What kind of wheel do you use on an angle grinder to cut steel?

J

johnnyKnives

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Sep 21, 2008
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I wanted to use my angle grinder to cut part of my stock off. What kind of wheel do I use to cut metal? Will any of them that say "metal" be okay for cutting? I thought maybe metal meant just grinding but not a straight cut. Thank you. I'm sorry it is probably obvious. I just wanted to be sure.
 
I use the thin dewalt cutting wheels, either the offset or regular flat ones. They're about a 1/16" thick. They make thicker ones that are also for cutting, but they're overkill for our purposes.

The main difference between a cutting and a grinding disk is that the cutting disk is built to have the pressure coming from the edge while the grinding disks are meant to have the pressure coming from below. Even a thicker cutting disk is less than ideal for grinding, and a thin grinding disk is less than ideal for cutting. There are combos of course, and any of them will do a little of everything if you're careful.

I use the DeWalts because they're the longest lasting of what I can get easily. You can get a lot of work out of one. There are plenty of other good brands out there, and if you don't mind buying a box at a time you can get them a lot cheaper than the big box retail places sell for regardless of brand. I would avoid the Harbor Freight ones though, they don't last at all.
 
I would not ever buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight, especially not something running at angle grinder speeds that can take my face off it it fractures. Don't use a grinding disk to cut-- get a cutting disk. I call the good people at www.acutabove and tell them what I want to cut and buy what they suggest. Usually Norton. Fast service, no shipping fee on orders above a certain total, $50 or so, I think.
 
Like already said. Use thin GOOD cut off wheels. This is one place you don't want to take chances.

Paul
 
I've personally never used the Norton disks but a lot of the very experienced folks I know have mentioned them as favorites. I don't go through a lot, the current dewalt disk has been used for almost a month now, so I tend to stick with buying singles now and then. Maybe I can find a local shop that has the Norton's as singles, I'll have to look around and give them a try.
 
One more thing about cutting wheels, cut with them using only the edge, don't grind with the side of the wheel. The fiberglass fabric on the surfaces of the cutting wheel is what keeps the wheel from flying apart at high speed. Damaging it can lead to bad things.

You can use type A27 depressed center grinding wheels to cut with in a pinch, the reinforcement is internal so you can grind with the face, edge, or back. But they are thick so the cut takes forever and wastes more steel than a thin wheel would. The time you would save would pay for a cutting wheel on the first cut
 
DeWalt is good and anything abrasive that has Norton written on it is excellent. Miles Undercut mentioned taking your face off. Personally I never use a grinder with a cutoff wheel or even one of the straight air grinders with out wearing a full face shield. Not taking any chances. I know a guy that had a grinding rock blow up in his face. He was hard to recognize the first time I saw him after the accident.
 
I mostly use norton 1/16 metal cutoff disks. I looked at the HF ones once, but if I can tell I won't trust them by eye, I'm not buying it. Norton is the best price I've foud and seem to last as long as the DeWalt ones I pay twice as much for at ace.
 
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