Angle grinder for cutting wood

[Mike Marlow]

You are correct - my error in the way I stated that. I meant to say it does not approach the speed of the cut of a circular saw.

[clare]

With the right blade the sawzall will cut just about anything, just about anywhere. And unlike the cheap clones, it will do it decade after decade.

[clare]

And MOST people who know enough to use the angle grinder safely would also know enough, and have the equipment available, to use the right tool for the job.

To safely act as a saw, a rotating tool should also have a "shoe", like a circular saw.

And it's not the RPM that counts, it's the surface (cutting) speed. A

5" blade needs to run a LOT faster than a 10" blade to give the same cutting speed, or to have the same danger of throwing a tip

[clare]

Just checked a couple saws. One, a 6.5" runs 3700RPM for a cutting speed of 6269sfpm. Another, 7.25" @ 5000 rpm for 9490sfpm. a 5" grinder @10,000 rpm is 13090 sfpm -

[aemeijers]

Valid, but only relevant if you are making money with it, or use it a LOT. For occasional users like me, a cheap knockoff like my B&D corded that I bought almost new at a garage sale for 20? bucks, is probably more than sufficient. It probably wouldn't last a month on an active jobsite, but at a dozen or so cuts a year, it will outlast me.

Don't get me wrong- Milwaukee tools (at least the pro-grade they used to sell at the supply houses- never looked at the big-box versions) are great, but for those of us with limited demands and a limited budget, they are overkill. Like buying Snap-on wrenches to change the lawnmower sparkplug once a year.

[HeyBub]

Well, no.

First, the basic rule is the inverse relationship between tooth size and material hardness: The harder the material, the smaller the teeth (generally). For cutting granite, you use diamonds; for cutting soft wood you use something like 24/tpi.

Second, a circular saw with a demolition blade won't even hiccup with a nail.

Third, if the wood is too flimsy, stack up several pieces and cut the lot.

Me? I'd burn the stuff in situ and be done with it.

[Lobster]

Somewhere I think I also still have the Vertical Drill Stand and the Horizontal Drill Stand (aka bench-grinder conversion tool)!

As Andrew alluded to, because of the prohibitive cost back then. I can remember my parents buying their first (and only - Mum still has it!) B&D drill in the early 70s. It was a 2-speed hammer job, and IIRC it cost 30-40 GBP, which would be worth probably ten times that in todays money. They certainly weren't a common part of people's household stuff as they are today. Presumably other portable power tools must have been similarly priced, accounting for the plethora of attachments you used to buy for them. God it was a PITA always swapping them over though!

David

[Lobster]

What's the travel like on the blades of those saws? I certainly have a need for a rough'n ready powered saw for that sort of use, but had always thought they looked a bit too small, and Alligator-types were a bit OTT/out of my price range. But taking out a 12" tree sounds reasonably impressive...

David

[John Rumm]

Well what's a factor of 60 between friends ;-)

Yup, my bad - sorry!

[Harry Bloomfield]

Lobster formulated on Sunday :

Travel is about 2" and the blade was 9" long, so I had to cut from three sides to get all the way through.

[The Medway Handyman]

It wasn't a diamond blade

[clare]

My Millwaukee Sawzall cost me $15.00. Got it for nothing and bought the part that had worn out and fixed it. With the cheap ones, when they quit they are DONE because generally parts are unavailable.

[John Rumm]

Hardly - a quick google will show that angle grinder fatalities are not uncommon. In fact a builder died at a junior school local to me a few years ago as a result of copping a diamond blade to the neck. He bled to death on the scene in front of his son before medical help could get there.

Granted not all of these are the direct results of kickback as such - but some form of loss of control of the tool or falling onto is typically the cause.

There is good Makita safety video that quite nicely demonstrates the common lower leg injuries that occur when a grinder with diamond blade hits a typical bit of meat under clothing.

Just because something is sub optimal for cutting flesh, does not mean it won't.

Its a reciprocating saw with twin counter moving blades.

Rather than continuing the willy waving, perhaps we can agree that an angle grinder is not the tool for this job and leave it at that?

Perhaps you might care to review some of these: (Warning, some of these are graphic)

[John Rumm]

There are a few variations:

Standard recip saws are cheaper for the machine, and *much* cheaper for the blades

[John Rumm]

I recall my mother buying a B&D suitcase in the early 80's, that came with a 2 speed hammer drill and a bunch of accessories. Cost was £84 IIRC from Argos (or possibly the catalogue shop that preceded it. These included the circular saw that got a fair bit of use (but with hindsight was pretty poor!), an orbital sander (not too bad), and a jigsaw (had the ergonomics of a pissed off octopus!) The drill itself is still going... although it gets little use these days.

[Jim Elbrecht]

Cool tool. I don't think they are available in the US. all I get when I search for Alligator saw is those chainsaw/loppers with the scissor action-

The downside of a reciprocating saw is their tendency to pull light material back and forth if it isn't secured.

Can you, for instance, cut a small branch off a tree and keep both hands on the saw without it shaking the bejeebers out of the tree?

Jim

[Jim Elbrecht]

Checked out that page and have even more tool-envy. I've never seen a Scorpion saw in the US, either. [and searches of B& D's US site don't show it]

Jim

[aemeijers]

Wow- portable power tools for home use seemingly took a long winding road in UK. (Maybe because of the different power?) All those tools you described were available at realistic prices in the states by late 60s early 70s- as stand-alone tools, not a 'Transformer' kit. Most homes that had even a rudimentary workbench had a 3/8" drill, a small saber saw, and a cheap circular saw. Sanders and such were usually only purchased if the Mrs. was into furniture refinishing or something. This was stuff for repairs and backyard construction of kid-stuff, not for fine cabinetry.

Of course, my experience may be atypical- I grew up in a construction company, and most of the kids I hung out with had fathers known to have swung a hammer or two in their day.

[spamlet]

I tend to put a chain round roots - leaving a bit of the stump attached - and then jacking the stump out of the ground using fence posts for leverage. Of course, I'm talking garden sized things rather than large native trees...

S

[Harry Bloomfield]

It happens that aemeijers formulated :

The stand-alone power tools started to become affordable for DIY from around the mid 80's in the UK. From around 2000 the prices have really fallen, due to all of the cheap imported stuff.

My father's only power tool was a B&D drill from the 1960's, which I know cost a small fortune when he bought it. It was beautifully made and was still in pristine condition when I disposed of it a few years ago - its relatively small chuck made it not very practical for modern usage.