In praise of angle grinders

Also don't throw sparks into the garden on dry leaf mulch or it may catch on fire.

Please don't ask how I know.

Paul.

Wonderful things angle grinders. If you are new to them (or think you are always safe), put "angle grinder accident" into a Google search and click on images - but not if you've just eaten!

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

Jesus absolutely horrendous!

Tony

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

Dave

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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..........

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

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

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.

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

Mike

"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."

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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.