Angle Grinders: Corded vs Cordless vs pneumatic

[Shade Tree Welder]

I have 3 x 4.5" Milwaukee corded, one 9" Milwaukee corded and
one 5" DeWalt 60V. I like them all, plenty of power the Milwaukees I have
had for 20ish years, replace a few cords and grease them regularly they\
hold up great, all the milwaukees were Made in the USA.

[JBFab]

Originally Posted by toprecycler

I just picked up two more tonight. Offered $10 for two black and deckers, 3.5”. I left the big 7” one at the sale. I did buy the 7” wheels that they had though. I have two big grinders already.

I’m trying to get half as many of Chris’s collection.

For what’s it’s worth, I had a 3M salesman stop in at shop one time and talk to my boss about how good the cubitrons were. But he said you do need a powerful grinder to properly put the hp to the wheels so they will break and self sharpen the grit on them. Most cheap grinders do not have the power. I think he recommended at least a 7 amp grinder.

Thinking back, that salesman visit cost me my job there. Glad I was able to finally move on to greener pastures.

Attachment 165290


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Yea, I used cubitrons for a while, I just don't think they were worth the expense. I use mostly benchmark abrasives now. One wheel I will always like regardless of cost are the sigma greens by Rex cut. They remove material fast and leave a great finish for a hard wheel.

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[randydupree]

Originally Posted by Oscar

Thanks to all that have replied to my inquiry.



I was actually thinking the same thing for my cordless grinders. They are 4.5" and spin at a typical 8,500 RPMs (for cordless grinders it's typical), but 4.5" discs are usually rated 12,000 - 13,300 RPMs. No way to easily make the motor spin faster, so I'm contemplating how to make some new guards to use some 5", 6", and certain 7" abrasives. I'll get much faster surface speed at the edge as if the motor was spinning faster, but it will be due to a larger diameter disc spinning within it's limits, due to the slower speed motor. 5" are usually rated 12,000 RPMs, 6" usually 10,000 RPMs, and 7" usually 8500 RPMs.

With those bigger wheels your getting really close to your hands.

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by randydupree

With those bigger wheels your getting really close to your hands.

On the contrary, I never remove wheel guards, so they'd just as far with a steel guard in between the wheels and my hands. I feel it's a stupid thing to do [to remove guards]. But I do need to custom make some larger guards that's for sure.

[Matt Shade]

I really wanted to like the 60V dewalt cordless I bought but I had battery/charger problems and could not get any warranty help.

I keep a 4.5 inch dewalt (the 13 amp model with paddle switch) and have had very good performance with it. I also run a 6 inch dewalt cut off grinder which is also 13 amps and runs a t a bit slower speed and has the large guard for 6 inch wheels. 6 inch .045 wheels do 90 percent of my cutting, and it will also run 5 inch flap discs etc. very well.

Whatever brand you like, I would stick with the highest amp rating but maybe if I was a better welder I'd be able to run a 6 amp grinder instead

[greywynd]

Originally Posted by Matt Shade

I really wanted to like the 60V dewalt cordless I bought but I had battery/charger problems and could not get any warranty help.

We have some of those in the service trucks up north. Seems like when they work, they work well. We had a bad battery a while back that ended up taking out the grinder from what I understood.

There have been a few issues, though in our case I believe it’s all been bought through a Mac tools dealer, so the dealer has been taking care of issues. I suspect with the amount of business our company gives the dealer, whether they warranty it, or simply eat it to keep everyone happy, they are still making out okay.

This year alone they’ve bought enough tools to fully equip two mechanic service trucks, and either one or two welding trucks. The air impacts go up to 1”, and there are sockets, wrenches etc up to 2” in sets.

It’s not exactly an easy environment though, here’s what we did to a 1” impact last day of my last shift. That’s a 105mm (4.134”) socket on that bolt. It was already broken loose with a hydraulic wrench too.





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[digger doug]

I have qty (2) 1 1/2" drive impact wrenches.
One is "normal" sized, just a larger drive, the other is a beast with a eyebolt
to hoist it into place.
Got them at an auction lot with a bunch-o sockets and wrenches.
Never used them..... never want to.

[Oscar]

Looks like it produced a little bit of torque to rip apart that aluminum casing

[toprecycler]

Originally Posted by greywynd

We have some of those in the service trucks up north. Seems like when they work, they work well. We had a bad battery a while back that ended up taking out the grinder from what I understood.

There have been a few issues, though in our case I believe it’s all been bought through a Mac tools dealer, so the dealer has been taking care of issues. I suspect with the amount of business our company gives the dealer, whether they warranty it, or simply eat it to keep everyone happy, they are still making out okay.

This year alone they’ve bought enough tools to fully equip two mechanic service trucks, and either one or two welding trucks. The air impacts go up to 1”, and there are sockets, wrenches etc up to 2” in sets.

It’s not exactly an easy environment though, here’s what we did to a 1” impact last day of my last shift. That’s a 105mm (4.134”) socket on that bolt. It was already broken loose with a hydraulic wrench too.





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I think maybe someone upped the compressor pressure to get a bit more torque?


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[Matt Shade]

Originally Posted by greywynd

This year alone they’ve bought enough tools to fully equip two mechanic service trucks, and either one or two welding trucks. The air impacts go up to 1”, and there are sockets, wrenches etc up to 2” in sets.

It’s not exactly an easy environment though, here’s what we did to a 1” impact last day of my last shift. That’s a 105mm (4.134”) socket on that bolt. It was already broken loose with a hydraulic wrench too.




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I pulled a 24 inch crescent wrench out of my truck box the other day to take a ball off a hitch and the guy talking to me about fell over. Then I pulled out a set of combo wrenches that goes from 1-3/8" to 2-1/2" to hold the other side and he just got real quiet. I don't think most people have any idea that tools as big as you guys use even exist.

I've tossed around the idea of buying a 3/4" impact. I haven't used a 1" since I quit the sod farm where I was stuck changing semi tires all the time and I'd kind of like to keep it that way