Choosing a grinding wheel for a grinder for metal

For high-quality grinding of metal, it is not enough to purchase an angle grinder (angle grinder), you should also choose the right disc. With a variety of angle grinder attachments, you can cut, clean and grind metal and other materials. Among the variety of circles for metal for angle grinders, it can be difficult even for a specialist to make the right choice. This publication will help you navigate the types of consumables and the principles of working with them.

Grinding is one of the most common processes for which a grinder is used. With this device and a set of nozzles, you can perform gentle and rough processing of metal, wood and stone surfaces. Basically, grinding precedes the polishing of products. The attachments that are used in this situation may contain sandpaper or felt material.

For grinding metal, a variety of brushes are used, which are made from wire on a metal base. Moreover, now you can buy other, most technological nozzles for an angle grinder. The band file is direct evidence of this. It is applied for grinding, polishing and removing corrosion. Taking into account the desired quality of the plane, circles with replaceable sandpaper, felt, porous and even fabric can be mounted on an angle grinder.

Grinding wheels for metal are used to perform the following activities:

• sharpening tools;
• final processing of welds;
• cleaning the surface from paint and corrosion.

In most cases, work will require specialized abrasive pastes, and sometimes liquids. For coarse grinding and cleaning, grinding discs with a fine abrasive size are practiced. Grinding wheels for an angle grinder make it possible to refine almost all materials to the required roughness. For example, similar nozzles are used even in car services for polishing car bodies.

Grinding attachments belong to the roughing category. They are discs with iron wire edges. Grinding wheels are used to remove corrosion from metal surfaces and to remove other types of stubborn dirt. In most cases, they are used to prepare pipes for painting.

Roughing or grinding discs are of 4 types, but the petal disc is considered the most popular of all types of stripping devices. Emery (flap) wheels for an angle grinder are mainly used when removing old varnish or paint, sanding wood surfaces. This product is used for sanding metal, wood and plastic parts. The emery wheel is a circle, along the edges of which not very large pieces of sandpaper are fixed. Taking into account the type of work, the size of the abrasive grains of the working elements is selected.

The use of a disc with a petal structure makes it possible to pre-process products from various materials. With its help, finishing is also allowed. For the final grinding, fine grain discs are practiced.

On sale you can find the following types of petal circle:

• end;
• batch;
• equipped with a mandrel.

The grinding disc for the arbor angle grinder is used when high-precision work is required. Many models belonging to this category are used to remove scuff marks after cutting plastic or metal pipes. Finishing grinding of the weld seams is carried out with the scraper discs. The constituent circles include crumbs of electrocorundum or carborundum. There is a fiberglass mesh in the circle structure. These wheels are thicker than metal cut-off wheels.

To perform grinding work, there is a choice of an abundance of iron brushes - attachments:

• specialized wire discs are used to clean the surface from stubborn dirt or corrosion;
• diamond cups are intended for stone polishing;
• for metal polishing, plate-shaped nozzles made of plastic or rubber are perfect, to which a replaceable abrasive mesh or emery is attached.

For grinding wheels of angle grinders, the size of the abrasive grains is essential. The higher its value, the smaller the size of the abrasive elements, and, therefore, the more delicate the processing:

• 40-80 - primary grinding;
• 100-120 - leveling;
• 180-240 - final working off.

Abrasive grit sizes of resilient diamond polishing discs: 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 3000 (the smallest grit). The size of the abrasive is indicated by the marking on the label.

When buying a disc for angle grinders, you should pay attention to several aspects.

• The diameter of the circle must meet the maximum allowed for a particular toolkit. Otherwise, the disc may collapse due to exceeding the maximum allowed rotation speed. The resource of the angle grinder may not be enough to work with a large disk.
• Grinding discs have different structures and are rigid, flap and maneuverable. The choice of product is dictated by the desired level of plane uniformity. To give the wood perfect evenness, fine-grained flap discs are mainly used in the final sanding. They are available in spindle and flanged versions.
• Fine grain discs have proven themselves well in wood polishing. Medium abrasive discs are often used to remove the top layer of wood. Coarse grain discs are great for cleaning old paint. The grain size is always marked on the product. The coarser the grain, the faster the grinding will be. However, it should not be forgotten that the cutting or grinding quality of discs with coarse grains is worse. Additionally, manufacturers indicate the hardness of the bonding agent of the wheel backing. When sanding non-hard materials, it is advisable to use discs with a soft bond.
• For cleaning stone and metal surfaces, specialized wheels for an angle grinder are produced - twisted cutters (cutters). They are realized in the form of metal cups, along the contour of which wire brushes are fixed. The diameter of the wire is different and is selected based on the desired degree of grinding roughness.
• Information about the maximum permissible linear speed is applied to the package or the side surface of the circle. The operating mode of the angle grinder is selected in accordance with this indicator.

For a comparison of grinder grinding wheels, see below.