I’m not talking about cheap Harbour freight crap. I’m talking good value for a good product. Chicago Pneumatics CP 875 has a five star review on Amazon. Any others I should know about?
I have a $50 “Kobalt” air angle grinder from Lowes that has served me well. The dead man switch is easily bypassed and it not too greedy with the air
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dremel
btw it took me 3 or 4 minutes to clean up a lap today with a surform blade
I think chicago is a harbor frieght brand. ? but anyway we use a harbor frieght one that works excellent and has for many years of daily lap grinding with out troubles it only cost 15 bucks or so
Ingersol rand 3102 is a good quality unit , its pricey jobber cost is about $100.00 I am a tool man in the automotive industry . You may have good luck with the ones in the 30 to 60 dollar range .
good luck
I think you might be confusing Chicago Pneumatic with Central Pneumatic?
The names of any of the companies people have listed are in all honesty junk, the best two manufactuers of grinders wether it be angle grinders, straight die grinders or pencil grinders is Dotco and Dynabrade. a right angle grinder from either company will run you around $300 but well worth it if you want quality and something that will last a long long time and still perform. If you want one that you dont use often and dont put alot of load on then a siox, sun, ingersol rand, Chicago phneumatic, kobalt or any other cheap brand will do you fine, but if you want quality that will out perform all others and last Dotco or Dynabrade are the two you want.
$300 for a die grinder to grind laps with is a friggin' joke! LOL Too funny. Central pnuematic and Chicago Pnuematic are BOTH sold at Harbor Freight. Probably the right and left wing of the same bird. I've used a Central Pnuematic right angle die grinder for many years to grind laps. Seventeen dollars on sale. No safety on the trigger lever to disarm or get in the way like more exspensive models. It has a 1/4 inch collet and a 1/4 inch air inlet that I install a quick change male couper on. I use 3M Roloc Green Corps disk. I started out using two inch disks years ago, but in recent years have switched to 3 inch. Larger surface, lays flatter etc. This die grinder is probably one of the smallest, easiest to use made. Alot fewer moving parts in air tools; therefore fewer things to break or need repair. No brushes, armatures, swicthes etc Even a cheap air tool will outlast a comprable electric tool by years... Someone mentioned the Dremel tool. I started out using a Drewmel many years ago.. Used the sanding barrel. Divitted the foam a few times before I got my technique down. Definitaly not for the feint of heart. The promblem with using the right angle Dremel is finding suitable disks. With a die grinder,; You can buy the backing pad and disks in a kit at Wal-Mart or Harbor Freight anytime day or night. AND It does the best job. I might add; A right angle die grinder is the industry standard tool of choice for grinding laps in every pro glass shop on the West Coast ..
I wouldn’t pay more than $20 USD for an air grinder, it’s not like a planer or sander that sees a lot of time working. And, you can’t put any air tool oil in it anyhow, so it won’t last that long. Get the backing pad and 10 60 grit 3" disks as McDing advised. When the disk loads up, toss it in a jar of acetone and put on a new one. Soak the clogged ones for 5 minutes or so, then wire brush what’s left off. I’ve recycled disks 15 times or more in this manner. High rpms aren’t needed to buzz laps, they’ll melt anyhow. I use about 40-50 psi. I also use this tool for shaping noses and tails at the stringer but with 2" disks. Just never, ever oil it or you’ll get a big surprise when glassing. Burn-in a new one for 10 minutes or so to purge out any oil from the factory, and check the exhaust hole for any seeping oil.
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I'm not talking about cheap Harbour freight crap. I'm talking good value for a good product. Chicago Pneumatics CP 875 has a five star review on Amazon. Any others I should know about?
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So...... a bunch of Swaylockers went camping at San Onofre last weekend....Standing around the campfire after dinner....having fun...goofing off....drinking a few beers......ha ha ha ha ha .....I told the crew I would be nice to Dean from now on.....ha ha......Hi Dean, go to your local tool store. Buy what's in stock. It's that easy. You live in New Zealand...no matter what discount you find on the internet you will get killed on the shipping....a cheap angle grinder will work just fine for guys like you and me....
Stingray
Howzit stingray, What makes me laugh is when stores like Home Depot or Lowes have a sale that is 2 grinders in a set and I amthinking how many can a person use since I have the same 4" grinder I bought over 30 years ago and it just keeps going. Aloha,Kokua
Dynabrade makes good products. Also Sioux tools has some that I always wanted to try.
I have worked in the air tool business for the past six years.... When it comes to pneumatic tools there are two different grades of quality to keep in mind... In the business we seperate them into quality classes by the terms "Vehicle Service / Maintenance Grade" and "Industrial Production Grade".
Vehicle Service / Automotive / Maintenance Grade Die Grinders:
Typically your vehicle service / automotive type tools are imported from Asia. These types of tools frequently feature lower quality cast parts and are essentially "disposable" once they break. Not to say that these aren't okay for sanding the occasional lap, but keep in mind that once they break, they are virtually non-rebuildable. A few examples of decent "throw away" die grinders are the Ingersoll Rand #301 and the Ingersoll Rand #3102. Both spin at 20,000 RPM's and feature 1/4" collets that accept quick lock sanding disc mandrels. The #301 is ultra no frills, but is super light and compact. Don't pay much more than $50 bucks for it. What seperates the #3102 from the #301 is a slightly higher horsepower motor (.33 HP vs. .25 HP) and a composite handle which features better ergonomics and less cold transfer to your arm. The #3102 also has all ball bearing construction. A fair price for the #3102 is about $140.00. Both tools are made in China for Ingersoll Rand. I would stay away from the Harbor Freight Central Pneumatic private label brand unless you are really really on a tight budget... Here is some more info on the #301 and #302:
http://www.intlairtool.com/products/Ingersoll-Rand-%233102-Die-Grinder.html
http://www.intlairtool.com/products/Ingersoll-Rand-%23301-Right-Angle-Die-Grinder.html
Industrial Production Grinders:
For any of you hardcore production glassers out there that want a 100% rebuildable American made tool for the long haul, go with the Ingersoll Rand G1A200RG4. This tool features all ball bearing construction and machined steel components.These are the same grinders they use in the ship yards and machine shops. The G1A200RG4 spins at 20,000 RPM's, has a 1/4" collet and puts out .33 HP. When it's time to rebuild it, you simply put in a new set of composite phenolic motor vanes and possibly some new bearings available from any industrial distributor. You can literally tear down the motor section of this tool in 60 seconds. Here's the bad part... One of these bad boys will run you close to $500. Check out this link for more info:
http://www.intlairtool.com/products/G1-Series-Industrial-Angle-Die-Grinder.html
In summary, you can either choose to buy throw away tools and replace them frequently or cry one time and buy the dank goods... Either way, to ensure maximum life, be sure to place a few drops of oil in the air inlet of the tool each day before use... Lastly, be sure you are running good clean air at 90 PSI so you get maximum horespower...
Hope this was useful...
Ace King
San Diego, CA
Seventeen dollar Central Pnuematic from Harbor Freight. Six years old. No Problems. It saw daily use for the first three or four years. Never oil it. Lubricated it once with WD -40 because I hadn't used it for a month and the Maui climate had corroded it a little so that it wouldn't turn. WD' ed it , turned it over with a wrench and it was and has been fine since. I have a spare of the same type but have never broken it out as I have never had to dispose of the first one. I have not lubed it since and don't plan on it as long as it keeps working. The one time I did lube it with WD I wiped it down throughly, cotton swabbed it and blew it off. Damned good tool and didn't cost $500 or $50 --$140. Every glass shop I've been in Hawaiian Islands and Calif. is using some Harbor Freight, Lowes or Home Depot die grinder. The most exspensive thing on it is the mandrel/backing pad and the "Green Corps" disk. Just don't see the logic in paying the big money for anything differant since even the high priced ones are made in China .
Makita.
I had a makita I used and abused for fin shaping, and grinding other various projects and it was a solid tool for sure.
T.
While the Makita IS a "right angle " grinder; it IS not a "right angle" die grinder . RPMs and brute power are a recipe for diasaster when it comes to grinding laps. Also; not to mention the fact that you cannot easily mount a sanding disk on a Makita right angle that would be appropriate for grinding laps. For fins; Yeah; as long as you've got the experience and touch for such a machine.