About to become a *true* DIYer ...

[Al]

Ok, the time has come for me to get into DIY properly :)

So, I need an angle grinder, as clearly this is the solution to 99% of DIY problems ;)

Current DIY armoury include a cheap 400w hammer drill, a cheap orbital sander, both from Woolies (RIP), cheap leaf blowers, flymos, hedge trimmers from DIY sheds etc. I can just about manage to use most of them. Though not at the same time. Quite happy with hand tools, though likely to cut myself on anything sharp ;)

I know what an angle grinder looks like, and I know where to buy a basic one, thanks to recent threads here.

But, what sort of discs do I need, and what sort of jobs can I do with it/them?

Typical tasks that I might undertake: Chopping up scrap metal, cutting up trees (and parts thereof), filing things that are too big down to things that are less big, making souffles (OK, not the ideal tool), and just generally removing things that are in the way.

I have a pathalogical fear of power tools and DIY thanks to my father ;) Also I find the use of an orbital sander or hedgetrimmer physically draining (last bout of hedge trimming gave me the shakes for a day!). Dare I use an angle grinder? Am I man enough? ;)

Seriously, based on the above, what do I need as a basic spec, and what discs do I need (some seem astonishingly expensive!).

Al.

[Tim S]

Al coughed up some electrons that declared:

My recommendation is:

Bosch - cheap as the green bosch from other places. Quite acompetant machine.

There's 3 basic types of grit disc: metal cutting, stone (and concrete) cutting and a thicker grinding disc.

Also can take diamond discs for longer work on stone.

I'd get 10 metal, 5 grinders and a diamond blade:

see how you get on. The grit discs get eaten pretty quicky, you may not do that much grinding (as opposed to cutting) and the diamond disc should last a while.

It *doesn't* do trees(!)

But you can get a lot of milage out of a 4 1/2" grinder for random stuff. It's not big enough for lopping up paving slabs (really want a 9" or 12") but it's a hell of a lot less scary and it will be good for all those little jobs with tighter access.

8 quid for your diamond, 40 quid for a half decent grinder, 8 quid for 10 metal discs... Not too bad.

Don't forget to include 1 pair ear defenders, 1 pair googles or face visor and one pair of leather gloves. The first two are *essential* and the last will save your hands.

HTH

Tim

[Jules]

I've almost never used ear defenders with a 4 1/2" one (exception being when working in really confined spaces), but couldn't agree more about the goggles - I have had metal filings fly up into my face on more than one occasion.

A dust mask can be very useful, too - particularly if sanding (you can get some nice sanding discs for 4 1/2" grinders, and they do a really good job of clearing rust and paint from old metal - but don't half generate a lot of dust in the process!)

(Oh, I cut down an old unused power line the other day which was the only thing holding up a dead tree - the tree broke into several bits when it hit the ground, so technically they can be used for cutting up trees ;)

cheers

Jules

[Harry Bloomfield]

Tim S explained on 31/05/2009 :

They do, when you can't in with anything else, but it creates an awful lot of horrible smoke :-)

[Tim S]

Jules coughed up some electrons that declared:

Yep. My Bosch was solid, but also a bit of a screamer. But one should consider how cheap all these protective devices are - why damage yourself for the sake of a fiver?

Ah - forgotton about them. Also you can get a wire brush for the 4.5" and other random stuff like mortar rakes.

[Tim S]

Harry Bloomfield coughed up some electrons that declared:

Real men trim their nails with them too.

[Cicero]

=========================================

Angle grinders, have quite a fierce 'kick' when they start. For the first attempt hold the grinder, without a disk, firmly in both hands and switch on to get a feel for the kick. Once you've understood this kick and how quickly a disk can be spinning you'll be quite safe. Sensible clothing is essential - no ties or other loose items. Gloves are a personal choice - many people feel that they don't give enough grip, so experiment and see what suits you.

Cic.

[YAPH]

I'd second that. I got fed up with sub-£10 machines that always sounded as if they were about to explode in your face and packed up as soon as they got a whiff of dust in their switches, and bought one of these blue Bosches. Nice machine.

Particularly when you're cutting metal - showers of sparks are *hot*!!

[Rod]

>>> Blue Bosch - cheap as the green bosch from other places. Quite acompetant >> machine.

That is what I got - and unlike in the Screwfix reviews, mine did come with a decent case for (IIRC) the same price. From Toolstation. Might have been a passing special... (couldn't see them just now).

Very nice soft start.

[The Medway Handyman]

> Blue Bosch - cheap as the green bosch from other places. Quite

I'd still opt for the Site/Makita for £19. Can't fault it.

There are 4 surely? Metal cutting & grinding + stone cutting & grinding.

> And see how you get on. The grit discs get eaten pretty quicky, you

Aldi do good packs of discs inc diamond from time to time.

Absolutely not trees!

Indeed. Don't underestimate how much damage an angle grinder can do to human flesh. Treat it with respect.

[Dave Liquorice]

Wrong blade:

[YAPH]

Having said that a 4" grinder is a lot less scary to use than a 9" (or maybe I just haven't used a 9" enough). I quite often use it 1-handed if I need to - with appropriate foresight as to which way it might kick if it does, and held not to close to body and other vulnerable objects of course

[Andy Burns]

Ouch if you happen to find an embedded nail or staple and turn it into an 11,000rpm flail!

[John Rumm]

Some background:

So, I need an angle grinder, as clearly this is the solution to 99% of DIY

Yup!

Metal cut off discs and a diamond one for stone are probably the most useful. Grinding discs can be handy but I find I use them less (apart from making my dodgy welding look a bit more respectable!)

You can get wood sculpting attachments/blades for angle grinders - but they are not exactly traditional wood working tools!

Get a reasonably decent one - it should give you less vibration, and usually have a nice slim body that you can hold more easily.

A few wire brushes and flap discs can be very handy as well.

[The Wanderer]

I have an angle grinder. It's the tool of last resort! I rarely use mine, and when I do it's always with a measure of trepidation. In fairness, my attitude is coloured somewhat because I once had to attend a fatality many years ago. That was a guy who had used a cheap and wrong disc for the job on (it turned out) a stolen grinder without a guard. The disc shattered......

[The Medway Handyman]

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The 9" one I bought from Lidl earlier this year - and was on offer again recently - is soft start, so doesn't kick. For something like 20 quid.

4.5" ones aren't such a problem.

[Dave Liquorice]

That is the "chainsaw" type wood blade. You can get "wood & metal" blades that are supposed to handle embeded metal... I wonder if that is simply grabbing hold of it and throwing it away at high velocity?

[Andy Dingley]

I hate those chainsaw circlet carving blades, as they're prone to kickback. The solid disk sort (Arbortech) are much better behaved.

[Andy Dingley]

I use three of them:

• Good 4 1/2" for accurately shaping steel. You need one of these. Look after it.

• Cheap (Aldi) 4 1/2" with Aldi diamond disks for hacking concrete and anything dusty. It'll kill the bearings and brushes, but so it goes.

• 9", with another Aldi diamond disk for deep cuts into masonry. Useful, because of the extra reach.

My two "good" grinders are pretty good (Metabo & Makita, both around

80 quid). You don't need to pay that much. A Blue Bosch iis probably the best current compromise for quality / price. Blue Bosch are distinctly longer-lived than Green Bosch in a dusty environment, as they epoxy-pot the motor windings better. However a consumable grinder might be an even simpler fix to this, for when you're hacking brickwork.

Things the good grinders give me:

• No-spanner nuts, with a hinge-out "key" for disk changing.

• Easy adjust guards, so that I can move them to the best position easily enough that I might actually do this.

• Low-vibration side-handles (Metabo, and available as spares). My grinders have layers of neoprene pipe insulation (Armaflex) stuck to them too.

What I don't need is:

• A big 9" grinder for steelwork. Got it, need it, but never use it.

9" disks are too much of a gyroscope and they're uncontrollable. 9" grinders are also slower than 4 1/2", so their metal crunching capacity isn't much better (motors last longer on an 8 hour shift though).

Consumables:

These matter. Your grinder is only as good as the abrasive parts. Get lots, get the good ones.

• Flap disks. I hardly ever use rigid disks these days, preferring flap disks. Get a range of 40, 80, 120 grit. Plastic backing is better than aluminium. Don't catch the edges of the disk on the workpiece - the disk shreds. Spend the extra (CSM Abrasives) and get the Hermes disks with the blue coated abrasives.

• 7" flap disks. Lightweight ones are the only way to make the 9" grinder controllable.

• Grinding disks. Ho hum. Anywhere is cheap now, even Tesco. Get some metal and some for stone. They'll go into a corner better than a flap disk. I don't use them much, but sometimes you need them.

• Cutting disks. Flat ones, again for both stone and metal. Aldi do some "stainless steel" disks (couple of quid / ten) that are great and super-fast cutting, as they're extra thin and don't need to remove as much metal. Bit brittle and wear very quickly, but they have their uses on awkward cuts up ladders (job done quicker) and indeed on stainless steel sheet. Only thing that

• Diamond disks. Aldi does great ones for little money.

• Wire brushes. Get good quality ones, and twisted wire. Great for rust & paintwork, esp. tarry paints that clog abrasives. Only use the good ones as cheap ones shed bristles too much.

Disks of less usefulness:

• Sanding disks. Sometimes useful, but they're very prone to leaving crescent-shaped grooves from the disk edge. Usually flap disks are a better bet.

• Paint removing sponge pads. Good performance, but they shred rapidly if you catch an edge. Handy for stripping aluminium or fibreglass without damaging the metal. Otherwise too expensive and quick-wearing for steel.

• 3M's triangular sanding disks. These avoid the edge-crescent problem.

• Beartex disks. Again good for paint off aluminium, but not cheap.

• Arbortech wood carving disks. Great fun for chainsaw carving, but powerful stuff and borderline scarey. The chainsaw disks are too dangerous to allow in my workshop.

Ancillaries.

You need these, but the quality of each can vary from dirt cheap upwards.

• Eye protection. Can't be bothered with goggles myself and prefer a hinged faceshield (I wear glasses too)

• Ear protection. Cheap ear defenders are a minimum. Most angle grinder noise isn't loud enough to be harmful, but it's annoying. When worn with a faceshield you might need ears with a swivel band that you can put to the back, otherwise an integrated hat & earmuff. My favourite ears have Radio 4 in them, which is cheap nowadays. As I'm often grinding for a few hours at a stretch, it's worth it.

• Gloves. Thin leather keeps flying bits off. Thick leather gives some vibration insulation too. Best of all though are gel anti-vibration gloves (Arco, twenty quid). If you're grinding steel for welding (i.e. hours of it), then "fizzy fingers" is really something to be avoided afterwards.

• Apron. Aldi have leather welding aprons for cheap - less than I paid for the leather to make mine. This is essential with wire brushes, as they'll stick you with porcupine quills otherwise. Even when grinding, an apron keeps you cleaner and gives you something to kneel on.

• Dustmask. You need something, especially with stone. 3M 3000 / 4000 series are a good start (search this newgroup a few weeks back).

• Ioniser (sometimes a water spray). Makes concrete dust indoors fall out of suspension a lot quicker. Just try it!