Cut-off wheels and angle grinders

[4570Man]

I bought a diamond cutoff wheel because I was afraid of that happening. Although I'd guess it's a fake picture.

 

[yomax4]

A lot of the cheap HF and others are the difference between bushings vs bearings. I've had more trouble with the switches than the motors and or bushings. I just buy Milwaukee for $89.00 and never look back. The old saying applies here too. I can buy a cheapo grinder, But then I have to use it.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

View attachment 490556 sometimes zhit happens

I always use a full face shield when grinding or using cut off wheels. Actually the safety codes require a full face shield for these operations. Never had a COW shatter yet; but as this guy now knows; it can happen when ole man Murphy is lurking about.

Ron

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Several posters complained about COWs not mating up on the shaft. All mine; HF Dewalt, Craftsman have a washer that is grooved out on one dide and flat on the other. Just turn it over to the flat side.

Ron

 

[dragoneggs]

I won't argue the merits of HF grinders vs. brand equivalents but one thing I do recommend is open up the casing and jam some grease in it. The several I have had are barely packed. For a hobbyist, and one who wants the luxury of dedicated grinders... I find it hard to argue against HF. Going in, I considered them almost disposable. I have only disposed of one so far. For heavy hard use I do lean on my Dewalt or Milwaukee but I won't spend the time replacing wheels when I can just grab which ever HF grinder that has the wheel I want and don't lean on it hard. But I try to respect my tools regardless.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I have two 9 amp Makitas I bought approximately 22 years ago. They've both been trouble free. Cost per year less than $5 each.

View attachment 490469

Terry

Gee Big Barn! How can you possibly get by with ONLY 8 COWs? Your shop looks like a COW supply house

 

[Big Barn]

Gee Big Barn! How can you possibly get by with ONLY 8 COWs? Your shop looks like a COW supply house

Darn "tool ****" addiction. I try my best to attend the weekly meetings. "Hello, my name is Terry......."

 

[dickfoster]

Not to worry it will do fine with cut off wheels. I do keep an extra grinder around as I kill them fairly often. Also don't like changing wheels all the time. Sanding disks, wire brushes of all types & so on.

Same here. Buy them cheap and toss as you break them. I take the buy cheap and replace approach because angle grinders tend to get dropped a lot. I keep at least two of em, one with a grinder and the other with a cutoff wheel and replace with flap wheels and brushes as needed whichever grinder is handier.
I think the reason for the no cut off wheel warning on the one is probably due to the design of the guard and it's pretty much just a lawyer thing.

 

[dickfoster]

I won't waste my money on the Drill Master stuff because it ain't worth the cheap price!!
How ever, I just installed Hardie Plank Siding on a 2568 sq ft house this past summer and used the Chicago Electric grinder with a diamond blade to cut and trim all the planks and it is still working great!
The Hardie dust is deadly because it is so fine and you can't breath it. I blew out the dust from the grinder from time to time with compressed air.
I own half dozen others and they are still working great.

I trimmed some Silestone countertops with that setup to fit some new appliances. Man, talk about dust, I didn't know there was going to be so much of it. It filled the entire house in short order and was my wife ever POd at me.

 

[Shaneard]

I just happen to be using the Milwaukee today with a cut off wheel to cut some 3/4" thick X 4" wide hot rolled. The angle is to long to cut with the saw, I have 4 pieces to cut. The actual cut is 11 1/2" long. I don't think a HF grinder could stand up to this challenge.

 

[Shaneard]

Okay I just got done making my 4 cuts, I made it happen as quickly as possible. It took me about 35-40 minutes to cut these. I took the temp of the grinder after last cut. You can see the red laser mark where it's pointing. I don't think it's to bad. The Mt. Dew can is for reference to size.

 

[drizler]

Just watch the sales around the holiday then pounce. Sometimes they even bundle. I picked up a makita chop saw when my last HF died. $200 shipped and they had a paddle switch 4.5 grinder in with it. HF used to be ok on the $20 deals but nowadays they don't last at all before they smoke or the switch goes bad. Forget that.
One of my more recent tricks is to hit it with the blow gun along the intakes once in a while, same for the chop saw. The amount of grit that comes out can be �� amazing.

 

[Deere Dude]

Keep in mind that Harbor Freight has two lines of power equipment, "Drillmaster" and "Chicago Electric". If you buy the cheaper Drillmaster stuff, it's a shot in the dark. Sometimes it will hold up and sometimes it will be trash in a month. The Chicago Electric stuff is generally much better built. Both go on sale from time to time.

That.s right. I bought a CE grinder and a cheapo for cutting some lines in concrete. After a few minutes I could feel my sleeve burning. The cheapo started on fire as I was cutting.

The Chicago Electric cut as fast and as strong and didn't overheat any more than my medium duty Milwaukee did. Finally I just let the CE grinder run until it toasted itself.

I would buy a CE again but don't know if they are as strong as the one i owned 20 years ago.

 

[muddstopper]

I bought a diamond cutoff wheel because I was afraid of that happening. Although I'd guess it's a fake picture. View attachment 490558

I cant say one way or the other if that pic is fake, but I had a guy that worked for me have a cutoff wheel come apart and take off three of his fingers. I used to have pictures but that was three or 4 computers ago. I think I posted them pics on here in a similar type discussion, but they might be really hard to find.

 

[k0ua]

Knowing I would need it someday I bought a Harbor Freight 4 1/2" angle grinder when it was at a good price. Also got a 10 pack of metal cutoff wheels.

Today was the day so I pull everything out and start by reading the grinder's instructions. First thing it says is: "not for use with cut-off wheels".

Are their bearings too cheap to stand the side stress, or is this a safety issue?

(It cut-off my eight bolts just fine, thank you... )

Bearings?.. My harbor freight grinder doesn't have bearings. It has some chintzy bushings. I like to use the cut off wheels in my Ryobi and Makita grinders. I use the $10 harbor freight grinder for wire wheels for cleaning welding slag. I have heard of guys putting bearings in them.

 

[kb1luo]

I second what dragoneggs recommends. I opened mine and found it had grease in it but none of the grease was touching gears at all. I buy them the cheap drill master grinders when they go on sale. When they start getting too sloppy I throw them.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Do the cut-off wheels install ok? I know my grinder takes depressed center grinding wheels, and it has a metal back-up piece with a hollowed out area for the depression in the wheel. When I use cut-off wheels I have to put washers on it to support the cut-off wheel, I do not have the proper back-up piece for the flat cut-off wheels.

Some of mine are the same way, I use a left over cutoff wheel as a spacer to raise the new disc up just enough to be able to tighten it up.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I had one that ate the gears in the rotating head.. I took it apart and found the teeth gone.
I was cleaning the rust and paint off an old machine w/ a wire wheel and was going at it for 2 days straight w/ a lot of side thrust.
Makes for a lot of noise when the gear goes..
but I had used it religiously w/ a cut off wheel before then.
I THINK the problem lays in the gearing, from where it goes from straight to angle.. cheap as ****..

Have you ever taken one of the HF grinders apart? I take everyone that I buy apart, clean out the "WAX" that they call grease and replace with a good load of moly grease. The factory wax is so thick and not enough to reach the gears that it does not lube the gears at all which is why they wear out. I use mine quite a bit and most of them are over 5 years old and still no problems. We were using one with a power brush and it got so hot that you couldn't hold it even with a welding glove on and it is still working fine. Any electric motor will overheat if stalled down and the HF motors are not that powerful to start with especially the ones that used to go on sale for $9.99 from time to time. I like the more expensive one with the paddle handle and the larger amp motor.

 

[TractorGuy]

Keep in mind that Harbor Freight has two lines of power equipment, "Drillmaster" and "Chicago Electric". If you buy the cheaper Drillmaster stuff, it's a shot in the dark. Sometimes it will hold up and sometimes it will be trash in a month. The Chicago Electric stuff is generally much better built. Both go on sale from time to time.

This was my last HF grinder. Didn't have enough power and didn't hold up for chit.
4-1/2 In. Angle Grinder with Paddle Switch

 

[k0ua]

My wife bought me a Ryobi 4.5 inch angle grinder about 5 or 6 years ago for Christmas, and I at first thought it would be junk, but it is not. It has held up very well, and is my favorite grinder. I even like it better than my Makita.