Air Tools

Both my die grinder and abrasive wheel cutoff tool are Princess Auto Power Fist brand - not their cheapest but the middle. I have had them for several years and both work as well as when I got them. You aren't over-oiling yours are you?

Ted

I have a friend with a fab shop and he swears by his Dotco. He uses the Roloc discs and has a mandrel setup for an abrasive cutoff wheel as well as the carbide burrs.

Not likely. Usually, the problem is too much clearance in the turbine. That's why import air tools often require much more air to operate. Your compressor may not have enough CFM to get full power out of them.

I have an IR die grinder that I paid big bucks for, but since I also have a big compressor (19 CFM at 175 PSI), my Harbor Freight imports put out about as much grunt. They just need more air to do it.

But even the IR won't easily do what you want. You don't need a die grinder, you need an angle grinder. Electric ones are more powerful than air powered ones (more efficient too) per dollar and per pound. A 4 1/2 inch model is what is usually used for the sort of things you're talking about.

HF has one that's usually on sale for $20 that'll do nicely. You could spend about 5 times more for a Japanese or German one that's maybe twice as well built, but that doesn't seem to be a good deal to me. Just buy a couple of the cheap ones and you'll have a spare plus money still in your pocket.

I have half a dozen of the things. I keep different sorts of discs on them so I never have to stop and hunt up the right disc and mount it for a particular job. I just pick up the grinder which already has one mounted. Saves lots of time.

Gary

I like that idea! I just now ordered up 3 cheapo 4" electric angle grinders ($14.99 each) from Northern Tool (p/n 143378)... they each come with 5 sanding discs, rubber backer wheel and a wire wheel. I also ordered a 10 pack of regular grinding wheels and a cup brush... so I'll have one with a wheel, one with a brush and one with a sanding disk. All that and still $20 cheaper than a "good" one! And at 15 bucks a crack... I won't even flinch when it's time to toss one. lol David

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 13:46:55 -0400, Peter Snell wrote something ......and in reply I say!:

When you use the grinders, is the pressure from the compressor staying at 90-100 PSI? If not that could explain the bogging down.

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The PA catalog says 5cfm for the Cdn$30 one.

Ted

Peter. If you want to run air tools, you will need a lot more than 6 cfm. I have a good 8cfm. unit but it is not enough to run a die grinder at a moderate duty cycle. IMO you would need around 15 to 20 cfm. @ 90/100psi.

Paul Cordell, Nth. Qld. Australia.

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 23:52:26 GMT, Ted Edwards wrote something ......and in reply I say!:

AH! Well I have a Random Orb Sander that says that too. IT's complete bullshit. They base it on "average consumption in a shop environment" or some such crap.

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These are probably the same as the ones I have. The larger one I got had a clearance problem (Negative clearance that is) on the rotor. I cleaned it up a bit and it was much better, but pretty so-so compared to others I've run.

Pete

Dotco is one I hadn't considered, thanks for the tip!

Most people will never wear an air die grinder out, if they lube and clean them properly. They may also need a new set of vanes installed after about 600-800 hours of use. I buy the cheapest ones that I can find and can only say that they are not as well constructed and do lack power relative to the better brands. They probably will not last as long either, the cost ratio is not there for me to buy a "good" one. I would rather have five cheapos and maybe an ok one, rather than the a high end one. I do work with people in a parts manufacturing plant who use Dotco's or the high-end IR's all day, every day. These brands seem to live pretty well, but don't know if they're really worth $200+ each. They are better balanced than the cheapos, a real issue if you use it much.