Metal Cutting Wheels

[krismoriah72]

I am less than halfway through a large cutting job on my property. I posted earlier that there is abandoned pipe all over my land and im going to use alot of it on a fence and a couple of other ideas i have for the farm. About 1/3 of the pipe is too far gone to be welded so I have been cashing them in for $12/ 100lbs to offset the costs involved.


So far i would venture to say i have made over 1000 cuts. The steel is rusted, often wet or muddy and the insides have residues or mud.

I have tried the following brands of cutting wheels- Harbor Freight, Dewalt, ACE Hardware, NAPA and Diablo

Without a doubt the Diablo is the winner in most cuts almost tripling all of the others. The ACE is a distant second.

I am sure there are better brands to be found online..but for the torture test i have been putting these blades through i am impressed with the Diablo metal cutting wheels.

In my application I am using a vintage Milwaukee U199 Heavy Duty 9" angle grinder that I found at a pawn shop for $25. This is a great tool, very well made all metal and has withstood the test of time.

 

[Chris142]

How does the harbor freight compare?

 

[krismoriah72]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
How does the harbor freight compare?


I bought 2 of them to try in the beginning and they chunked and self destructed about midway thru.

Took more effort and longer cutting time than the diablos, perhaps less abrasives.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
Originally Posted By: Chris142
How does the harbor freight compare?


I bought 2 of them to try in the beginning and they chunked and self destructed about midway thru.

Took more effort and longer cutting time than the diablos, perhaps less abrasives.



Not surprised. Usually the case with dirt cheap stuff.

And, you were cutting in the dirt, no?

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
I am less than halfway through a large cutting job on my property. I posted earlier that there is abandoned pipe all over my land and im going to use alot of it on a fence and a couple of other ideas i have for the farm. About 1/3 of the pipe is too far gone to be welded so I have been cashing them in for $12/ 100lbs to offset the costs involved.


So far i would venture to say i have made over 1000 cuts. The steel is rusted, often wet or muddy and the insides have residues or mud.

I have tried the following brands of cutting wheels- Harbor Freight, Dewalt, ACE Hardware, NAPA and Diablo

Without a doubt the Diablo is the winner in most cuts almost tripling all of the others. The ACE is a distant second.

I am sure there are better brands to be found online..but for the torture test i have been putting these blades through i am impressed with the Diablo metal cutting wheels.

In my application I am using a vintage Milwaukee U199 Heavy Duty 9" angle grinder that I found at a pawn shop for $25. This is a great tool, very well made all metal and has withstood the test of time.



Good to know, I use their 5" sanding disc and they are pretty good too. I wont need cutting wheels for a long time, I bought a load of them from the Norton factory nearby for 5 bucks a box inc the big 18" for the metal chop saw.

 

[Kestas]

For your case you want what is called a "hard" abrasive wheel as opposed to a soft wheel. The hard wheel is made with binder that reduces wheel wear.

Soft wheels are for hard metals; hard wheels are for soft metals.

 

[Trav]

So for mild steel tubing and angle iron soft wheels in the chop saw and for chrome moly tube soft wheels?

 

[Kestas]

It's not the alloy, but the hardness of the steel that dictates which wheel to use. Soft wheels don't burn hardened steel as much and can cut quicker. Hard wheels have a higher tendency to burn the metal but are more economical as a consumable. Krismoriah72 doesn't care about burning the metal as much as he wants economy from his wheels.

 

[thescreensavers]

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
Originally Posted By: Chris142
How does the harbor freight compare?

I bought 2 of them to try in the beginning and they chunked and self destructed about midway thru.

Took more effort and longer cutting time than the diablos, perhaps less abrasives.

Edit: sorry thought you were talking about 4.5" wheels

Are they the Green ones? HF is selling new and improved cut off wheels that are blue Hercules branded they are by far, far superior to the "Green" wheels.

We are talking a disk lasting 30 sec to now minutes.

 

[Langanobob]

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
I am less than halfway through a large cutting job on my property. I posted earlier that there is abandoned pipe all over my land and im going to use alot of it on a fence and a couple of other ideas i have for the farm. About 1/3 of the pipe is too far gone to be welded so I have been cashing them in for $12/ 100lbs to offset the costs involved.


So far i would venture to say i have made over 1000 cuts. The steel is rusted, often wet or muddy and the insides have residues or mud.

I have tried the following brands of cutting wheels- Harbor Freight, Dewalt, ACE Hardware, NAPA and Diablo

Without a doubt the Diablo is the winner in most cuts almost tripling all of the others. The ACE is a distant second.

I am sure there are better brands to be found online..but for the torture test i have been putting these blades through i am impressed with the Diablo metal cutting wheels.

In my application I am using a vintage Milwaukee U199 Heavy Duty 9" angle grinder that I found at a pawn shop for $25. This is a great tool, very well made all metal and has withstood the test of time.



Congratulations on the $25 pawnshop grinder. I finally burned up my 40 year old 9” grinder, got tired og looking tnrough Craigslist and bought a new $220 Metabo. $12 per 100 lbs for scrap pipe sounds pretty good. At least you paid for the grinder right off the bat.

 

[krismoriah72]

I had a choice of about 30 different grinders, the milwaukee had almost no plastic on it, the cord looked to be indestructible and i figured i could sell it after im done for a profit.

Its $12/100lbs over 4' under 4' is $14/100. I have lost about $200 so far by not cutting to 4' length.

Im only cashing in the bent, rusted and otherwise junk pipe. Yes im cutting thru dirt, mud, grease and all kinds of nasty stuff with being in the creeks and on hillsides im putting the wheels in binds and all kinds of torture..

I looked at 2 more pawnshops and they had a couple of brands ive never heard of they were very heavy duty looking and were heavy so i passed on them for now.

I forgot to mention that I stopped by an oilfield pipe place in the beginning and they said the 3M was what all the guys in the field used and was perfect for my job..they were alot thinner than the diablos. The arbor size was wrong so i didnt get to try them.

My arbor is 5/8 so i dont have a good choice like the 7/8 arbor ones do.

 

[red7404]

BOELUBE® BL70200-13 SOLIDS LUBRICANT - 1.6 OZ PUSH TUBE. from http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/boelube.php? i used this at Boeing years ago