Soon I will be involved in a plastering project and I will have to cut galvanized diamond mesh into various sizes. In the past, I’ve simply used a shears which is kind of slow and miserable. I had an idea — why not cut the mesh with a metal wheel in the grinder? The only thing is — I’ve never heard of or seen anyone do this and I’m wondering if there is a reason why. Ill advised or dangerous? Thanks in advance.
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Use a thin cutting wheel. I don't see a problem, except it is still slow and noisy, with lots of sparks, and the wheels wear fast. I'd think metal shears with the drill motor would be best, but they are a little expensive.
The Malco Turbo shears are only about 35 bucks..is that what ya mean by a little expensive?Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
Uh, no. I might could swing that.
I have used a abrasive resistant "Carborundum" blade. This blade is impregnated with a special ceramic carbide grit. I use my Circular Saw. A grinder will work as well but the saw is much easer.
To me, there is nothing neater and easier than my tin snips for this.
From your description, this is interior work.
What you gonna do about all the sparks flying around from using a grinder?
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Actually, I have to do the cutting outside anyway since I wouldn't risk wrestling the mesh around inside. Something would just get scratched. If I needed to trim or cut the mesh precisely against an edge (of existing plaster) then I'd just use my shears. But for bigger cuts, I would do this in an open space, probably on a well watered lawn. But like I said in my original post, something about this felt like it might not be a good idea so I thought I'd run it by here.