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Angle Grinder Cut Off Saw Attachments any good?

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Windy05/01/2012 17:51:18
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I have an 115mm angle grinder and wondered if a cut off stand for it would be useful for cutting off hardened steel.
Or should I just use it free hand and save money?
 
Windy
 
mick H05/01/2012 18:16:45
795 forum posts
34 photos
Windy.......I bought one of these and a load of cut off discs with exactly what you have in mind, but I don't think I ever completed a cut off successfully. The main problem as I recall was that it was not possible to hold the metal bar rigidly enough. Discs do not last long and the mess it made was quite substantial....impossible to use it in the workshop. So thumbs down from me I am afraid.
 
Mick
Steve Withnell05/01/2012 18:34:05
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Dad gave me a cutoff disc to try out, I thought it worked very well to be honest, I got a good clean cut through 2 inch square bar.
 
However, I now have grit and steel embedded in the workshop window and all over the place, so I think it OK once in a while, but regular use hmmm.
David Colwill05/01/2012 18:44:19
782 forum posts
40 photos
If you're going to do it be sure to get the thin (1mm) cutting discs. Much less effort!
Windy05/01/2012 18:53:32
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Thanks all for your comments it is what I thought.
Another question regarding diamond cutting discs.
Are they suitable for hardened steel.
On one advert it says you can use them on iron.
 
Windy
 

Edited By Windy on 05/01/2012 18:54:37

Edited By Windy on 05/01/2012 19:00:42

Andrew Johnston05/01/2012 20:04:02
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Given that hot iron has a great affinity for carbon I suspect it might not be conducive to a long wheel life.
 
Regards,
 
Andrew
Clive Foster05/01/2012 23:33:21
3630 forum posts
128 photos

Apart from their habit of spraying hot stuff all over the shop unless you get creative with better guarding the big problem with these things is the price performance ratio doesn't work. Keeping the cost down low enough to create a decent market means the overall engineering has to be too cheap to work well. A major problem is that they have to be made to fit "any" grinder rather than specific models with the inevitable problems of flimsy multi-adjustment and nearly fits but manages to hold (sort of) rather than fits properly.

 

I picked up one from Lidl a while back for a specific job but a bit of fiddling showed that I was never going to be happy with the standard grinder mounts. Re-engineering looked to be relatively simple but more trouble than its was ever going to be worth.For general use a 9" grinder on a pivoting arm and a decent milling vice fixed to a suitable base plate looks a better option. At least the capacity will be half decent. I guess the standard size would be OK if you only do small work but DIY is still the way to go. After all neither vice nor grinder need be dedicated. Small size would be great for rough shaping HSS bits with an appropriate holder.
 
The 1 mm disks are ace.
 
Clive

Edited By Clive Foster on 05/01/2012 23:34:12

Gordon W06/01/2012 10:34:02
2011 forum posts
I have used angle grinders a lot. They are messy, noisy things but invaluable ( to me). For a small grinder don't bother with a stand, just as accurate freehand, do use a thin disc for cutting steel and stainless. Stone cutting discs can be better for softer materials and general scrap. I made a simple stand for the 9" grinder I had, this worked well, I bought a commercial stand that was useless, even dangerous, without a lot of work. I now have a grinder permamently fitted to the modded stand. Wear goggles, biggest hazard is fire !
Ian S C07/01/2012 00:47:18
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A few years ago, a chap I was working with managed to set fire to the crutch of his overalls, and that only about a week after his wedding. No damage to important parts! Ian S C
Windy07/01/2012 01:14:45
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910 forum posts
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Having been in the car body repair trade for many years I have seen the effects of grinding sparks and spatters off mig welding especially when doing chassis repairs.

Hair on fire, sparks in ear holes and that makes you jump.

I use flame retardant overalls, they can be a bit pricey depending where you get them from but they are worth it.

Burning flesh does not smell nice.

Windy

Stub Mandrel08/01/2012 20:31:16
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4318 forum posts
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> sparks in ear holes
 
I thought hot swarf down the front of my shirt was bad...

> Burning flesh does not smell nice.

Not keen on home cookked crackling then?

Neil
Colin Heseltine10/01/2012 23:13:20
744 forum posts
375 photos
I remember a number of years ago whilst gas welding chassis of car get stuck in an awkward position whilst weling upside down and suddenly having a large molten lump of metal fall on me, burn straight through overalls onto chest, got out from under car and it rolled all the way through my clothes to the ground. left a lovely burn mark for a few weeks.
 
Another thing that burns well is 000 grade wire wool. Was linishing off some weld and the sparks from disk grinder were flying past me but landed on a shelf holding pack of wire wool. Few moments later had a nice fire going behind me. It burnt wonderfully.
 
I swear by the 1mm disk they are great, use them all the time on site for cutting unistrut. Sometimes use a 110v cut off saw with a big TCT blade to cut steel bar. Works great but have to ensure you know where the sparks are going.
 
Colin
Windy10/01/2012 23:48:39
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910 forum posts
197 photos
Chassi repairs with gas welding could be a bit of a pain if there was underseal about and that melted and dripped on you.
the modern underboy coatings are a slightly better than the old bitumen underseal but there is also wax injection that can be messy with heat?
 
Windyl
Ady111/01/2012 00:18:26
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6137 forum posts
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I got some 1mm discs from fleabay but wasn't happy about freehand cutting, it was all a bit hit and miss for me.
 
So I adapted the arbour in my circular saw to take the cutting discs, which were the same size as the wood cutting wheel.
 
 
They felt much safer to use after that, noisy violent stuff, gawd only knows what the neighbours must have thought at the racket, but they cut through pretty much anything you throw at them.

I used mine to chop up a big half inch steel plate into more sensible sizes.
 
The plate at the back was cut out of the solid with discs, and then the middle chopped out of it.
Took about an hour, an almost impossible task with a manual hacksaw.
 
So they definitely have their place in a metal workshop
 

Once you find a stable cutting system, if you have enough discs you can cut up shipyard sized pieces of metal plate up to about an inch thick.

Edited By Ady1 on 11/01/2012 00:37:42

Ady111/01/2012 00:55:14
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6137 forum posts
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The big issues to overcome are the right feed rate, don't force the
disc through, let it do all the work, a nice straight cut, and stop if
there's any vibration or you'll wreck the cutting disc.
Springbok11/01/2012 05:29:30
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879 forum posts
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Have to say that I was up to Bell Boilers picking up my item and he was useing an angle grinder with a very thin cutter, Bought some on fleabay from a reputable supplier and have found them excellent for cutting of such things as up to 2x2 bar and angle iron. with not to much mess. everything then needs faceing up on the mill.
Bob
Nicholas Farr11/01/2012 09:08:57
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3988 forum posts
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Hi Ady1, I cannot advocate your use of cutting discs designed for angle grinders in a circular wood cutting saw. You do not say what diameter discs you have used, but none that I know of have a compalble RPM to a circular saw. If used in this manner in a commercial work place it would be in breech of the Abrasive Wheels Regulations. It is important that these discs run fairly close to the manufacturers designs, running them slower puts more strain on them and they will wear them down a lot faster. They of course must never be run faster than the specified speed in any circumstances.
 
One thing to note here about cutting and grinding discs in portable machines is to never use unreinforced discs. Unreinforced discs are for use in fixed machines only, and never use a cutting disc of any type for grinding.
 
Regards Nick.
alan frost12/01/2012 00:23:09
137 forum posts
3 photos
Bit late to insert my two pennoth but I bought one as part of my quest to own every tool known. B------y useless. I think you would get better accuracy and a faster cut with a man-sized angle grinder and a vice, in the open air.
On this subject I recently had to cut a large amou nt of steel stock to increase the capacity of my machine collecting trailer. I found an interesting side effect was that large parts of my patio now have an interesting brownish shade ,despite sweeping up well, and in future I will put layers of old damp newspaper down to collect the colourant.
alan frost12/01/2012 11:09:59
137 forum posts
3 photos
Reading Nicholas'post on Ady1's comments I bought from I think Aldi a sort of handheld circular saw designed for metal cutting diamond discs. (all as part of the never-ending quest to own every tool known to man ). It ain't big but boy can it cut although the noise and sparks would frighten the grandchildren.
A perpetual problem I have is cutting up large steel plates/sheets (usually donated by the local university's scrap heap. Being funded by tax payers cash they tend to throw out stuff once it becomes dusty).
I have a nibbler (good but the waste is sharp and deadly), a couple of models of reciprocating saw (also good but noisy on sheet metal), a bandsaw I have modded to cut horizontally on a table (best and quietest but limited by available throat) and a few angle grinders ( wonderfully aggressive cutters but noisy and spectacular sparks, best used at dusk for full appreciation ).
I need all of this armoury at times depending on the size and thickness of the sheet but the little aldi cutter is moving rapidly up my affection table.
Boiler Bri29/12/2013 09:18:23
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856 forum posts
212 photos

Has anyone bought or used one of these? I have the grinder and an endless supply of 1mm cut off disks, so was wondering if they are any good?

**LINK**

Bri

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