Shop Uses for an Angle Grinder

[HANK METZ]

I've seen countertop guys take smaller granite pieces outside, mark with a piece of blue tape and freehand cuts with a harbor freight grinder. I've got a couple pieces of granite I was thinking of trimming for end table tops and was considering buying one of these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/safety-...ers-45921.html

I have one of those, used it as a bridge tile saw doing a bathroom reno. Simply strap a straight edge onto the work and go, great results for so little money.

- Beachside Hank

[Peter Bell]

In my opinion for the average Joe it is on tool that fits into the category the cheaper the better. The grinder is what it is a grinder. No great accuracy is required to be built into it. The discs do the work regardless if they are on a top notch or low notch one. Do not skimp on the discs though. Most have a twelve months warranty. If they last twelve months it should go on for a few more.

It is amazing the uses you will find for it. it is possibly more useful to me because i live on acreage and have wire fences as well wooden rails. I always need it to cut rust bolts. or when I am doing some welding, As the posters have said you can get carving discs for them and it will remove material quickly.

Look on the bottom shelf, that will get you by and save the money for tools that require some quality built in. But remember, do not skimp on the cutting edge.

Pete

[Larry Edgerton]

If you are thinking of using a carving head, Ryobi makes a 4 1/2" that has a rear handle like a large 7" grinder. This is the one you want for that task, and it will do al others as well. I have several, and the only one I use with the chain saw head is that Ryobi, it just gives you better control. I have seen what one of those heads does when it gets loose on you, its not pretty.

[Jake Elkins]

I have two - a 4.5" and a 9" beast. I use them both fairly regularly. Wire brush to clean nasty boards prior to the first pass into the jointer or planer. I use a sanding disc for rough shaping and dimensioning. Another sanding disc for sharpening lawnmower blades. However, I have used them the most to cope crown. It is messy, but I can cope using an angle grinder much faster than I can with a coping saw and rasps. +1 on buying new. Makita (made in USA) and Bosch (made in Germany) both make nice ones for around $80.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Funny you should ask this question as I was just about to post an unusual use for an angle grinde/cutoff wheel.

I had to pull a couple of pieces of trim off from around a window this past week.
The trim pieces are actually door stops ~ 1.5" wide and < 3/8" thick.
They were installed ~ 55 years ago using 2.5" long finishing nails, countersunk & the heads puttied in.
If you've ever tried to get the nails out of trim like that - you know how impossible it can be.
Just about everything destroys or disturbs the trim/old putty.

I had my HF ($9.99 on sale) angle grinder onsite with me.
(I'd used it to cut off the entry lock and deadbolt. It's really obscene what one of them can do to a lockset in a very brief amount of time.)
I used it to trim off the finishing nails & it worked slicker than grease through a goose.
Using a metal cutoff wheel, I was able to slightly undercut the nails so that when the trim went back up, the nails wouldn't pop.

I'd originally bought the HF grinder to cut down some old pieces of steel bed frames so I could use them on mobile tool stands.
Worked like a champ - even though they warn you not to use one as a cut off tool.

Another place I really wish I would have had one - old toilet bolts. I used my Dremel and several cutoff wheels for that. While it worked, the Dremel cutoff disks fly apart if you look at them wrong.
Yet another place I could have really used one. To slot old stripped out carriage bolt heads for a screwdriver.

[Peter J Lee]

I use a sanding disc for rough shaping and dimensioning... I have used them the most to cope crown.

Jake, what sanding discs are you using?

[Jake Elkins]

Jake, what sanding discs are you using?

Nothing fancy - just zirconia(?) flap discs sold at the local borg. I think they come in 3 grits. The 32 grit really eats wood quick, the 80 (100?) grit works great at coping. These last a long time, as long as you don't hit metal. I keep a few separated (and labeled) for lawnmower blades, etc.

[Prashun Patel]

I own a couple of these. Both were under $40. The 2nd is a Hitachi which was like $30 from the online "bookseller". They both have worked very well. I don't think you need to pay a lot for this kind of tool for it to work reliably.

I use my angle grinder to shape chair seats and for rough shaping. Once you fit it with a backing pad and a fiber sanding disc, you'll find uses for it, believe me.

Other uses:
Wire cup to remove rust on flat surfaces.
cutoff wheel to cut and trim closet rods, galvanized pipe, etc.

You can even use it to sharpen larger-bladed garden tools if you dont have a bench grinder.

The great thing about angle grinders is the 'bits' are so darn cheap (carbide kutzall wheel notwithstanding) it's easy to fit it to do a variety of shop tasks.

[Ellen Benkin]

I was helping a friend install laminate flooring and looked for something to cut the door jambs. I was going to buy a fairly pricey saw but another friend gave me a cheap Harbor Freight grinder. It made one heck of a mess and burned the wood fairly well but the cuts were smooth and it worked for this job. I've never needed a grinder before but I'll hang on to it just in case . . .

[Ole Anderson]

I have a Skill 4.5" Pro model I use a ton, mostly with thin cut-off discs or a twisted knot cup wire wheel. But then I also have an old Jeep. Nuff said.