Andy Dingley wrote:
On 31 May, 19:53, Al wrote:

So, I need an angle grinder, as clearly this is the solution to 99% of DIY
problems

I use three of them:

* Good 4 1/2" for accurately shaping steel. You need one of these.
Look after it.

* Cheap (Aldi) 4 1/2" with Aldi diamond disks for hacking concrete and
anything dusty. It'll kill the bearings and brushes, but so it goes.

* 9", with another Aldi diamond disk for deep cuts into masonry.
Useful, because of the extra reach.

My two "good" grinders are pretty good (Metabo & Makita, both around
80 quid). You don't need to pay that much. A Blue Bosch iis probably
the best current compromise for quality / price. Blue Bosch are
distinctly longer-lived than Green Bosch in a dusty environment, as
they epoxy-pot the motor windings better. However a consumable grinder
might be an even simpler fix to this, for when you're hacking
brickwork.

Things the good grinders give me:

* No-spanner nuts, with a hinge-out "key" for disk changing.

* Easy adjust guards, so that I can move them to the best position
easily enough that I might actually do this.

* Low-vibration side-handles (Metabo, and available as spares). My
grinders have layers of neoprene pipe insulation (Armaflex) stuck to
them too.

What I don't need is:

* A big 9" grinder for steelwork. Got it, need it, but never use it.
9" disks are too much of a gyroscope and they're uncontrollable. 9"
grinders are also slower than 4 1/2", so their metal crunching
capacity isn't much better (motors last longer on an 8 hour shift
though).

Consumables:

These matter. Your grinder is only as good as the abrasive parts. Get
lots, get the good ones.

* Flap disks. I hardly ever use rigid disks these days, preferring
flap disks. Get a range of 40, 80, 120 grit. Plastic backing is better
than aluminium. Don't catch the edges of the disk on the workpiece -
the disk shreds. Spend the extra (CSM Abrasives) and get the Hermes
disks with the blue coated abrasives.

* 7" flap disks. Lightweight ones are the only way to make the 9"
grinder controllable.

* Grinding disks. Ho hum. Anywhere is cheap now, even Tesco. Get some
metal and some for stone. They'll go into a corner better than a flap
disk. I don't use them much, but sometimes you need them.

* Cutting disks. Flat ones, again for both stone and metal. Aldi do
some "stainless steel" disks (couple of quid / ten) that are great and
super-fast cutting, as they're extra thin and don't need to remove as
much metal. Bit brittle and wear very quickly, but they have their
uses on awkward cuts up ladders (job done quicker) and indeed on
stainless steel sheet.
Only thing that

* Diamond disks. Aldi does great ones for little money.

* Wire brushes. Get good quality ones, and twisted wire. Great for
rust & paintwork, esp. tarry paints that clog abrasives. Only use the
good ones as cheap ones shed bristles too much.

Disks of less usefulness:

* Sanding disks. Sometimes useful, but they're very prone to leaving
crescent-shaped grooves from the disk edge. Usually flap disks are a
better bet.

* Paint removing sponge pads. Good performance, but they shred rapidly
if you catch an edge. Handy for stripping aluminium or fibreglass
without damaging the metal. Otherwise too expensive and quick-wearing
for steel.

* 3M's triangular sanding disks. These avoid the edge-crescent
problem.

* Beartex disks. Again good for paint off aluminium, but not cheap.

* Arbortech wood carving disks. Great fun for chainsaw carving, but
powerful stuff and borderline scarey. The chainsaw disks are too
dangerous to allow in my workshop.


Ancillaries.

You need these, but the quality of each can vary from dirt cheap
upwards.

* Eye protection. Can't be bothered with goggles myself and prefer a
hinged faceshield (I wear glasses too)

* Ear protection. Cheap ear defenders are a minimum. Most angle
grinder noise isn't loud enough to be harmful, but it's annoying.
When worn with a faceshield you might need ears with a swivel band
that you can put to the back, otherwise an integrated hat & earmuff.
My favourite ears have Radio 4 in them, which is cheap nowadays. As
I'm often grinding for a few hours at a stretch, it's worth it.

* Gloves. Thin leather keeps flying bits off. Thick leather gives some
vibration insulation too. Best of all though are gel anti-vibration
gloves (Arco, twenty quid). If you're grinding steel for welding (i.e.
hours of it), then "fizzy fingers" is really something to be avoided
afterwards.

* Apron. Aldi have leather welding aprons for cheap - less than I paid
for the leather to make mine. This is essential with wire brushes, as
they'll stick you with porcupine quills otherwise. Even when grinding,
an apron keeps you cleaner and gives you something to kneel on.

* Dustmask. You need something, especially with stone. 3M 3000 / 4000
series are a good start (search this newgroup a few weeks back).

* Ioniser (sometimes a water spray). Makes concrete dust indoors fall
out of suspension a lot quicker. Just try it!


mind if i simply quote some of this in the wiki article?

Regards, NT