Does anyone use a 4 1/2 angle grinder for removing material on hardwoods, such as making handles, bats, etc. Or is this tool considered to be too aggressive? If so, any recommendations as to sandpaper wheels, composite, etc.
-TIA
SFWIW, I buy 24 grit discs in 100 lot quantities for use in building a fiberglass boat.
Have tried using 16 grit, but is just too coarse for such a small disc.
These are standard jelly bean alum oxide discs.
After you have used 2-300 discs, you have developed the ability to almost use it as a carving tool.
Kind of neat, actually.
HTH
No.
Coarse as you can find.
I haven't been able to find a pad that will handle the RPMs of a grinder. The regular rubber ones become shrapnel at 10,000 RPM. My 7" side grinder was really taking the material off before it went tho ;-)
10,000 RPM rubber pads are standard stuff for 4-1/2" machines.
My 7-1/2"-9" machine is limited to 5,500 RPM.
Milwaukee has several pad options.
I use either a rubber or phenolic 9" pad with 16 grit discs.
It's extremely aggressive. Sometimes this is good, sometimes bad.
For power carving, a toothed disk like an Arbortech is good. If you use the right grinder and right guard, then it isn't even that scary to use. I won't use a chainsaw disk like a Lancelot though - they kickback. Watch out too for angle grinder switches that jam with shavings.
I've had little success with abrasives on wood. Maybe for some very hard materials.
Look at flap disks. These are for steel, maybe for the harder non-metallics. They're much better than the old rigid disks.
As always with abrasives, buy the best you can get - they work better, last longer, and work out cheaper overall. I use Hermes from CSM Abrasives.
Overall though, you won't regret getting a 4 1/2" angle grinder - a very useful tool.
-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods
I got a makita, and got some 'flap sanding disks' for it recently at HF... just to try...
WEAR A DUSK MASK... they cut VERY nicely IMO...and the luck I had, says I wish I had bought them earlier. I got some western cedar am making into 'indian' flutes, and am going to 'power sand them round, using the wood lathe as the holder.
IF the wood, was 'semi soft', I can see cutting the seat bottoms out for a wood chair pretty quickly with one of these...
--Shiva--
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