Wheel is loose on angle grinder shaft

[mm]

My Harbor Freight abrasive wheels have holes either too big or too small for my Harbor Freight 4" angle grinder.

Was I supposed to get wheels with smaller or bigger holes or use an additional spacer, or should I try to return the tool to Harbor Freight?

I have very little use for one, so I bought the cheapest angle grinder I could find, HF, and I bought their house brand set of grinder wheels, four kinds on a piece of cardboard for 10 dollars. Months ago, but I just got around to putting an abrasive wheel on the grinder. Isn't it supposed to fit neatly?

The hole in the wheel is labeled 5/8" and is 5/8" (about 16mm)

The shaft at the place where the wheel rests is only as thick as the threaded part but without the threads, at least 3 mm smaller than the hole. I can't position the wheel and tighten the nut so that it rotates true.

Since one grinds with the edge sometimes, espcially with the wheels without the recessed hole, doesn't the wheel have to mount almost perfectly?:

Potential partial fix 1: The outer diameter of the threaded parts is almost 5/8", maybe a sixteenth or 32nd less. I could put a spacer on the shaft so that the wheel would be at the threaded part.

Potential partial fix 2: There is a thick "washer" or spacer with a shoulder that would fit bigger holes, 7/8" or maybe just under. Do they have wheels with bigger holes?

These potential fixes don't seem right to me.

[DerbyDad03]

I would certainly start back at Harbor Fright and see what they say.

My grinder (DeWALT) uses wheels that has a round raised area in the center of the wheel and the grinder has a bowl that fits over the raised center to hold it frimly centered and in place.

re: "I have very little use for one, so I bought the cheapest angle grinder I could find."

I know you don't need to hear this, but you get what you pay for. While you're at Harbor Fright, return the grinder and the wheels and get a quality tool some place else. You probably paid $30 - $35 for the orange one. For $65 you can get a DeWALT. (free shipping)

For somewhere in between, you'll find something much better than the Harbor Fright one. Even if you only use it once, you'll be much happier with a better tool and you won't be embarrassed to lend it to your friends.

mm wrote:

[Rich256]

You have the wrong size wheels. That is indeed a 7/8 inch arbor on their grinder and you can get the wheels with 7/8 inch holes at Harbor Freight.

[mm]

You make a good point, but I've bought other stuff from them, and never got something I couldn't even assemble. LOL That's partly why I thought maybe I was missing something, and that there was nothing wrong. It's hard to believe they made a bonehead mistake like this. Unless they fixed it in newer models. Maybe they'll exchange it or let me pay the difference. (They had one that was iirc one dollar less, that was blue instead of orange. :) They have so many models of things, often almost the same.)

I save all my receipts in one place but still haven't got the patience to go through them. Of course I just want to make it work, and maybe they can do that without taking it back. I'll look for the receipt.

It was something like that but then on sale for maybe 16. 16 is one thing, but I can't rationalize spending more than that. 65 is out of the question.

All I want to do is grind off the nails where they come into the attic from the shingles, and everyone here said that was a bad idea anyhow. They're probably right, and I'm sure I'll be convinced of it after the first 5 nails. That's 3 dollars a nail. At my income, 16 is ok, but more requires a real need. :)

It looks nice. It has a 5/8 inch spindle, so the wheels I have are probably ok.

Maybe I'll look at a good one in a store.

Thanks.

[zxcvbob]

Are you sure you got a 4" grinder and not a 4 1/2? Four inch wheels usually have a 5/8" and 4 1/2 inch wheels have 7/8". You can also get cutoff wheels with 7/8" hole and a 5/8 x 7/8 adapter (looks like a washer) that will fit either size shaft.

I think a good pair of end nipper pliers would have worked better for you for cutting off roofing nails.

Bob

[thetiler]

I use grinders all the tile and often have to figure out the spacer situation. At 10,000 rpm the discs have to be very true and centered, but you can do this using spacers if you're handy.

BTW, I used to buy larger expensive grinders all the time. They were heavy and one locked up, going from 10,000 rpm to 0 rpm in an instant, exploding stuff in my hand, but I was uninjured. Since then I've bought the cheapest Harbor Freight grinders. I keep 3 with various blades, and have only wore out one grinder after a couple years use of cutting many hundreds of tiles. Not bad for less than $20 for a tool. I use $60 diamond blades. I've found the quality of the blade/disc is more important than the tool itself IMO.

I like the fact too that they are small and easy to hold with one hand while operating the switch, and you can rest them on their "back", with the blade in the air, rather than with the blade/disc on the ground. This protects the blade/disc from chipping if you have to set it down often.

One point though: They are not real powerful. They are strong enough to do most work, but for grinding work in a metal shop, or professional continual use, obviously you need a high amperage quality tool.

As others have mentioned thought in this thread, you can probably find the right size discs you need without having to jury-rig it.

thetiler

mm wrote:

[mm]

Dang. You're right! Thanks! I looked again and it does say on the box 7/8" arbor, and on the back of the card the wheels came in, 5/8" as one of the dimensions.

When I bought the tool, I didnt' open the box and didn't notice it among all those letters and little numbers on the box. And when I looked at the wheels, the hole was small, but I'd never looked at the shaft it went on.

I'm glad I looked at this *before* I was ready to go.

Maybe they will let me return the set of wheels I bought.

Some of their grinders say "5/8''-11 spindle with 7/8'' arbor adapter" as if one can use both sizes, but mine doesn't say that.

Oh yeah, looking at their online catalog just now, the same grinder I have is on sale now, for 14 dollars. That might be what I paid. But it may be hard or more expensive to get 4" (not 4 1/2) wheels with a

7/8" hole. They included one in the box but I haven't found any online. I'll look in the store, and I'll ask them. If they are expensive, there goes my bargain. Boohoo.

[mm]

Still a possibility. Have to see if it still wobbles.

Yeah. It says it on the box and it says it on the instruction manual, and the 4" wheel fits within the wheel shroud, but 4 1/2 wouldn't. The safety instructions (6 pages of them if you count the page on what extension cord to use) has very few lines that are specific to this device, but one says "Use ONLY 4" diameter Grinding Wheels (not included) having a 5/8" center mounting hole." That's funny.

It's funny because if I try one with a 5/8" hole, there are three parts to the shaft. The bottom part is bigger than 5/8 so it won't fit. The middle part is at least 3mm smaller and it can't be centered, and the end part IS 5/8ths, but only at the outermost part of the threads, so maybe I can use it after I enlarge the hole in a tbick washer to 5/8 (or maybe I can buy one) to lift the wheel out of the narrow middle part, but otoh on the outermost part, the spaces between the threads are so big that I think the wheel will still move some around and it may be impossible to tighten it with the wheel centered.

It has an adapter to accept 7/8, and it came with one 7/8" wheel.

You might well be right, but I'll only learn what an angle grinder can do by using one. This was the only project I thought of that could use one, but I guess based on other tools in the past, subconsciously I want a tool because I know I'll find other uses for it.

In fact, even consciously I"ve often said that no matter how few tools I have with me, they are enough, and no matter how many tools I have, I need them all.

My friend or her employee uses hers for cutting locks off when people lose their keys. (at the ministorage she runs) (But I have no locks that need cutting.) I thought I could borrow hers overnight or over a Sunday when they are closed, but she insists her uncle the boss might want to use it at any moment and will get upset if it is not there. And I believe her. So I was going to ask him** to borrow it, when I saw this for sale at HF and bought it on impulse. **He's always polite to me and doesn't mind my sitting there talking to his niece when she's at work, but that doesn't mean he'll lend tools!

[wsterling]

If you ever lock yourself out of your car you'll be glad you had one of these tools. I had this happen and I just took my angle grinder and cut a hole thru the sheet metal on my door until I was able to crawl thru that hole and get my keys out of the ignition. Worked great.

William

[mm]

I would need to lose weight.

Might happen if all the food is locked in the car.

[Rich256]

I bought one of those cheap Harbor grinders several years ago. Am amazed at how often I use it. I keep it plugged in all the time and hanging over the workbench. Use it for things I never thought of such as cutting off a nail, sharpening my mower blade etc.

[zxcvbob]

Good thing the window wasn't rolled down; it would have /really/ been in the way inside the door.

Best regards, Bob

[mm]

Good point. And you'd need a different wheel to get a hole through the glass without shattering the whole thing.

[DerbyDad03]

Wait a minute here - If the window was rolled down wouldn't you just open the door, roll the window up, and *then* cut the hole in the sheet metal?

mm wrote:

[mm]

If you're going to do that, it's better to cut from the inside.