Technical Favorite flap wheels?

I’m doing a bunch of ch***is fab stuff and I used up the last of my favorite flapper discs. Somewhere I picked up a couple packs of 40 grit discs from G2.

No idea who they are but those discs were indestructible. They cut fast and lasted forever. I use them for everything. But now I can’t find them anywhere. Internet searching found some at a wholesale supplier but just a few60 grit, 5”. Nothing turned up searching for the manufacturer. I tried using Dewalt but they lasted about 1/3 the time and they are ridiculously expensive.
What’s your favorite flapper disc for general grinding and where do you get em?

 

I Have had very good results with Benchmark, They work well for me and the price is very reasonable.

https://benchmarkabrasives.com/?&sv...d2474d4121a24ecc1b69f4242eef9aa8&gad_source=1

 

Uh, flap wheel?
Always thought these were called flap wheels.

 

I've seen them advertised, maybe I'll try a pack. Thanks.
Yeah, but it seems the term applies to both types. That's why I included a picture.

 

Maybe I should have tried looking by part number.... Poo1 - ****

 

This is the flap disc brand I prefer. POLIFAN flap disc PFC 125x22.23 mm conical Z60 Uni. Line PSF STEELOX steel/stainless steel (10)
Being in Australia, I can't compare them to the US range of similar products, but I've had very good service life from this brand. I also use their thin cutting discs with the same very good performance.

 

The company that made them is "finish 1st" but not finding more than that.

Wonder if they went belly-up or bought out ?

...

 

I get mine at the swap meets/ flea markets. There’s some “regulars” I buy from and they seem to work just fine for my kind of skills.

 

^^^^ Me too, and I'm sure that's where I got these, but I don't remember which swap meet. Probably at Bakersfield, at the Hot Rod Reunion. I bought 2 packs of 6 discs probably two or more years ago and I've only just now run out.
Boy, I've bought some real junk lately trying to find some decent ones. Some don't last 30 minutes.
I ordered the ones shown above, thanks! They only showed 3 available, I bought them all. Hopefully they will have more. I'm going to try the ones from Benchmark too and see....

 

I just picked up some from Princess Auto. They have their “Power Fist” brand and sell a “Pro Point” brand as well incl all kinds of tools. Think Harbor Freight type quality. I find they don’t last long, but then again they are about 1/4 to 1/3 the price of say Walter stuff. I have used the Walter Flexcut disc. They work really well. Really good on rough corrosion, but are $$$, and don’t last extremely long based on the price.

 

Are the Harbor Freight flap discs garbage? aka trash?

 

Just doing some reading up on the different types of abrasives used. From Reddit…



Zirconia abrasive. 20 pack for CAN$48. ($2.40/disc).


10 pack of 3M Cubitron (ceramic) for CAN$111. ($11/disc).


Gives you an idea of cost per disc based on
quality of abrasive. Question is will the 3M ceramic stuff last five times longer than the Zirconia stuff?

 

I haven’t tried the HF offerings. I need to go and return some casters so I’ll see what they have and try them. I think Ceramic is the key, so if they have some ceramic discs I’ll get some. But, I’m not expecting much, I’ve found HF abrasives, saw blades and files to be woefully inferior, so far.

 

Princess auto and Canadian tire brand stuff is ok for the price when they are on sale .

the cheap stuff wears out really fast .

I like Walter products , flap discs , cut off wheels grinding wheels etc not cheap , don’t go on sale . But what I can do with 1 Walter disc I would need a few of the ‘el cheapo ‘ varieties to do the same task .

same as drill bits the cheap stuff is ok , but I have used good ( not great but good) brand drill bits to drill hundreds of holes before needing to be dressed or sharpened .

I find cheap stuff pisses me off and I end up doing a ****ty job out of frustration . …. Did I mention I’m lazy ? Yes I am . And having to constantly change out discs because they clog or wear out gets my socks in a knot and at that point I just say f$&k it and go inside and take a nap …… it don’t take much .

 

Benchmark is currently offering a promotion. Use "Freemix" in the discount code line and you get a free box of the mixed grit flapper wheels.

 

I don’t use them nearly as much as I did years ago, but I just use the HF ones now.
I can’t compare vs other ones though.
Heck, I don’t know what they’re made of.
Okay, I’m no help, other to say I’m fine with the HF ones.

 

A guy I follow on Youtube that does a lot of fab work really likes Black Hawk brand flap discs. He gets them on the jungle place.

 

This is what I got a Princess Auto yesterday. Their Pro-Point brand. Made in the Czech Republic. They were CAN$7.29. Not sure if I ever used them before, so can’t speak to quality. Also picked up some Makita thon cut-off discs. They were on sale for CAN$2.59. Seems to be made in Japan, but who knows, and it could even be counterfeit.

 

I don't have a brand preference but I by flap wheels at my local Airgas welding supply store. I've never used the ceramic discs but a fabricator friend of mine speaks highly of them. In any case the flap wheels I get from Airgas hold up well. I typically use 60 and 80 grit.

I prefer to buy at the welding supply store simply to show support for them because I can go to them for advice and recommendations for what others find works well for them, and advice when I have a question on welding or my welders.

Lynn

 

I had/have a Milwaukee ***anium drill bit set that had lasted me probably 10 yrs. Lots of lost, broken and dull bits, so went to HomeDepot to get another, but they didn’t have it. So looked on Amazon, but delivery was out to mid-March. So, ordered this 23 pc Cobalt set instead which will be here tomorrow. We’ll see how they perform/last.

 

Interesting discussion, I love those flap discs. But I've only ever bought DeWalt so I only like em for about 20 minutes.

 

Been getting my all my flap disc, rolocs and cut off wheels from Lehigh Valley abrasives for a long time now. Always pleased for the price. Link…

https://www.lehighvalleyabrasives.c...wIjmXeq69YMjqnciWRLMLrYrnqwz4NDEaAjtAEALw_wcB

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/grinding-cutting-wheels/flap-discs/4-1-2in.html

 

I had a big steel manufacturing company switch suppliers and they had a ton of WURTH drill bits .

i ended up with about 10-12 sets 1/2 down to the little dental floss size for nothing !!!

No clue who actually makes them but holy **** do they go through steel like it’s styrofoam!!

 

Harbor Freight now has different qualities. I've had good lick with their Bauer & Hercules ones.
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=flap wh

 

When I lived in LA and had my shop, I did the same thing, I got most of my abrasives from our local welding supply store. They had grinding wheels and cutoff wheels from Pearl Abrasives. Those things were great. Cheap cutoff wheels shower you in particulates, disappear instantly and sometimes fly apart. Never an issue with Pearl products. Out here in the boondocks, as much as I like to patronize our local guy, they have to charge a premium for their stuff so I don’t get abrasives there.

 

I’ve had the same short term relationship with them and paid dearly for the privilege…..

 

I’m still using drill bits from the same three Chicago Latrobe drill indexes that I bought back in the ‘70s. I’ve replaced some of the more popular sizes with individuals from McMaster - Carr since I no longer have a good grinder to sharpen drills with (or the youthful eyes! Lol). None of the drills that I’ve acquired lately have been worth a ****.

 

I don't have a favorite brand of flap disks but I will say that I smear a bit of cutting wax onto them before I start grinding and that seems to make them last a lot longer. Same **** I use on sawzall blades and drill bits.

I do tend to buy the cheapie disks and maybe the good ones would last a lot longer but it seems like half the time mine go to **** not because they wore out but because I contaminated them with gooey paint or undercoating tar or aluminum or something. The cutting wax also seems to help keep them from clogging up, but when they're less than 2 bucks each, I just get a new one once they get worn out.