Great Tools Almost Made By Tool Companies

[Robbie UK]

The tiny Bosch brushless mini-grinder / cut-off tool is a firm favourite over here. For once a tool company recognised that modern vehicles are not blessed with space to work repairs, so this little powerhouse has become very popular with mechanics. Smooth running, very quiet and easy to handle it should be a great tool.

But it isn't - at least not yet.

Bosch did well by building a tool that took regular 3" cutting discs but then threw helpfulness out of the window by picking an M5 thread rather than the ubiquitous 1/4-20. At least it is not as wacky choice as Milwaukee have done recently, but still a pain.

My solution - unscrew the guard:

Mount a large washer with the 3 original screws to provide a metal bumper:

Redneck-lathe one side of a standard camera accessory screw down to 5mm before running an M5 die over the turned end:

To make a belting little tool that will now take standard media accessories:

Such as the ubiquitous Roloc:

Or even the (rather excellent) Proxxon 50mm grinding discs:

Now if only Bosch had done this themselves to make a great tool, rather than just a good one.

I like this little tool so much I have ordered a second, so I can leave one configured with a guard wheel and one modified to take Rolocs.

 

[gungatim]

better yet, make up a bunch of those adapters and sell them on your site of choice...

 

[Monte]

i´ll take one ! Price incl. s+h to germany ?

 

[Robbie UK]

Pretty sure you can make something better than my quick & dirty modification Monte, but if you really want one the price to you would be free.

 

[Dave455]

Great idea Robbie!

Bear in mind that standard tripod bush thread is 1/4 x 20 BSW (55 degree) wheras I think those accessories use 1/4 x 20 UNC (60 degree). Worst case you'd need to run a UNC down the other end!

Better idea, get a dozen spun up! Anybody with an old Herbet could do it fast! You'd probably place 'em all here!

Actually, this idea might just convince me to get one of those mini grinders!

Of late I've been finding I'm using these mini tools (such as my Festool CXS and palm sander) much more than their bigger relatives!

 

[G_P]

Reminds me of my Craftsman angle grinder that uses a tiny metric thread instead of the normal coarse thread that all other 4.5" grinders seem to use.

 

[Robbie UK]

Great idea Robbie!

Bear in mind that standard tripod bush thread is 1/4 x 20 BSW (55 degree) wheras I think those accessories use 1/4 x 20 UNC (60 degree). Worst case you'd need to run a UNC down the other end!

Thankfully both use UNC threads, so a direct fit. I've used camera accessory extension poles in the past to extend rolocs to clean off gaskets in difficult to reach areas. Saves having to remove half the vehicle to get to them.

 

[George in Rancho Cordova]

I have a no-name straight cutoff tool.
The mandrel for the wheel is 10mm (about 0.400").
I learned this after buying a stack of wheels with the "standard" 3/8 (0.375") hole.
I haven't found wheels with a 10mm hole.
The wheels have no metal hub, so I opened up the hole (by hand) with a drill bit near 10mm.
It's not worth the trouble to disassemble and machine the mandrel, so I will probably just buy a tool with a 3/8" mandrel.

 

[Dave455]

Thankfully both use UNC threads,:

It usually doesn't matter much on these small threads, and as you've obviously found out they will generally interchange, but tripod bush threads are definitely 1/4 x 20 BSW! They were standardised long before UNC threads were conceived!

In fact, there are two standards - large and small! Some cameras (what some folks would refer to as 'proper cameras') use the large standard, which is 3/8 BSW!

I have, in the past, machined replacement parts so that a decent camera (a Gandolfi in this instance) could be mounted on a modern tripod!

 

[Robbie UK]

The ISO standards definitely call for UNC thread pitch and has done for many years. Legacy mounts were indeed BSW and whilst close to UNC I'm not sure if any current manufacturers still use it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod_(photography)

 

[Dave455]

The ISO standards definitely call for UNC thread pitch and has done for many years. Legacy mounts were indeed BSW and whilst close to UNC I'm not sure if any current manufacturers still use it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod_(photography)

Well actually only for 6 years! I stand corrected though!

Blinkin ISO, messing around with things that don't need changing, and as late as 2010! Havn't they got anything better to do? Now something that was standard everywhere, isn't! Call that progress? Joe Whitworth would turn in his grave? Bet there are no decent cameras made with that thread though, only plastic shite! If Whitworth was good enough for Fox Talbot it's good enough for me! Blah, blah, mutter, mutter....!

 

[Robbie UK]

That is just the date of the document as the standards changed just after WW2, but I guess the speed of change varied enormously depending on country/tooling/investment. The ISO committees of the day were very US biased. Anyway, we digress.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

I need one of these adapters made for my Milwaukee M12 roloc sander buffer tool thing.

Milwaukee went full retard and made it some fine thread metric somethin or other.

 

[Robbie UK]

I have the same M12 tool too, so will be making a suitable adapter for that too.

Bespoke fittings/threads on tools really winds me up.

 

[Robbie UK]

Modified Bosch mini-grinder with scotchbrite pad in a confined space:

Easy.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

Robbie UK,

If you're interested in doing so, let me know what you'd want to make and ship:

2 Milwaukee M12 adapters (I'll have to figure out the size, but maybe M9-32 ??)
&
2 5/8-11 by 1/4-20 adapters. (Picture attached)

The 5/8-11 by 1/4-20 adapters are for running rolocs on angle grinders, and MSC wants $17 a pop http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/91829705 (then there is the 3m pads for $30+ but they are size specific, no interchage. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007XIMCP8/?tag=atomicindus08-20)

Sidenote for general interest: a 1/4" collet adapter for 5/8-11 http://www.caswellplating.com/flapper-adapter-5-8-unc-thread-with-1-4-collet.html

 

[Robbie UK]

I think you overestimate my skills and equipment! I can only spin metal down using either a chuck on my bench grinder or in an electric drill. Once the spinning is sorted laying on a file does the rest.

Hopefully someone with a proper lathe will offer to help.

The Milwaukee takes one of these threads:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IRQZN7O/?tag=atomicindustr-21

 

[Spartec]

Thanks to Robbie for the idea.
I also made a similar mod by taking the original 3M 1/4 inch shank and got someone to help machine it to 5mm.
One thing I noticed though, the vibration using the 2 and 3 inch disk pad is much higher compared with just using the cut off disc. The vibe from 2 inch for some reason is much higher than 3 inch. I wonder if those using air grinders with roloc also have noticeable vibes?