Angle Grinder

If you plan to do welding, you will need a way to pefrorm certain types of preparation and clean-up.

You need an "angle grinder".

Warning: We're not experts on safety, tools, or construction. We hope that what we write here will encourage you to look into safety issues and make your own good decisions.

Overview

Dennis bought this angle grinder at Harbor Freight Tools.

[photo] The tool accepts two basic types of wheels: a thin rigid wheel for cutting straight lines, and a thicker wheel for grinding things down.

[photo] Grinding wheel on the left.

Cutting wheel on the right.

Other types of wheels exist, but these two are the most common.

[photo]

Cutting Metal

When the angle grinder is equipped with a thin cutting wheel, it does a fine job of making straight cuts in metal.

[photo] Dennis cuts off a piece of angle iron.

Shaping Metal

When the angle grinder is equipped with a thick grinding wheel, it can be used to shape metal by rounding edges, straightening rough edges, and removing imperfections.

[photo] David removes some sharp edges.

Cleaning Metal Before Work

The thick grinding wheen can also be used to clean off heavy paint, zinc from galvanizing and other thick coverings.

Cleaning Metal After Work

Most forms of welding produce some spattered metal that one might want to remove for cosmetic reasons. If the welded surface is rough, you might want to grind off a little of the surface in order to see the real quality of the joint.

The thick grinding wheel works well here.

[photo] Dennis cleans up a welded part of Mad Monk 2.

Safety Essentials

Angle grinders are very loud and throw off a lot of hot sparks.
[photo]

You will need: