You can use angle grinders to cut through a number of materials, including metals, concrete, stone, brick and aluminum. This power-tool contains a grinding wheel (as opposed to a cutting blade).
Angle grinders come with various types of discs, with each disc suitable for different tasks. Although the grinders are available in various sizes, the most commonly-used size range is 10 cm to 12 cm. You can either use a cordless angle grinder or go for motor power if your work requires greater precision.
An angle grinder is used in numerous industries, including woodworking, construction, metalworking, and automobile body shops.
How To Use An Angle Grinder?
The key to effectively using an angle grinder is choosing the right kind of disc. Make sure that your chosen disc is not broken or damaged in any way as such discs can either shatter or expel fragments during use, which can be quite dangerous.
Also, you must understand the difference between a cutting disc and a grinding disc. A cutting disc is sharp and thin, which makes it unsuitable for grinding.
Grinding Disc:
The most common type of angler disc is the grinding disc (also called a grinding wheel). This disc comes in many different kinds and sizes.
The ‘grit’ is a measure of the smoothness or hardness of a particular grinding disc – the more the grit, the smoother your disc will be. Low grit can expedite the material-removal process, but it can also lead to a rougher final appearance and create more sparks during the procedure. Also, compared to their higher grit counterparts, low-grit discs can cause more scratches and burns.
Usage:
A grinding disc, as the name suggests, is primarily used for grinding. Other than that, these discs can be used to prepare metals for welding, get rid of cuts and remove excess material from surfaces. You can also use a grinding disc to sharpen gardening tools and to grind out any metal welds.
Flap Discs:
The second type of angle grinder disc is the flap disc, which is quite similar to the grinding disc that we first discussed. In fact, the only difference between the two is that a flap disc is used primarily for finishing – which is why these discs have a smoother texture. Just like a grinding disc, you will find flap discs with varying grits – the lower the grit, the rougher the disc will be.
Usage:
You can use flap discs for smoothing out heavily-grinded surfaces. These discs are also quite effective at eliminating scratches and burrs. Scratches and burrs are sharp and painful and should not be touched without some sort of protection (safety gloves, for instance). A flap disc can be used to take the sharpness off of such scratches and burrs and can also help shine-up various gouged metals.
Cut-Off Discs:
Cut-off discs are used for cutting metal sheets and bars. A cut-off disc is thinner than a grinding disc since the former needs to deliver precise cuts. For this reason, you need to be more cautious when working with cut-off discs.
If you place the angle grinder in a position that makes the disc bend, the disc can shatter quite easily. A shattered disc causes the parts to fly all over the place and can be extremely hazardous. Hence, you should never work with cut-off discs without wearing high-safety gear.
Usage:
Cut-off discs are useful for cutting metal tubes, metal bars, and small metal sheets and plates. These discs can also be used to cut out welds. If you want to shorten a bolt, we recommend attaching a cut-off disc to your angle grinder.
Wire Wheels:
This is a circular base that has multiple wires attached to it. Once again, wire wheels can be found in different types and sizes, depending upon their intended purpose. For instance, wire wheels with thick and twisted bristles are considered more abrasive and can therefore make the task easier and faster. Straighter and thinner bristles, meanwhile, are more suitable for finer tasks.
Usage:
If you want to get rid of dust from the working piece quickly, a wire wheel can help you get the job done in a swift and effective manner. You can also use wire wheels to get rid of paint from surfaces.
Diamond Cutting Discs:
A diamond cutting disc is the sharpest of all discs. The edges of this type of disc are lined with diamonds and have cutting rims that are used for the cutting processes. There are different kinds of cutting rim – as a rule of thumb, the higher this rim is, the more durable and longer-lasting it is likely to be.
Usage:
Thanks to the diamond edges, diamond cutting discs are highly effective at cutting hard-to-penetrate, resistant materials like granite. These discs are used in both wet and dry cutting operations.
Polishing Pads:
Polishing pads are angle grinder attachments that help achieve a shiny and smooth surface finishing. Polishing pads, as you can probably guess, are used for polishing surfaces. Just like all of the attachments discussed so far, you can find polishing pads in different materials and shapes, with each one capable of providing a different kind of finishing.
Since polishing requires specific speeds, not every angle grinder is suitable for a polishing pad. Hence, if you want to use a polishing pad, make sure that your angle grinder contains a speed control feature that allows you to pick the right speed.
Usage:
If you want to bring shine to a metallic surface, you cannot go wrong with a polishing pad. For this reason, polishing pads are an almost certain presence in automobile body shops.
Our Final Thoughts:
To sum up, an angle grinder is an extremely versatile tool and can be used with a wide range of attachments to achieve many different purposes. We hope that this guide helped you understand the purpose of an angle grinder and the ways in which you can use these attachments.
To learn about other tools and how to use them, please feel free to check out some of the other blogs on our website.
