4-1/2" cutoff wheel source/quality

I bought four cut off wheels after seeing them used on American Chopper for everything except trimming fingernails. Once I got one home and went to put it on, I noticed the center hole was too big for my Makita 9501. Then I noticed it was for a 3850 RPM use. My Makita says 10,000 rpm on the plate. Then I noticed it was for MASONRY.

Duh.

So, I'm off to the tool department at Home Depot next time for replacements. Do they make wheels intended for use on Makita 10k RPM grinders. I'm talking of the wheels that are only about 1/16" thick. What you would use to say cut off a exhaust pipe. Or are these wheels meant to be used on air, and the air tools are running at a lower rpm? Or do they have them in 10k rpm range for metal, and I just need to take my glasses this time and read better?

Steve

I'd get a refund at Home Depot and then go find a welding supply store and buy some good grade wheels not the type aimed at the genral consumer such as is sold in big box stores. The wheels may be a buck or so more but they work better nd last longer in my opinion. Folks buying their welding supplies at these places make a living using the materials and these places on the whole usually stock decent materials not aimed at the week end warrior types.

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expressed are those of my wifes, I had no input whatsoever. Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Sait, Metabo, Pferd, all make nice thin cutoff wheels

I like the Continental brand, they are about $1.20 here in Sacramento, Ca

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i went to the local Harbor freight store and bought 10 in a box for about $4.99... they are cheap, but they work, at least for me. i had a swing set that had to be cut to make it narrow at the top and it went like a butter knife through butter when hitting the metal cut off wheel to the tubular steel.. i was a little worried about the blade breaking and flying around.. years ago i broke a Dremel Cut off wheel and had 12 pieces of the wheel in the eye.. i always wear safety glasses when doing anything that could fly off... i had to learn the hard way....

I use the .045 wheels. USA made & $1.45 from ENCO. They are reinforced and I've never broken one. Rated to 13,500 rpm. Their #240-3375. Bob

I buy either the cheapest ones (which wear out just as fast as the expensive ones) or the (....drumroll here....) ones that the place I am in has in stock when I need a couple. Not worth burning a dollars worth of gas to try to save a nickel.

Cheers Trevor Jones

a friend also mentioned Harbor. I'll check it out. I noticed the more expensive one has a metal reinforcement around the hole. AIUI, that will help a bit if I use the side of the disk for removing the old paint from around the cut. It also has more material impregnated in the mesh. But the grinder came with a grinding wheel so I'll use that.

ouch! those little non-mesh jim dandy wheels *sre* fragile. Last time I used one though, the wheel didn't disintegrate, but the screw for the mandrel sheared off either from too much torque or less likely, heat and torque. Brand new mandrel lasted 5 seconds.

I'll be wearing those, a bandana over the face, and long sleeves. Gotta remove cancer from the floor of my van.

Thanks for all the responses so far evryone. I feel better knowing I won't be blowing extra bucks for an ACE brand wheel.

if you broke off/cut the mandrel(arbor) then its because the cut off wheel or the grinding wheel was not tight on the tool... on my angle grinder you can use two sizes, 7/8 and 5/8. for one it goes right on...... on the other you have to turn the nut(spanner nut) over to the other side so it will slip into the larger opening in the larger wheel opening and will hold onto the wheel so it will not slip on the grinder..

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 20:13:49 -0400, Active8 brought forth from the murky depths:

Use a grinding type of wheel for grinding and a cutoff wheel for any cutting, A8. Two different birds, and cutoff wheels are NOT meant to be side-loaded.

My mistake. I thought you were referring to the 3" wheels

I've used forever.

I've also used the 4-1/2" grinding wheels with good results

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There's a number of different arbors out there, I'm not sure but what your Makita isn't threaded 10mm. A lot of the others are threaded

5/8-11 LH. You can get the abrasive wheel with a metal arbor already threaded on there and it threads directly onto the shaft, you can have an arbor that takes grinding wheels with a suitable large hole and sandwiches them between two disks(need a pin spanner wrench for that one to change wheels) or you can get what DeWalt calls a diamond wheel adapter which sandwiches the thin cutoff disk between the washer and the arbor with a bolt in the center. You can get an adapter for 10mm->5/8-11, I've seen them on the shelf. I like to use the diamond wheel adapter and some really thin disks called Razor Blades, .040" thick. These cut like magic through any bolt less than 1/4" thick, thin-wall tubing, too. They're the equivalent of the Dremel cutting disk only much larger. Last time I went to the welding supply to get more, they only had 1/16", though. Much slower cutting. These are strictly for slicing and dicing, you DO NOT want to try doing normal grinding wheel things with them. An alternative for tight areas is the 3" pneumatic cutoff tool, this uses disks about the thickness of those Razor Blade disks, but smaller in diameter. The disks run about $5 for 20 or 25 in a box and the tool is frequently on sale at HF for $20 or so. I've used this on car stuff, it's pretty good for removing hanger bolts, muffler clamps and the like.

Like one of the other posters said, check your local welding supply. Home Despot doesn't cut it for abrasives.

Stan