Best 3" cut off wheels?

[bryanmartin]

Hi. I'm wondering who makes the best 3 inch cut off wheels with a 3/8 arbor, preferably 0.045 thickness. I've been using Harbor Freight wheels, and they load up with metal (even steel) and stop working in a fairly short period of time. I looked for some Sait wheels, but they don't appear to make a 3 inch. Any recommendations?

 

[pelletman]

Probably Norton

 

[gdocktor3]

Usually whatever I find at my local welding supply is great. I'd check there if I were you. I've seen cheap cut off wheels explode and embed in my buddies arm, neck and face.

 

[B_Bimmer]

I've never really had them stop cutting, my gripe with the harbor fright ones is they wear away so fast. If anyone has any better quality recommendations I would be interested as well.

 

[rhannan1988]

Re: Best 3" cut off wheels?

I've had really good luck with Radnor cut off discs from Airgas.

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[shockwave]

I have had good luck with wurth disc
Dremel disc come apart easy for me

 

[[memphis]]

Wurth zebra 3" are great if you can find someone to order them for you.

 

[yaidunno]

3M Green Corps

Not cheap, but there's a reason for that.

 

[nczo6]

3M Green Corps

Not cheap, but there's a reason for that.

Ill second this, very nice wheels and for as long as they last it may be one of the cheaper options as well.

 

[BPJOOP93]

Pearl abrasives

 

[md21722]

I bought some from Snap On and they said Astro Pneumatic on them. No complaints.

 

[racintj]

Walther, Metabo and Empire all have some good cutoffs.

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[dr_clyde]

I have used a whole pile of different brands of abrasives, and for what it's worth, you generally get what you pay for in abrasives.

For cut-off wheels, I have American Abrasives SAIT for the little 3" grinder. They seem to last a good long time and don't need dressing. They stay sharp. They also make a nice wheel for the 6". I have them 7" with a depressed center for cutting stuff off flush with the floor.

For the big grinder, I use 6" Quickie Cut from Camel Grinding Wheels. They are a very good wheel for general cutting of just about anything except aluminum.

I have also used Metabo wheels, they are nice, but I don't think any better than the CGW ones, except more expensive.

 

[dr_clyde]

I would avoid getting abrasives from the big box stores. Go to your local welding supply and they'll have a better selection.

Skip harbor freight for abrasives. They are a waste of time and money.

 

[evintho]

3M Green Corps

Not cheap, but there's a reason for that.

x3.

3M Green Corps #1987. The local auto body supply shop sells 'em for $6 ea. I now buy mine off of Ebay for less that $3 ea. w/free shipping. I use 'em daily. The cut very well and last for awhile. I tried some cheap HF cutoff wheels. Not even in the same ballpark as 3M!

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

No complaints with Shark 2" cut-offs...

 

[lbhsbz]

Another vote for green corps. I used about up a 10 pack of the harbor freight wheels getting halfway through a cutting job...Then remembered a buddy had brought me a 5 pack of 3M green corps wheels years ago...and I even remembered where I'd put 'em!. One green corps wheel finished the job and only shrank about 1/2". It's nice when you don't have to stop every 2 minutes to change a wheel.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

I picked up a bunch of speedecut when they went out of business and they are great. There's still some floating around out there. The 3M stuff is awesome. I want to try the New Lenox metalMax cut off wheel. It is diamond and not abrasive.

 

[nes999]

Besides the HF 3inch cut off, do they make other corded cut offs? I know my pneumatic one takes 3 inch. However I hate running my compressor at home.

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[mcmtech]

3m green corps

 

[bdbecker]

Another vote for 3M Green Corps.

We run them at work. We usually get a couple samples a year of some new product from another vendor, but no one has figured out how to beat 3M yet.

 

[dnschmidt]

3M, Pferd and Walter. In life you pay your money and you get the good stuff. That's the way it is. On a separate note Lenox now has diamond cut off wheels. They were handing them out at the FABTECH show and claim they will outlast 100 abrasive wheels. Haven't used the couple I picked up there but if they work that could be the bomb. Cost about $10 each in 3" size.

 

[motofool33]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322347358777?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

after having soo many of abrasive cutoff wheels explode, these are now what i use.

tried the above one before i ordered one of these nicer ones.
also have tried the Lenox ones from Big Box stores they are great for material removal if you want a finer grit you'll have to step up to diamond X

http://www.diamondxtools.com/index.aspx

 

[bobcatdan]

Radnor from airgas. They are pretty thin so they wear kind of fast, but they cut way faster then any other wheel I have ever used. I upped to 4" wheels to get more life out of them.

 

[GaryM909]

I haven't tried the diamond cut off wheels yet but the Walters are good, last quite a while and don't seem to create as much dust as some of the other brands.

 

[sberry]

I use 4 also.

 

[Fixed]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322347358777?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

after having soo many of abrasive cutoff wheels explode, these are now what i use.

How long do those last for? I wouldn't expect them to be as cheap as abrasive disks, but less dust would also be nice.

 

[motofool33]

How long do those last for? I wouldn't expect them to be as cheap as abrasive disks, but less dust would also be nice.

Literature says equal to 90 regular discs.

The only problem I have found with them is if cutting aluminum(3/8" thick) they full up and I stick am in vise and use sure wheel to remove the aluminum, then back to work.

I've yet to wear one out,
This one 3" has 150 or more cuts on it.
The 6 inch probably 50 cuts, and at least 30 jam situations that stopped the grinder n didn't blow up the disc like abrasives. So much safer


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[NYBODYMAN]

I had a MAC one years ago with a swivel head on it. It was great for getting in tight spots and for grinding. Unfortunately it broke after a few years of heavy body shop use and I had never been able to find a replacement one.

Edit: Last time I looked, the internet was in its infancy. I found one in two seconds. HAHA.

http://www.mactools.com/en-us/Power-Tools/Air-Body-Repair-Tools/AT35A/Flex-Head-Air-Cut-Off-Tool-3

 

[bob15]

Always had good luck with United Abrasives' products: http://www.unitedabrasives.com/category/thin-high-speed-cut-off-wheels

 

[iadr]

I've used the Zebra Wurth ones for ~20 years. Seems to me they got much more brittle about halfway through that time period (around the time they started putting expiration dates on them??) and plus my source is a little awkward for me, now. Wurth Australia shows that there is a step above the Zebra. I wonder if that came out when they diminished the quality of the Zebra...?

I searched the board, and also youtube, as I had something in my Amazon cart I needed to bump up (am not Prime), so thought of these. I used up my last Wurth one on a copper pipe (not wise, but had absolutely no idea copper would eat up the disc like that?!).

I've been intrigued by the video's 3M have out of there Zircon II range as a whole. 3" disc is #66514, but the only listing on Amazon.ca was for a decent size pack, at more $ than I can pick them up locally for, so instead to meet the $35min, I bought home decor (single, 50, so not that often that happens, lol).

I also saw this video. Couldn't find the 2nd place Makita's either (probably rebadged but from a Chinese/Korean source..but which one?).

Anyone want to speculate on why the diamond was so slow?
I have a diamond disc (white Lenox, in either 4.5/5, can't recall). Not crazy about it. Cutting 4 Cayenne coil springs (2x each) took it from new to the trash. Good, but maybe several times more durable, at 8-9 times the price. The 3" version tends to be very grabby, per a previous co worker (I was office, he was on the dealership shop floor, so I put weight in what he says).


Seeing as this thread is dated... are they any updated thoughts, particularly on the 3M ZirconII vs Green Corp? Barring any advice to the contrary I'll pick up some Zircon's on Monday or Tuesday when a special order comes in near an industrial supply house that has them on for $6.60ea Cdn.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I'd be interested in experiences as well. I've only used the abrasive blades that came w the Milwalkee cutoff tool, and currently working through a 10pk of Hobarts (i think). They work ok, wear a little quicker than the other ones.

 

[neophyte]

I've used the Zebra Wurth ones for ~20 years. Seems to me they got much more brittle about halfway through that time period (around the time they started putting expiration dates on them??) and plus my source is a little awkward for me, now. Wurth Australia shows that there is a step above the Zebra. I wonder if that came out when they diminished the quality of the Zebra...?

I searched the board, and also youtube, as I had something in my Amazon cart I needed to bump up (am not Prime), so thought of these. I used up my last Wurth one on a copper pipe (not wise, but had absolutely no idea copper would eat up the disc like that?!).

I've been intrigued by the video's 3M have out of there Zircon II range as a whole. 3" disc is #66514, but the only listing on Amazon.ca was for a decent size pack, at more $ than I can pick them up locally for, so instead to meet the $35min, I bought home decor (single, 50, so not that often that happens, lol).

I also saw this video. Couldn't find the 2nd place Makita's either (probably rebadged but from a Chinese/Korean source..but which one?).

Anyone want to speculate on why the diamond was so slow?
I have a diamond disc (white Lenox, in either 4.5/5, can't recall). Not crazy about it. Cutting 4 Cayenne coil springs (2x each) took it from new to the trash. Good, but maybe several times more durable, at 8-9 times the price. The 3" version tends to be very grabby, per a previous co worker (I was office, he was on the dealership shop floor, so I put weight in what he says).


Seeing as this thread is dated... are they any updated thoughts, particularly on the 3M ZirconII vs Green Corp? Barring any advice to the contrary I'll pick up some Zircon's on Monday or Tuesday when a special order comes in near an industrial supply house that has them on for $6.60ea Cdn.

Diamonds are a form of carbon.
Steel, if that is what you are using the cutting disks on, is an iron alloy, with carbon bonded to the iron.
At the high speeds the cutting disks rotate, there is likely some molecular interaction between the diamond particles made from carbon, and the carbon in the iron, or possibly the iron bonding to the diamond.
This is a guess, but AvE, the Canadian who does tool teardowns on Youtube mentioned the issue of diamond tooling in one video from what I recall.
Fir lighter applications such as diamond paste for lapping steel, there may not be enough pressure to cause the same issues.
The other possibility is that the diamond particles slowly get rounded and no longer cut as quickly, which isn’t as much of an issue with standard abrasive wheels, since the abrasive slowly sheds from the cutting surface revealing fresh sharp abrasive.

 

[nadogail]

I am always looking for the least expensive way to make cuts, so I use the 4 1/2" Harbor Freight angle grinder and their 1/16" thick wheels that I buy on sale.

Why would I want to use a 3" wheel when the grinders go on sale for about $10?

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I am always looking for the least expensive way to make cuts, so I use the 4 1/2" Harbor Freight angle grinder and their 1/16" thick wheels that I buy on sale.

Why would I want to use a 3" wheel when the grinders go on sale for about $10?

Well, you choose price because you can. I choose function, because I have to.

I have one hand. It's pretty unweildy to use a 4.5" grinder with a cutting disc on metal when held with one small medium sized girl hand. Whereas a 3" cutoff tool is easier and safer to handle.

Also different tools for different jobs.

 

[ecotec]

3M Green Corps

Not cheap, but there's a reason for that.

These are the 3” ones that I have. They really are good. I also have the Norton ones.

 

[seber]

I've been very pleased with Walter but I guess I'll have to give the Green Corps a try. Walter disks cut very fast and last quite well. For the amount of cut per disk, they are way cheaper than HF.
By the way, Aircraft Spruce has the Green Corps for $2.30 and $2.70. Not much more than I pay for Walter.

 

[mikedodge]

I don't know what the last one was I had in there but it was fron princess auto. I just started using these ezarc ones and don't have any complaints about them yet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0972VC32P?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

[ecotec]

I would buy the Walter ones if they have been working great for you.

 

[Tiny Jackson]

Looks like 30 different answers so I'll do my part. I never had any sized SAIT/United Abrasives cutoff wheels let me down.