Anyone else fabricate with a angle grinder?

4 1/2 angle grinders are a builders best friend. 2 tools I use almost daily are my big shop Vise and some sort of grinder! usually a 3" right angle air grinder. I very seldom pull out the plasma cutter unless I am cutting up a rig for scrap. I stopped using a sawzall or portaband to chop tops. a 6" thin wheel on a 4 1/2 grinder is perfect for chopping tops. just big enough to go through most any a or b pillars. 4 1/2" wheels cut perfect straight lines with some practice.

 

Yous my hero!!!

 

Hi... I have 6 ..4" angle grinders set up for 1mm 3mm 5mm for cutting and grinding and the others have 40 grit and 100 grit flapper disks..and 1 with a wire brush.they are all Makita's had two of them for 25 years....This is a good setup for me as I dont have to keep changing the disks for the different jobs...but since the 1mm blades have been avialable... I rarely use oxy or plasma for cutting sheet metal or other lite steel....

 

It is written that Noah..................

 

plasma cutters are waaay over-rated in my book . I use 2 Bosch 4" angle grinders with the safety guard that rotates. Makes it much easier to get into those tight spots and safer too. ( i got sick of goin to the ER with bits in my eyes). I can buy any individual part for em too ....another bonus.

 

Yep, 4 1/2" and 4" angle grinder, kinda like the 4" one, wish I had one with a RPM control for slower speed.
Also a big milwakee grinder and I have a Milwakee abrasive (think 14" ) Cut off saw that works great for presice straight and angle cuts

 

angle grinder,chopsaw ,angle grinder, portaband, anglegrinder,sawzall,hacksaw and angle grinder

 

I have 2 4-1/2" grinders one with a cutoff wheel and the other a wire brush. I also have a recepercating saw, jig saw , Harbor freight bandsaw and use a cutoff blade in my 7" wood cutting Skill saw. Each has thier own uses.

 

X2, fleet-master, a plasma is a specialized tool for sure, i can cut as well as heat with a torch. Money is better spent on a bandsaw or cold saw.

Cut-off wheels make a nice clean edge with minimal clean-up, albeit abit messy for he shop floor

 

i've cut all of the interior 3/4" square tube, and all the flooring 16 ga sheet tin with my harbor freight cheap grinders.for the last few years now..got a few of them around...only problem i've had with them is the cord breaking just inside by the clamp....probably wouldn't happen if it wasn'y always cold in the garage....the cords get stiff....

other wise i have a century gas mig 110 volt..works but is a bitch to tune in every time ya change a spool of wire...but it was free...also have Bob's dads old Sears Simpson LTD 220 volt stick welder...from about 1956-1960???Bob was in the air force when his dad got it so he's not sure what year it is in the spread...then there's the hammers and dollys and the usuall mechanics tools .....

this is some of the last few days spent sparking away with my HF 4 inchers,,,i also run several with different items on each

 

i actually use a air grinder that you can put cut offs on. thats all i use for sheet metal. and tight corners is a dremel. makita cut offs for the grinder last forever. they are gold to me. also the electric grinder is a 4 1/2" ridgid. i only use it now for cutting thicker metal but i swear by that thing. lasted 3 years now and the weight on it is amazing. has to have a trigger. not an on and off switch.

 

Short funny story of how I fell in love with a 4 1/2" grinder: I was 14-15 yrs old and talked my mom into going to sears so I could buy one of my first real tools. a 4 1/2" mikita grinder. when I got home i went straight to the garage and grabbed the first random piece of metal I saw and attached the hard grinder wheel that came in the box. I had so much fun i did not see that i burnt the crap out of my shirt. once the shirt was washed it had small round holes in it. My mom comes to me and starts asking me why i am smoking cigarettes. I am like what? she says "your dad was a smoker and i know what a cigarette burn hole looks like" to this day she probably thinks she was right. Thanks to my mom I never really picked up smoking cigarettes.

 

I use different sizes of angle grinders for everything. I do have a plasma cutter, and yes it does come in handy some times, but mainly I use the grinders.

 

5" Makita grinders are the way to go!! I work in a well equipped shop in NZ and still grab the grinder over a plasma or gas. Half way through my new crossmember and all I used was a grinder with cut off and flapper discs, bandsaw, Milwaukee drill and a 250amp esab mig.

Only used 2 1mm cut off discs for this badboy..

 

Ahhh, Manitoba, home of the angle grinder artists.

Run two all the time. Had a 4" Makita that I loved, but it just died. No one locally that carries 4" grinders . A Mastercraft from Canadian Tire and a old 7" Wolf with no guard (that old best scares me). Replaced the Makita with a Hitachi that was on sale.

Been using them for everything on the coupe. Some examples I have in Photobucket.



http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e...upe/Coupe Body/Recessed Firewall/IMG_0499.jpg





Get a drill press and you can really go crazy.

Canuck

 

Please enlighten me on the trigger thing. I have been using my Dad's angle grinder from the early seventies. It has the on/off switch with the lock button. That has caused me a couple problems in the past with the lock engaging when I didn't mean for it too. Do the newer grinders have a trigger instead? And can you vary the speed with them?? I gotta go shopping...

 

i use grinder on 90 percent of cuts.only problem is you have to stock up on cutoff wheels.plasmas are great but i always seem to follow the person that ruined the cutting tip.now welding mig is the only way to go

 

Me too, I have 7 hanging up all fitted with different discs, my favourite is the 9"

 

I used to think the same untill i got one, they are very useful bits of kit but you need to get a good one.

 

I use one all the time,like was said earlier you make do with what ya got. "45 THOUSANDTHS" ? I think I burn through 45 thousand of em a year too

 

i built my whole car with and angle grinder air grinder and a 100 doller harbor frieght mig welder i found the best disks to use are from ace hardware they cost a little more but last twice as long

 

Not sure anyone would consider it fabricating, but I use my angle grinder to cut stuff I need to weld to other stuff

 

Yep I use my pnuematic offset angle grinders for cuting/grinding and sanding everything. I have a Milwake metal cuting circular saw for cuting box / rectangular tubing if I have alot to cut otherwise the angle grinders with cut off wheels.

 

I threw this "Mickey Mouse" rig together to use when I go help friends fabricate small parts for their projects. They never have any grinders or cutting equipment, but they usually have a vise. So I just clamp my "rig" in their vise and I've got a convenient way to touch up various parts we come up with. Of course I usually take several more grinders with various wheels attached.



Drew

 

Gee Andrew you dont have to tell everyone how sad I am!!!. Andrew does wonders with an angle grinders. I saw some at TSC on sale for $14 dollars

 

One thing that isnt disscused is the method of using these and not going broke on consumables . The best way to eat up discs in a hurry is to think these are meant to plow through your cut . These discs are meant to cut at max speed , so what you need to do is define your cut line and follow up with more cuts keeping your speed up . Once you have defined your cut it is very easy to follow your line .Also use the thinest blade available as there is less resistance and the cut line is finer .


I know alot of you use a 4 1/2 angle grinder , but along with others on here I use a 90 degree cutoff also a straight one .What I see is alot of you use the normal 3" wheels on them ,however the life of the disc is much greater and the cost is minimal using a 4" thin blade.

One more thing that I notice is that on alot of the 90 degree cutoffs are not getting greased . There is a small pin greaser in the head of these and there is a pair of bevel gears in there that require greasing . The pin greasers are available at Harbor Freight for 5.00 and you will be amased at how many of these tools have the gears burned up way sooner than should .Go spin yours and if it sounds like a cement mixer at least the next tool you buy wont go through the same trauma. Good luck Dan

 

I didn't mention any names Donald! Besides, I haven't shown up at your place with a truck full of grinders........................yet!

Drew

 

That's pretty much how we fabricate alot of stuff for the race team. Surprisingly we put together an enduro car in less than two weekends cage and all. Then drove the snot out of the car. A grinder, welder and alot of measuring.........alot.

 

I thought I was the lone ranger... Also,buy a deep throat Milwaukee port a band! That will be your next favorite cut off tool believe me!!!Well worth the investment!The longer you own one the more uses you will find!!! jmho...R~R

 

When you get really good with the angle grinder you can cut out the parts required to make the Plasma cutter,ha,ha....