I don't think I have ever seen a pro or serious DIYer change abrasives mid-job. Everyone I have ever worked with just had multiple grinders because It's way more convenient.
Well I did it-- X lock angle grinder
- Thread starter Hohn
- Start date
Wamsutta
Well-known member
What if you want to install a backup pad and a sanding disc; the X-Lock won't let you do that correct?
dnschmidt
Well-known member
TRUTH!!!
Tactile
Well-known member
I have used a cutoff disk, a wire wheel and a grinding disk all on the same job (fixing irrigation outlets) and back and forward between them all. I'm not a pro or a DIYer, more of a farm hack when I'm needed! My 80+ year old dad (owner of said farm) said it was a ****-fest when he first saw it but he shakes his head in disbelief when he sees me use it...he's a believer!
Tactile
Well-known member
Not sure I understand the question?
shakenfake
Well-known member
I am not a power user so I definitely only buy maybe 2-3 at a time.
Depending on the project at least.
Depending on the project at least.
Tactile
Well-known member
Here is a really good breakdown of the whole system if you have the time to watch, but info about the fitting I was talking about (Prisma) starts at 27:50.
You have the choice of 3 different backing pads (different levels of flex - Soft, Med, Hard) depending on your application and then you can choose the aggressiveness of the grinding material you fit to the pad. There is also a Velcro backed pad for normal wood sanding disks as well.
You have the choice of 3 different backing pads (different levels of flex - Soft, Med, Hard) depending on your application and then you can choose the aggressiveness of the grinding material you fit to the pad. There is also a Velcro backed pad for normal wood sanding disks as well.
They actually work. This is what my buddy came out with when I asked if he had a chainsaw while we were working on his pole barn project. I’m not going to say its a good idea but they definitely cut woodHa! I liked that description. I've got one of these BNIB at home:
I bought it on clearance at some point for like $6. I got it home and though "WTF am I doing? I've got a chainsaw."
I've never felt brave enough to actually try it on an angle grinder.
Wamsutta
Well-known member
Can you put a sanding disc on an X-Lock grinder?
Tactile
Well-known member
Yes
Never heard of X-Lock. I had to find a YouTube video to see what it was all about.
Looks expensive for consumables. I like that it is very quick and easy to switch wheels....but I'm already too invested in the standard style with multiple grinders and boxes of wheels...
Looks expensive for consumables. I like that it is very quick and easy to switch wheels....but I'm already too invested in the standard style with multiple grinders and boxes of wheels...
My BIL just purchased a Makita corded x lock grinder. They are out there.
I have to confess, my description of those questionable angle grinder accessories dates back to an otherwise forgettable SNL skit that I happened to remember.Ha! I liked that description. I've got one of these BNIB at home:
I bought it on clearance at some point for like $6. I got it home and though "WTF am I doing? I've got a chainsaw."
I've never felt brave enough to actually try it on an angle grinder.
One thing I didn't realize this cordless grinder would actually cut:
THE COST OF REBAR.
Local Menards will sell you 1/2" grade 60 rebar for anywhere from $1.40 a foot to 44 cents a foot. Depending on whether you buy 20ft or smaller.
So I can buy the 20fter and cut it in the parking lot to get it home.
WIN!
THE COST OF REBAR.
Local Menards will sell you 1/2" grade 60 rebar for anywhere from $1.40 a foot to 44 cents a foot. Depending on whether you buy 20ft or smaller.
So I can buy the 20fter and cut it in the parking lot to get it home.
WIN!
^^^^ That's the only thing I use cordless grinders for - making a few cuts where there is no power. I've been lucky so far that I've always got the job done before running out of battery. I salvaged some sections of crane boom from a hammer head crane once but was sure to confirm there was access to power on site. I took a 7" grinder and a stack of cut off discs. The 7" gave me a greater depth of cut that was needed to cut the sections up. Same thing when I salvaged a bunch of HD racking (2 x 6 x 1/4" tubing and some square forms as well). Needed 7" with power for that job.
I have 2 - 9", 5 - 7", about 5 - 5" and 5 - 4.5" and 1 or 2 - 4" (10 yrs on GJ ;-). Also have a whole big drawer full of grind disc, flaps, stone wheels etc etc. The X lock sound great but it'll be a while before I conform.
I have 2 - 9", 5 - 7", about 5 - 5" and 5 - 4.5" and 1 or 2 - 4" (10 yrs on GJ ;-). Also have a whole big drawer full of grind disc, flaps, stone wheels etc etc. The X lock sound great but it'll be a while before I conform.
No, Bosch has many backing pads for the X lock, not only in the common diameters but in multiple firmnesses as well.
That said, I bought a Diablo backer today for my non-X grinders and it seems pretty good— the center nut is below flush with the sander.
And with 24 grit paper, it will remove a lot of metal in a hurry.
Diablo also shows X lock backing pads on their website, although my local HD doesn’t have them.
Tactile
Well-known member
A few issues Ive had with X-lock is that the centre section of the composite 1mm cut-off disk is so thin, that the ham-fisted can push it on in the reverse direction and bend/buckle up the interface. Ask me how I know.
Another is, when you buy the composite disks in a store - because of the lower turnover of X-Lock, a lot of the time they are past or close to their "safe" use-by date as printed on the disk. One reason why I use diamond and carbide cut-off disks.
Another is, when you buy the composite disks in a store - because of the lower turnover of X-Lock, a lot of the time they are past or close to their "safe" use-by date as printed on the disk. One reason why I use diamond and carbide cut-off disks.
I just realized last night that x-lock is one-way like that. I assumed (incorrectly) that a cutting disc would go on with the label side facing the grinder. Nope. The disc I had is label facing *away* from the grinder.
This is when I learned that the interface has that asymmetry in the wings of the "x".
I don't put much stock in the "Safe use by" date. Most use-by dates on products have nothing to do with the product going bad and everything to do with enabling ISO 9001 compliance for "shelf life control". Companies have to demonstrate "shelf life control and stock rotation" to meet ISO 9001, so that causes companies to demand "expiration dates" for products that basically last forever.
I've used cutting wheels well over a decade old (and not of particularly good quality) and they work just fine. The only time I've broken a wheel was user error in jamming it in crooked.
neophyte
Well-known member
The adhesives used to bond grinding wheels can vary in longevity.
Hard vitrified grinding wheels made for bench grinders will essentially last forever, because the abrasive particles are basically melted together.
These vitrified wheels can still be damaged and become unsafe if water gets absorbed into the abrasive matrix, and freezes, or if a foreign substance like rusty water gets absorbed into the abrasive matrix and dries out and crystallizes.
Some other bench grinder wheels were using abrasives bonded together with various resins, and those are known to go bad over time, simply from age, or moisture damage, or UV damage.
As for thin, fiber reinforced cutting and grinding wheels, those can definitely go bad from a variety of factors, since these are almost always resin bonded.
UV light can affect the resin. (Old epoxy becomes brittle with UV exposure)
Heating and cooling cycles can do similar, either causing the resin to become brittle, or causing expansion and contraction that breaks down bonds in things like flap wheels.
Moisture can affect the bonds as well.
While some old grinding wheels might be fine, I would really recommend doing a stress test on a sacrificial example with the grinder guard and cutting guard in place, just to make sure old grinding wheels aren’t going to explode.
There was a post on GJ more than a decade ago, showing grinding wheel accidents from I think Russia, and a bunch of the pictures were dead people on slabs, with partial grinding wheels sticking out of their heads and chests, because the grinding and cutting wheels fractured in use.
Basically, accident that make cutting your gingers off on a tablesaw seem mild.
I do tend to do a tap test to see if anything that spins fast has a defect in it, as I've found that you usually hear when something has a void in it. That said, I'm guessing the failure associated with degrading over time wouldn't show up this way as it's not forming a void except in the nanosecond before it grenades.
I'll take your post as exhortation to be cautious. Just because it hasn't happened to me yet doesn't mean it won't. Perhaps I've avoided it thus far because my discs are all stored in the shade of a toolbox drawer that is shared pretty much with just abrasive products.
That said, I rarely use a traditional type 27 style grinder wheel. I've found that it's almost always the case that something else works better-- fiber disc, flap wheel, etc.
The last disc I bought was the new Pferd style that is thin and sort of dished. It makes metal go away with a vengeance. It doesn't seem to be made the same way that regular wheels are.
Never heard of X-Lock!
No matter as I will probably never own one. I have two angle grinders and just load them up with different wheels and swap tools. If I was a younger man, or did more than the occasional angle grinder work I would seriously look at one..
No matter as I will probably never own one. I have two angle grinders and just load them up with different wheels and swap tools. If I was a younger man, or did more than the occasional angle grinder work I would seriously look at one..