User Panel
Posted: 1/18/2013 6:50:58 AM EDT
I see people using angle grinders on TV all the time to cut everything from pipe to granite countertops and paving stones. But the instructions that came with my grinder say not to use with cutting wheels. Why? I mean, it's a spinning shaft, for godsakes.
Any idea why they say that? Is it just for liability purposes? Don't you use yours for cutting? |
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That's all I use mine for. Works great!
Edit: Be sure to leave the guard on (if it's removable). |
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I use a sawzall for cutting stuff. The grinder is for grinding.
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I've got a milwaukee that I use cutting blades on. It works great.
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High speed cutoff tools normally have a different style guard than an angle grinder.
I have used an angle grinder as a cutoff tool and taken broken wheel fragments to the face. Wear your eye pro either way. |
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On a lot of the angle grinders the cutting wheels don't get enough mounting support and they break apart. I do it all the time, but (as with a proper cut off wheel set up) you always have to be ready for that cutting wheel to go ballistic ... wear eye and face protection!
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That's all I use mine for. Works great! Edit: Be sure to leave the guard on (if it's removable). Yeah, leaving the guard on.....that could be a good idea......don't ask me why I've now come to that conclusion. |
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Make sure you match your attachment speeds with your tool i.e. that the cut off wheel is rated for whatever speed your grinder is spinning. Don't use cheap Chinese wheels, wire brushes, etc., use the guard and always, always wear safety glasses and a face shield.
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Lawyers. This. "The more I think about, old Billy was right. Let's hang all the lawyers. Let's hang 'em tonight." The Eagles from "Get Over It." Site staff and Nolo excluded. You know what they say, 90% of the lawyers give the rest a bad name. |
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Quoted: High speed cutoff tools normally have a different style guard than an angle grinder. I have used an angle grinder as a cutoff tool and taken broken wheel fragments to the face. Wear your eye pro either way. Use a face shield and be done with it. Don't need chipped teeth. |
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because people love to take cut off wheels and use them as grinding wheels
next thing you know KABOOM... "ohh im such a dumbass, better sue somebody" use cut off wheels all the time. useful tool but NOT a grinding wheel +1 on the face shield... cut off wheels are hell on the eyes |
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faceshield!
I was wearing safety glasses and still took metal to my eye somehow two weeks ago. Docs say i should get the vision back but after removing the piece i still cant see correctly. lots of blur and halos. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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to me a cutting blade means a saw tooth blade, which I would not put on a grinder, but a abrasive blade will cut something but not considered a cutting blade.
If it's Chinese probably, who knows what they think. |
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Your angle grinder is not designed to use cutting wheels, and the manufacturer is merely reminding you of that fact. Most small (4") cutting wheels are meant to be used with die grinders and perform best with more RPM than an angle grinder can produce.
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Quoted: That's all I use mine for. Works great! Edit: Be sure to leave the guard on (if it's removable). No, take the guard off. They suck with the guards and really limit the cutting. Just wear eye protection. |
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Quoted: Your angle grinder is not designed to use cutting wheels, and the manufacturer is merely reminding you of that fact. Most small (4") cutting wheels are meant to be used with die grinders and perfoem best with more RPM than an angle grinder can produce. BS |
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Quoted: because people love to take cut off wheels and use them as grinding wheels next thing you know KABOOM... "ohh im such a dumbass, better sue somebody" use cut off wheels all the time. useful tool but NOT a grinding wheel +1 on the face shield... cut off wheels are hell on the eyes Well, allot of face shields may not be as impact resistant as eye pro, so its good to wear both actually. I like to wear both in order to protect my eyes well and my face decently. |
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That's all I use mine for. Works great! Edit: Be sure to leave the guard on (if it's removable). No, take the guard off. They suck with the guards and really limit the cutting. Just wear eye protection. Yeah, and go easy. Let the tool do the cutting; don't push it. Also, be careful not to bind the blade. Finally, don't put your face directly in line with where the exploding wheel will go. |
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So when you use it to cut stuff, get hurt, and sue them, they can say, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, we told him not to do that."
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because people love to take cut off wheels and use them as grinding wheels next thing you know KABOOM... "ohh im such a dumbass, better sue somebody" use cut off wheels all the time. useful tool but NOT a grinding wheel +1 on the face shield... cut off wheels are hell on the eyes Well, allot of face shields may not be as impact resistant as eye pro, so its good to wear both actually. I like to wear both in order to protect my eyes well and my face decently. I do this too. After having a cutoff wheel grenade and the now unbalanced grinder leap out of my hands, take a run down my leg (ouch) and get halfway across the floor before I could rip the power cord out of the wall, I use the guards and assist handle wherever possible. One of the chunks of wheel hit my face shield dead center, would have taken it to my nose/cheek if I hadn't been wearing it. |
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When cutting into a material rather than just taking off surface layers the wheel can get caught/jammed which first yanks the user inward then usually frees itself just in time to tear up some flesh. The wheel can also splinter and send pieces flying at 300 ft/s.
Think of it as an assault grinder. |
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I use a sawzall for cutting stuff. The grinder is for grinding. For lots of steel fabrication a grinder with a cutoff wheel is a far better way to cut. I use 4" angle grinders, take the guard off and use a 6" disc. You have to be careful it doesn't get away from you but it works well. From a professional standpoint, if you're cutting anything other than wood a sawzall is a time waster. EDIT - Make damn sure you hold on well and brace yourself when you can. I've had grinders bind up and try to get away from me. I hold them so tight that it will stop/burn up the motor or break the gears inside before it would come out of my hands and hurt me. I've ruined a number of grinders that way but after using hundreds if not thousands of 6" cutoff wheels i've never been even close to getting hurt and only had one wheel shatter. My hand and eye protection blocked it though. Every grinder cutoff wheel accident i've seen (about 10) was from someone cutting the wrong way, binding the wheel by being an idiot or having it catch a bit and then basically letting it go because they are afraid of it. |
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Google image angle grinder accidents. http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/progun1911/corte54.jpg that looks more like a 7" grinder took care of him I dont care for those |
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So when you use it to cut stuff, get hurt, and sue them, they can say, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, we told him not to do that." yup. for what it's worth i use cutting wheels on my angle grinders all the time. i wear a welding helmet with the dark glass flipped up and leathers when i'm working with steel power tools. i've blown up a few cutting wheels. usually it's user error letting the wheel bind or jump. |
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Pay attention to the RPM rating on your cutting disks. Some are only rated to 1750.
Also, be aware of the same kind of "kick back" if you get on the wrong side of the direction of spin as when you get the nose of a chain saw bar just under the log. Other than that, cut away! |
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I responded for a 17yo kid that had an accident with a grinder. Nearly cut the tip of his dick off.
Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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That's all I use mine for. Works great! Edit: Be sure to leave the guard on (if it's removable). No, take the guard off. They suck with the guards and really limit the cutting. Just wear eye protection. No thanks. |
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Google image angle grinder accidents. http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/progun1911/corte54.jpg that looks more like a 7" grinder took care of him I dont care for those I have two of the big Milwaukee 7" grinders. In addition to being heavy pigs to handle they are scary powerful mofos. |
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Most of our PI work is done for insurance companies, and most of that is work related accidents.
I have seen moar grinder accidents than I care to list and most of those are pretty ugly. There is no way I would use a standard angle grinder without a FULL face shield. Nothing like having an abrasive wheel turn into shrapnel at high RPM's. ALSO, most angle grinder accidents happen at waist level for some reason, often resulting in catheterization. Can you see where this one is going? Still "Darwin" awards, but without death (just WISH you were dead...) |
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............and OSHA!
Lawyers. Bind that blade, watch it shatter into a million bits that crack your classes and cut your face/hands, then blame lawyers and osha. |
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On a lot of the angle grinders the cutting wheels don't get enough mounting support and they break apart. I do it all the time, but (as with a proper cut off wheel set up) you always have to be ready for that cutting wheel to go ballistic ... wear eye and face protection! This is the reason. On mine, the nut is turned around for cut-off wheels. Another make I had at one time had two different nuts---one for grinding wheels, the other for cut-off wheels. If yours is not designed to hold thinner wheels, then it should not be used for cut-off wheels. |
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I use my Harbor Freight grinder/cutter all the time.
Big +1 for face protection and guard in place. |
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Understand when it gets traction, it really doesn't matter how well you are holding on to it; its going across the room. Hopefully all your parts are still attached after it comes to a stop.
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On a lot of the angle grinders the cutting wheels don't get enough mounting support and they break apart. I do it all the time, but (as with a proper cut off wheel set up) you always have to be ready for that cutting wheel to go ballistic ... wear eye and face protection! This is the reason. On mine, the nut is turned around for cut-off wheels. Another make I had at one time had two different nuts---one for grinding wheels, the other for cut-off wheels. If yours is not designed to hold thinner wheels, then it should not be used for cut-off wheels. That's why you use a worn down cut off as a washer to hold the one you're cutting with in securely |
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I'm not so much worried about the cut-off wheels on grinders as I am the wire wheels.
I had a workpiece held tight in a table vise, and the brush caught. The grinder proceeded to QUICKLY move directly into my torso. The grinder went from 11,000 RPM to 0 in an instant. I honestly didn't know what hit me...It felt as if a tourniquet had been applied directly below my rib cage, and there was this God aweful electric hum as the grinder kept trying to squeeze the life out of me with my t-shirt. I fumbled with the switch for a few more seconds before I was able to disable that motherfucker, I was so taken off guard that it didnt occur to me to simply yank the cord. I know the reasoning about not wearing gloves when using rotating equipment, but I never imagined that I need to go shirtless next time I use a wire wheel on my grinder. As for the "lawyers" comment. I personally know one that encountered something of the same. He was working on the frame rails on a '71 Camaro with a wire wheel attached to his 4" grinder. The thing decided to take a stroll across his face when he hit the angle wrong. He'll probably be here to post about the incident shortly. I'm surprised those assault grinders haven't been banned yet. Scary with a grinding wheel, deadly with a cut-off wheel...and downright psychotic whirling dervishes from hell when a wire wheel is attached. |
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Understand when it gets traction, it really doesn't matter how well you are holding on to it; its going across the room. Hopefully all your parts are still attached after it comes to a stop. That's exactly why I rarely use--and am scared shitless when I do--the big Milwaukee ones I have. They seemed like a good idea at the time, but holy crap will they yank you around. |
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We use Metabos at work almost exclusively for cutting out welds and such.
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That's all I use mine for. Works great! Edit: Be sure to leave the guard on (if it's removable). Yeah, leaving the guard on.....that could be a good idea......don't ask me why I've now come to that conclusion. You ever try to cut into an inside 90' angle (coming up a curb with a concrete/masonry blade) with the guard on? (Although on the grinder I'm using now, I borrowed my buddies grinder & used a cutoff wheel to cut the guard down - now I can hit an inside 90 & not have chunks of concrete pelting me in the face...) Seriously - eye pro is a must... |
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Use mine to cut with all the time and I've got the scars to prove it. Had one disc come apart and hit my thumb, that hurt like a sumbitch. If you value your sight wear goggles, if you value your fingers and hands in their orginal configuration wear good gloves as well. Happy cutting!
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I keep seeing a wheel like this at Home Depot http://s3.lifeandhome.com/catalog/product/cache/2/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/2/2/2237899_111009l_gv.jpg I have no use for it, but I still want one. Now I use cutoff wheels and wire wheels on grinders alot, but you couldn't pay me enough to use that. |
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Heard of a guy that would take worn out chop saw wheels and use them on a grinder for cutting.
Until one shattered and a piece took off his nuts. |
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I keep seeing a wheel like this at Home Depot http://s3.lifeandhome.com/catalog/product/cache/2/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/2/2/2237899_111009l_gv.jpg I have no use for it, but I still want one. Now I use cutoff wheels and wire wheels on grinders alot, but you couldn't pay me enough to use that. People use them for carving wood sculpture. I had to cut up some subfloor a while back and looked at some regular saw looking blades for angle grinders in order to get a closer cut against walls. Yeah, fuck that shit. I used a circular saw and a chisel to get the 1/2" the circular saw wouldn't reach. |
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