Don't worry car is down to a bare shell so no worries on that front. I'll be replacing both floors, sills bits of the boot florr etc so can see the grinder getting a pretty tought time !
Cheers
Jim
Hehe!! Blackspur AKA use once and dispose :-) theyre chewing gum screwdrivers are amazing(ly crap)
I've got one of those. A cheapy 9" grinder - takes maybe 4 seconds to start. The temptation is to leave it running, which is bad. And to use it before it's up to speed, which is also bad.
I bought a cheap (£30) angle grinder from B&Q 2 years ago, it did one semi detatched house of 80m2 (for repointing, hard sand/cement) IE about 16 hours, then I started a second house a few months later and it fell to pieces in my hands after one hour, took it back and exchanged it for another exactly the same model, this lasted for less than one hour so I got my money back, put £20 to it and got a makita, this has been a workhorse and never failed me...it's the bearing at the back of the shaft that gives way, the B&Q ones never felt right from day one - always a bit of a wobble to them..
860w motor, as opposed to the 500w motor in the Clarke. IME a 500w motor is easily overloaded in a 4.1/2" angle grinder. Mike.
The message from "Staffbull" contains these words:
I suspect the only reason they're still in business is because there are
60 million people in the UK and we haven't all yet bought something from Blackspur.
You're taking the piss right? Cutting a couple of panels out of one car is going to mean it'll be running for a few minutes total. As Dave Plowman says, get the cheapest one you can find. It'll still last longer than you're ever going to use it for. I bought a the cheapest B&D I could find several years ago to cut up an entire car chassis so I could take it to the tip in bits in the boot and it handled that fine and many other jobs since. I'm also quite sure if I used it day in day out it might last no more than a few weeks. However, I had no need for a tool that would have to operate for hundreds of hours and therefore no need to spend a hundred quid on an angle grinder.
However, there's certainly nothing quite like a 'what tool should I buy' thread to get all the people who can't actually answer any questions about car maintenance to come piling out of the woodwork. Enough bandwidth already oi vay. Go and buy something.
-- Dave Baker Puma Race Engines
I have killed 3 angle grinders in the last 6 months, 2 of them were cheap B&Q jobs and the 3rd was a green Bosch which lasted about the same time as the cheap naff ones. I borrowed a Dewalt when the Bosch died and it is by far the best small angle grinder I have ever used, if you intend to use a grinder for a lot of work don't piss about with the cheap ones it will cost you more in the end.
Ah, but start a nice powerful 9" without soft start while holding it overhead perched on a ladder and you'll be really grateful for that soft start.
It's nicer but on a 4.5" it's hardly needed. They're plenty easy enough to handle especially if you are working while standing on the ground. 9+" is a whole different story.
Especially watch out for metal sparks onto old oily rags. Everything will seem okay when you leave the garage and 10 mins later the smouldering will turn to flame (I speak from experience). Doing what the OP is doing there are likely going to be both (sparks and oily rags).
As it happens mine is a Hitachi and has been used regularly for metal fabrication for the last eight years or so. There are also a couple of B&D Proffessional 9"ers in use at times. While I seldom modify large RSJ's, I regularly work with smaller RSJ's up to 9" and smaller box and angles. A few months ago I made the mistake of buying a Screwfix cheap 5kg hammer drill. It did not last more than 5 hours of heavy use and the haulage back to Screwfix was more than the drill was worth. It was replaced by a slightly more expensive Draper model which has probably done another 5 hours so far and I could well get yet another 5 out of it with a bit of luck LOL. I don't have much work to justify a proper £300 drill so will make do with this £65 model which will hopefully last a couple more years now that the bulk of expected work of that type is now done.
Huw Huw
Get a reciprocating saw. Even the Argos 30 quid one will do (it's what I use). It's less viscious, leaves a smoother edge, doesn't snag and throw bits of disc and bodywork towards your face at high speed, is quieter (though still loud), and simply nicer to use for this sort of job.
Then get a couple of cheap grinders, one for a wire brush and one for grinding discs for when you've got to tidy up the welds when you drop the new metal in.
& a sodding big compressor for a decent angle grinder.
On Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:42:18 -0000, Fred > which entails cutting out serious amounts of rust. I'm therefore goin= g =
It depends on your age & your wrists but low vibration ones are a lot mo= re =
pleasant to use. If you want a cheap Makita
In article , Fred
For just cutting panels you won't actually need that much run time... it gets a bit different if you are also wire brushing loads of stuff, and grinding welds flat etc. Stone cutting seems to kill the budget grinders faster than anything, for metal they tend to last longer.
My small grinder is an old B&D proline that has lasted for fifteen years of intermittent use - mainly cutting/grinding metal, with a bit of use with a cup brush or flap wheel. My 9" grinder is a Hitachi which has done loads of work, almost all of it on masonry. Its rated for continuous use so it is quite happy doing a 15m cut along a concrete path without a break.
More background here:
A lot more important is eyewear recommendation. Grinders are no big deal, but its hard to find replacement eyes. Goggles may be direct vent or indirect vent. Direct vent will give you a high risk of landing in casualty, for angle grinders one must always use indirect vent.
Direct vent have little pinholes in the frame for ventilation. Indirect vent have plastic plugs that give a zigzag path for air exchange. The shower of sparks is a shower of red hot metal fragments, and many will travel in other directions than all the others, and many are not red hot so not visible. So fragments can get in at all sorts of unexpected angles. Also check your goggles are sealing properly against your nose, they dont always, and again your eyes are in the firing line.
NT
same here, including the b and d one !!! and the banger racing !!!
Best type is one that is small enough to fit your hand, so some of the cheapies are too fat.
Makita are the best make. I have about 5 small angle grinders now, I tend to get them when I see them cheap, 6.99 to about a tenner is average. Several seems extravagant but have the advantage of not needing to stuff about changing discs or wire brushes every 5 minutes. One (a fat one) is set in a stand as a small cut off saw
So a buy a cheapie or two that are small enough to hold.
mrcheerful
I've yet to find any current 4.5inchers that will stand up to continuous use. They all overheat, and ultimately burn out. The Makita or Botch ones are no better than the 10quidders.
The best plan would be to buy 4 or 5 cheaper 10-12quid ones, equip them all with intended discs and then use them in rotation for say 8-10 mins each.
I have 3 in the workshop, each equipped with different discs for different tasks.
Tim..
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