart MIG and being done with it. Krakkles fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Apr 27, 2020 |
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Apr 27, 2020 20:44
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Krakkles posted:How are Forney welders? I think Astonishing Wang uses one and liked it, but I'm curious how good they are overall. If they're at all decent, the price points are definitely attractive - they've got low end stuff under $200, and this 3-in-1 (MIG/Stick/TIG) for just under $1k. You don't see many TIG/MIG combinations (TIG/stick is common enough). That particular machine is probably not very good at TIG though. It seems to be DC only (aluminum not possible) and scratch start only. The "manual" they link to states "A scratch or lift Start is often used to initiate the arc". High frequency start is really something you want IMO. Lots of people make good welds with scratch start but it's tricky and makes it harder to be precise at the beginning of a weld. When you're working with thin sheet metal it's a hassle you don't want to deal with I think.
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Apr 27, 2020 21:51
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