What Do You Use Your Angle Grinder For? I would love some ideas!

[Fern Field Farms]

I just got a new angle grinder, and would love some ideas on what to use it on. What do you all use your angle grinders for?
Thanks for any tips!

 

[Bacpacker]

Most recently I've used mine to cut the metal roofing I use to build my raised beds with. Also great for sharpening lawn mower and bush hog blades.
I've used my plug in model for years. Wife just got me a DeWalt 20v battery model for Christmas

 

[Frodo]

You have different blades for different tasks, I mainly use a cut off disc in my grinder to cut with
Sharpen your shovels and hoes


Caution, do not use a grinding wheel as a cut off wheel
Invest in a pair of thick leather work gloves, your grinder wants to eat your fingers
This is very controversial
The lock on switch, rip that damn thing off with a pair of plyers and toss it out the window when/if your grinder binds up you want it to stop when you let go!!!! Same with the little cute handle that screws onto the side, it will beat you like an unwanted Red headed step child if the grinder binds up

 

[Bacpacker]

Wear GOOD eye Protection as well

 

[LadyLocust]

We have a metal shop so I buy them (but a specific dewalt one) by the dozens. Thin cut, flapper discs, sanding discs, scotch brite- whatever the application.
Empire Abrasives is about as reasonable as you can get for consumables.

 

[1371]

I use it with a Kutzall disk to make American flags.

Make them to give away to Marine buddies and retirement plaques.

 

[montanabill]

I have a chainsaw disk for my 4 and 1/2 angle grinder. I consider it more dangerous than my gas chainsaw so beware. I also do metal sculpture. good idea to wear a respirator if you are cutting a lot of metal as just the dust from thr thin cutoff wheels is probably tooxic in your lungs. I also use a pretty cheap low power angle grinder.....that way the motor will stall before it rips my fingers off or blows up a cutting disc.

 

[FarmOR]

Lung protection and eye protection. I used to work at a factory where these were used multiple times a day. Safety glasses were mandatory at all times. I would often watch and study my teammates getting away with grinding and cutting with just safety glasses. When I tried it, "ding"! Somehow that dang spec of metal would curve around the glasses and get me right in the dang eye!

I use safety glasses and a face shield when ever possible. Sometimes you get in a position where it's just not practical and you fog up, or can't see or fit into a small space, or upside down? And sometimes the dang dust mask won't work either and you gotta hold your breath?

I keep a cow magnet next to the bathroom sink. As soon as I get nailed, I keep my eye closed and head for the sink and retrieve the offending metal spec with the magnet before it has a chance to scratch my eye. Never did figure out what my teammates were doing differently?

Three types of discs to keep handy: skinny wheels, grinding wheel, and flapper discs. I have three grinders ready with each of those three wheels...

 

[Cascadian]

I used mine to cut cattle panels. Normally I use bolt cutters but this time I needed a smooth edge.

 

[Biggkidd]

Very versatile tools and I have 5 or 6 with 4 being slam worn out after many years of use. I need another 2 new ones now. I like to keep 3-4 in working order so I can keep different disks on them. Many times you will need a cut off wheel and grinding wheel and a wire cup when making things from scratch.

 

[Wingnut]

I bought mine to cut some old hinges off a chain-link gate... the kind of hinges that clamp onto a post. The thick bolts securing these hinges had corroded over the decades, no way any solvent would ever work to free them, so I simply cut them with the grinder... easy as pie. Cutting wheels are also good for getting rid of an old lock with no key, though you want the lock to remain steady as you do this... you can use a rod, wire, clamp, whatever to hold the lock in place as you cut. Also, the screw-in handle is quite useful, provided you have it on the correct side of the grinder for each task. Eye pro or face shield necessary, gloves optional depending upon what you're doing. For delicate cuts which don't involve a whole heap of grinding, I like bare hands for a better "feel" as I cut---just figure out which way the sparks are gonna fly and position yourself to avoid them.

Somehow this topic reminds me of a discussion once held among a seasoned work crew... we were talking about the difference between "shop welders" and "shipboard welders." A shop welder has everything laid out in front of him, usually on a work bench or table... but a shipboard welder has to work at all kinds of odd angles, sometimes welding overhead with sparks raining down. An angle grinder lets you tackle odd jobs like that shipboard welder, sometimes working from a ladder or other unconventional location. Mounted bench grinders are nice for certain jobs, but when I need to cut some metal already in place in an unusual location, the angle grinder is my tool of choice. I have the Ryobi model, it's not bad, it's fairly lightweight and I can swap out disks or wheels easily enough. I don't use it as often as other power tools, but when I need it, it gets the job done.

 

[backlash]

I know of a guy that was laying under his truck cutting off his exhaust system.
He needed to make one more cut so he didn't bother with his full face shield.
The grinder kicked back and the blade hit him just below his mouth then traveled up to his hairline.
Missed his eye my a fraction but took out several teeth and made a mess of his face.
Safety first always.

I use mine to sharpen lawnmower blades like @Bacpacker.
A flapper disk makes short work of sharpening lawnmower blades.

 

[Frodo]

Grinder ate half of that finger tip

 

[Spikedriver]

If your dishes have an ugly floral pattern on them, the grinding wheel will take that pattern right off!