Hey everybody,
At the request of my coworkers in the art department, we are looking to the fine members of the breaktime forum for some inspiration in the angle grinder category.
We editors (cheap bastards) need creative and practical uses for a 4.5 in grinder – Cutting stone, clearing chair saddles, shaping patches, carving notches in stick framed houses to run pipes, etc. let us know your unique (and don’t forget – practical) uses for your 4.5 in grinder.
….I know what you’re all thinking – this is a great time for us breaktimers to come up with lots of fun and witty jokes about using a wire attachment to brush your teeth or a diamond blade to cut off a nasty toenail, but they aren’t going to be as useful as you might think since we are a building magazine (plus I already came up with plenty on my own).
So let’s think homebuilding, and let’s hear your angle grinder uses.
Thanks guys – Justin
Replies
A 3" wire brush attachment is just what the doctor ordered for routing the relief pocket in a 4.5" SIP panel for a connection spline.
Kevin Halliburton
And with that, the great emporer Oz gently floated away on a curtain of hot air, laughing at the unfortunate ignorance of little people beneath him. But under his breath he cursed that stupid little dog...
We use them to carve/shape foam on our thin shell concrete buildings.
I also have laid cultured stone to outline a door and window, and use an angle grinder to get a clean edge, be/c it's hard to lay those with an edge good enough to add trim.
I have a chainsaw like attachment I bought years ago on mine for quick wood removal and big carving. This is a loose chain wedged between two discs and chucked up. Bloody dangerous but an excellent wood eater.
practical uses for a 4.5 in grinder
Cutting all-thread, and beveling the thread back after it's cut.
Triming roof tile.
And, my all time favorite (from watching an electricain do it), converting the electrical box leave-out from 3" (2 2x wide in the form) to the 3 1/4±" needed to fit a metal box. Surprisingly, what little over cuts and dings there were hid right under the coverplate.
Using two discs back to back, it makes a great free hand coping tool.
-Kit
COPING -
What kind of disks back to back?
Vanderpooch or Doug could probably give you a more authoritative "how to" than me, but I used a pair of 36 grit sanding disks, back to back, with nothing between them, when I tried it. It worked pretty slick.
Bear,
GWA pretty much said it. You can then cut with either side of the disc.
Don't sneeze, though. You can mess things up in a hurry...
-Kit
Technique is proof of your seriousness. - Wallace Stevens
Don't sneeze, though. You can mess things up in a hurry...
Try hooking up one of those router speed controls. Had one on the RT but never really used it because it lost torque along with the speed, then one day I thought I wonder if...
Plugged in the grinder and dropped the speed and found the lack of torque was ideal for sneaking up on the delicate details. Run full bore for the majority of cope then cut it back to sneak up on the profile line. Works great.
Dan
Do you use the grinder to cut the entire cope or saw back to a 1/16th off the line to remove the bulk of the material, then grind the final details?
Some sawdust, eh?
I have an old Racal Airmate 3 filtered air supply. Sounds like another job for it.
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something."
Anon.
I cope right to the line with the mini grinder - no sawing.
what disk/blade do you use on vinyl siding? i've got 4 pretty big windows (2- 5'x4', 2- 5'x3') coming up soon. thanks!
m
I just used a dry diamond blade to cut the siding. Works like a charm.
Mark the lines you want to cut, and go at it.
Super straight isn't critical since the J will end up covering the cut edge, anyway.
GRINDER - Dust shroud and vac??
Any of these grinders come with a dust collection shroud like the PC 6" sander?
Saw that used in a boat yard where they shut you down if you make any dust and I figured next haulout, I'd have one of those.
I was chasing cracks in the bedroom slab for a tile job with a vac alongside that could sorta suck up the dust, most of the time. There must be something better.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Check out http://www.dustmuzzle.com
Thanks so much for the lead on dustmuzzle. Ah, hurry payday!
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Mornin ToolBear
I cut the entire cope.
Full speed for the majority of the cut, throttled back to sneak up on line.
Dan
GRINDERS -
Here is another fun use: cutting nails when removing fascia damaged by termites.
Today we had an entire 20' barge rafter to dissect and remove.
We cut the board in a number of places, taking out wedges so the piece can rotate down. As the nails (about 50/ft) from the starter board are exposed, we run a 4.5 with a metal cutting blade along the top of the board. It gets most of them.
With the board off, we go back and cut all the protruding stubs flush. Much faster than end nippers or sawsall.
(Here's to termites that provide employment for honest carpenters.)
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
COPING with a grinder...
What a neat idea. I am going to give this a try. Do you freehand it or mount the grider and bring the cope up to it?
Probably both, depending on length.
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something."
Anon.
Some of the obvious things I use mine for:
Cutting bolts
Cutting and shaping tile
Putting an edge back on the lawn mower blade without removing it.
Grinding to a scribe line with a 36 grit disk
Coping molding (before I bought a scroll saw)
Taking just a hair off a piece of trim for a nice tight fit
Polishing stone and concrete with diamond disks
Rapid removal of really rough stock before the first pass with 60 grit in the random orbit.
Carving just about anything
Flapper wheels for irregular surface sanding
Wire wheels for cleaning up metal
and oh yea - grinding... lots of grinding. There's no shortage of high spots that need to be low spots in the world.
So that's cutting, grinding, shaping, polishing, sanding, sharpening, carving, scribing, coping and trimming - on just about anything. I'm not sure how I ever got by without one.
Kevin Halliburton
And with that, the great emporer Oz gently floated away on a curtain of hot air, laughing at the unfortunate ignorance of little people beneath him. But under his breath he cursed that stupid little dog...
Edited 11/4/2004 5:55 pm ET by Golden Wrecked Angle
No joke.
Yesterday or the day before, I think I read that Sphere uses his to take thick ice off his windshield.
Well, I guess he could have been kidding...or maybe not!
I find that a 4.5" grinder is more of a metal workers tool.
I get much more use out of my 7" Hitachi.
Cutting out bricks, Grinding off humps in subfloors, feathering transitions betwee old wavy and new straight construction.
Even sanding to a scribe line.
Mr T
I can't afford to be affordable anymore
I bought mine for sanding exterior paint down to bare wood. I bought a 7" a few years later for the same purpose.
I sharpen the bush hog with it.
I plan to use it to tuck point the chimney.
I don't have a 3x21 belt sander so I use it for wood removal.
It sharpens yard tools.
I do tile.
have a wet saw.
The angle grinders do most of the cutting ... along with the snap-scorer.
and let's not give all the praise to the 4.5 ... mine's Milwaukee.
The little 4" makita does the bulk of the work.
need to "tweak" trim tile for a 22.5?
use the "grinder on a stick" ...
Jeff
Jeff,
Make that a little smaller please............I'm on dial up!
EricI Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
Cutting old clay drain tile.
Dave
Didn't you start an angle grinder post a while back - or was that just a personal note you sent? Guess you're arming yourself for that meeting next week with Tim, eh?
My brother made a shroud for his out of a clear plastic hose. He split the hose and encircled the grinder head. Then he attached a hose port to connect to vacuum. Now he grinds, sands, and gouges inside homes and contains all the dust.
I use the rig instead of renting a floor edger when sanding and finishing hardwoods.
I mount my grinder in a vise and use it as a stationary grinder for any number of grinding operations - clean up a weld on small parts, re-edge a screwdriver blade, sharpen my framing chisle, rough sharpen my shingle hatchet before honing, wire brushing rusty parts before priming, YOU name it. And with a couple of clamps strategically located, you have a grinding brace to go with the vise mounted grinder.
Will you be writing "the 1001 uses for a right angle grinder" as an editor by-line or will you be culling through this thread and have some posters "write-up" their uses?
MG
"My brother made a shroud for his out of a clear plastic hose. He split the hose and encircled the grinder head. Then he attached a hose port to connect to vacuum. Now he grinds, sands, and gouges inside homes and conta"ins all the dust."
This sounds very helpful, but I am having touble visualizing it.
Any pix?
Clear hose = vinyl food hose? Diameter? How attached? Fit over shroud?
How is the hose port attached to the hose?
Sure could use this for grinding down cracks on a tile job I have to do.
I learned one of the best uses for it here - cutting lath and plaster walls with a diamond blade and a shop vac held at the exhaust side of the cut. Beautiful! Clean cut and no impact or vibration on the wall.
I want to thank whoever posted that first about two years ago.
Ron
I've been using mine working on an old house with very thick plaster and metal lath. It's a great way to cut window openings, etc. without having to rely on using a circular saw (which can get heavy quickly). Talk to Dave Crosby (is he still slated to write it?) he's given me more than a dozen valuable tips.
Mike, I'd like to see a pic of that dust collection system. I used a plastic milk jug and ran a small hose through the opening that attached to my shop vac. It worked, but more often than not, someone else has built a better mouse trap.
Jim
"I want a good clean fight. No head butts, no rabbit punches, and no hitting below the belt. Break when I say break, and protect yourself at all times."
Eagerly reading all these great ideas. Just yesterday someone gave me a gift of a PC right angle grinder :)
I've used mine to cut vinyl siding for new openings-windows or doors.
The diamond blade is overkill for this, but it works.
...we cut rebar with ours, along with road mesh if we can't find the bolt cutters and metal lath if the shears go missing...
Do all my cope work with a 4.5" grinder
If you get the Scotchbrite type pads and a rubber hook and loop backer, they do an excellent job of sanding wood. My wife and I just finished sanding our log cabin with a couple of these.
Look at all those great ideas!
You did a great job rallying the troups!
Now all ya gotta do is have them take some pictures of their grinders in action, doing what they are describing, and BAM! you have yourself a hands-on-true-to-life-all-over-it article, provided to you from the actual people who actually handle grinders!
Here, here! Great job, Justin!!!!
Many here have great digital cameras, but are they good enough for publication?
If not, hand me the Taunton camera, supply the cute lil' truck, and point me in the direction you want me to go...
sincerely,
darcy
Are sissies allowed to use angle grinders? :)
Yep!
The company's concrete sub did such a bad job on the foundations, I had to roll back and cut out the overflow with the grinder (and cold chisel) to make them pretty lil' decrorative iron vents fit properly.
Grinders are not just for girly-men! <g>
Wally
Justin:
A diamond blade on my grinder is used for clearing out old mortar from brickwork when repointing, and for cutting lally columns to size when filled with concrete. Cutting stone/brick/pavers, etc. goes quick with the diamond blade too.
A wire wheel on my grinder is used for a million things--including a recent job where I removed the old carpet glue from a concrete floor in a commercial installation. I also use the wire wheel to clean up brickwork and old mortar drippings.
J Painter
WOW, thanks for all the suggestions guys! Didn't expect so many great ideas - the art department is going to love all this fodder to decide what supplies I have to go out and buy and then demonstrate this Monday.
Mike Guertin - All of these ideas are going to be sifted through so Bob can decide what types of pictures he wants to have under each category- wood, metal, masonry.
Darcy - I don't really have any cute trucks to offer, but digital pictures are a great idea if only to help us visualize. Then we might be able to setup a bunch of those tasks and take pictures ourselves - thanks to all of your suggestions of course!
To all those who have given ideas for dust collection - another simple idea is to cut off the bottom half a gallon milk jug - then hook up the top of the milk jug to a vac hose and have somebody hold the milk jug - by the convenient handle - while sucks up the debris. The wide opening of a chopped off milk jug make for a great funnel-type "catch-all""If God didn't want me to wear this Led Zeppelin shirt everyday he wouldn't have made them rock out so hard"
I think it would be a great idea to start a thread about Tips, Tricks and Solutions, since you have that section in the magazine. Hopefully, it would become a long running thread like What Tool Did You Buy Today?
"... think it would be a great idea to start a thread about Tips, Tricks and Solutions, since you have that section in the magazine. Hopefully, it would become a long running thread like What Tool Did You Buy Today?"
Great idea! I have FHB's Tips and Techniques in my building library and a standing thread would be very useful. Give it a section like Const. Tech. So many good ideas out there, so little time.
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something."
Anon.
>wants to have under each category- wood, metal, masonry.
FOAM, too. Don't forget foam! That applies to eifs and icf houses, too, not just thin shells. Even applies to frame houses that insulate with spray foam.
In the shop, just tape the 4" hose from your dust collector under your right wrist and it'll catch 90%+..
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
- Grooving tricky areas in stone or concrete to install invisible dog fences.
- Converting logs into corny lawn ornaments!
With a diamond blade, I use it to score a bunch of dyed & stamped concrete I happened upon...I'm using it for walks and walls.
On the job,with a sanding pad, I'll use it for scribing wood, esp. long, tricky pieces, ie. ceiling beams, 8' cabs,strange scribe strips, counter top substrates, countertops, anything fitting to stone or brick. Then there's stair treads when I have finicky fit...or just grinding back offending framing<G>
With an abrasive metal blade I'll wack back corner bead when it's in my way...misplaced sill bolts that are like in the middle of a doorway...or those pesky painful screw points sticking through through a door jamb...
4" Makita...where can I get another sanding dealie arbor nut...that would be useful information..LOL Don't worry, we can fix that later!
I would suggest a companion article reviewing all the 4.5" grinders out there. You know, built in features such as quick relase shrouds, variable speed, etc. As well as cost, weight, balance, noise,carrying casses.
In doing plaster or stucco you have to lay in either diamond wire mesh or ribbed lathwork. Ever try to cut copious amounts of that the old fashion way with snips? (try it without wearing gloves!) 'Nuff said...metal cutting wheel on my little 4" and zippity do da!
It's the berries for wirebrushing rusty old detail work like porch railings etc. Brickwork, tile work, cutting old plaster or especially portland walls. Ah jes luuvs muh grinduh!
I was hoping someone else would throw the cold water (Mr.T started to). IMHO, a 4.5" grinder isn't a good choice. A 4.5 often doesn't have the oomph, or the rim-speed to do the job quickly (either that, or your spinning the disk so fast you risk it coming apart). If I need small, high-speed stones, then a die-grinder is the right choice. For a plate grinder, I use a 5" for general use (that extra 1/2" makes a big difference); and, like Mr. T., prefer a 7"-9" for many tasks.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
You won't need bolt cutters when you loose the padlock key.
I found a good use for my grinder the other day- I was hanging a pre-hung door and those darn hinge screws were hanging out a good 1/4". I zipped 'em off flush and i could nail the hinge side to the perfectly plumb trimmer! ( good framer-me ;-)
I don't think i saw this one- those plastic electrical boxes that stick out of the drywall too far on one side, grind 'em flush with the wall.
another new one...yesterday I cut off the flange on a fireplace insert so that the masons could lay stone flush to the face frame...got some great black boogers<G> Don't worry, we can fix that later!
Boogerin' with bucksnort!!!
Mr T
I can't afford to be affordable anymore
Pick it, Wilson<G> Don't worry, we can fix that later!
before repointing, i used a masonry blade to clear out some of the mortar joints on my CMU house. (tried the diamond blade, but the masonry blade was thicker and cleared out the joint quicker)
worked like a champ... especially on 60 year old mortar
My 4" Makita with a ZipCutter blade on it is this poor man's cutting torch...and as another poster mentioned, it's a fine pair of bolt cutters too when you've lost the key to the padlock.
Used a diamond blade to nip the sharp corners on the slate flagstone on our exterior stairs. Amazing how quickly and cleanly the diamond cuts stone that a regular abrasive blade barely touches.
Great for scoring brick or paving stones prior to cutting with a chisel- much more predictable results with the grinder score than without.
Also a great way to do some light metal turning on the woodlathe or even the drillpress...bevelling the end of a piece of pipe, for instance, or taking a lick off a piece of rod to fit an existing hole.
Bone saw during hunting season...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Edited 11/11/2004 10:22 pm ET by IMERC